The Day The Music Died
Posted by Steve Allen | Filed under Music Industry
This post has been updated. Phil corrected a few inaccuracies in my first posting.
My good friend Phil White is an authority on the plane crash. He has been featured on numerous media shows every year discussing the plane crash and the impact Buddy Holly’s music had on the larger music community. He told me that Waylon Jennings was on the same tour and was supposed to be on the ill fated flight to Fargo, ND, enroute to their next tour stop in Moorehead, MN, when J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, who was fighting a bad cold, asked Jennings if he could have his seat on the plane. Waylon replied, “If it’s OK with Buddy, it’s OK with me.” When Buddy heard of the seat switch, he jokingly told Waylon, “I hope your old bus freezes up again!” to which Jennings replied, “Well, I hope your old plane crashes.” It took Waylon Jennings some 20 years to get over his feelings of guilt, thinking he had somehow caused the plane crash with that statement. In another ironic twist of fate that night, Ritchie Valens actually won a coin toss for his seat on the plane exclaiming, “This is the first thing I’ve ever won in my life!”
The following news story is from the TimesOnline.com
Buddy Holly fans around the world today proved that 50 years after his death, the singer remains one of music’s most-loved icons.
As American fans headed to a commemorative concert at the Iowa venue where the singer played his last concert, Australians snapped up tickets to a new musical of his life and British newspapers teemed with tributes.
The Peggy Sue singer died, aged 22, on February 3, 1959, alongside fellow musicians J.P “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens, when their four-seater plane crashed in Iowa, a few minutes after take-off.
Immortalised as “the day the music died” by the Don McClean song American Pie, their deaths remain one of the most poignant moments in rock history.
The trio had just played a concert at The Surf Ballroom. Holly chartered a four-seater plane to take them to North Dakota for the next leg of their Winter Dance Party tour. The plane took off in the early hours amidst light snow but crashed into a cornfield a few minutes later.
Over the past week, fans have converged on The Surf Ballroom to take part in The 50th Anniversary of The Winter Dance Party event, culminating in a tribute concert last night, starring Graham Nash.
Holly’s widow, Maria Elena, who suffered a miscarriage on hearing of his death, attended the evening, which ended poignantly with the Holly song Don’t Fade Away.
Holly had been famous little more than 18 months when he died. He had hit No 1 with Peggy Sue, but following his death, sales of his music shot up and his contribution to rock ‘n’ roll recognised
A plethora of big-name musicians, including Elton John and Eric Clapton have held Holly up as a hero.
Paul McCartney once said: “At least the first 40 [Beatles] songs we wrote were Buddy Holly-influenced.”
Bruce Springsteen has revealed: “I play Buddy Holly every night before going onstage. It keeps me honest.”
Tags: bruce springsteen, buddy holly, don mcclean, j.p. richardson, paul mccatney, phil white, Ritchie Valens, the big bopper, the day the music died
thank's for the interesting information...