February 3, 1959 was a sad day in rock ’n’ roll history: 22-year-old Buddy Holly, 28-year-old J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) and 17-year-old Ritchie Valens died in an airplane crash near Mason City, Iowa. February 3rd has been remembered as “The Day the Music Died” since Don McLean made the line popular in his 1972 hit, American Pie.
Buddy Holly, born Charles Hardin Holly in Lubbock, Texas, recorded That’ll Be the Day, Peggy Sue, Oh, Boy, Maybe Baby, and others, including It Doesn’t Matter Anymore (recorded just before his death, a smash in the U.K., non top-10 in the U.S.). Buddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. A convincing portrait of the singer was portrayed by Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story, a made for TV movie.
J.P. (Jiles Perry) Richardson was from Sabine Pass, TX. He held the record for longest, continuous broadcasting as a DJ at KTRM Radio in Beaumont, TX in 1956. He was on the air for 122 hours and eight minutes. In addition to his smash hit, Chantilly Lace, Richardson also penned Running Bear (a hit for Johnny Preston) plus White Lightning (a hit for country star, George Jones).
Richard Valenzuela lived in Pacoima, CA (near LA) and had a role in the 1959 film, Go Johnny Go. Ritchie Valens’ two big hits were Donna and La Bamba ... the last, the title of a 1987 film depiction of his life. La Bamba also represented the first fusion of Latin music and American rock.
Of the three young stars who died in that plane crash, the loss of Buddy Holly reverberated the loudest over the years. But, fans of 1950s rock ’n’ roll will agree, all three have been sorely missed.
On a cold winter's night a small private plane took off from Clear Lake, Iowa bound for Fargo, N.D. It never made its destination.
When that plane crashed, it claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Three of Rock and Roll's most promising performers were gone. As Don McLean wrote in his classic music parable, American Pie, (annotated)it was "the day the music died."
Jiles P. Richardson, known as The Big Bopper to his fans, was a Texas D.J. who found recording success and fame in 1958 with the song Chantilly Lace.
Richie Valenzuela was only 16 years old when Del-Fi record producer, Bob Keane, discovered the Pacoima, California singer. Keane rearranged his name to Ritchie Valens, and in 1958 they recorded Come On, Let's Go. Far more successful was the song Valens wrote for his girlfriend, Donna, and its flip side, La Bamba, a Rock and Roll version of an old Mexican standard. This earned the teenager an appearance on American Bandstand and the prospect of continued popularity.
Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holley (changed to Holly due to a misspelling on a contract) and his band, The Crickets, had a number one hit in 1957 with the tune That'll Be The Day. This success was follwed by Peggy Sue and an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. By 1959, Holly had decided to move in a new direction. He and the Crickets parted company. Holly married Maria Elena Santiago and moved to New York with the hope of concentrating on song writing and producing.
Performing in concert was very profitable, and Buddy Holly needed the money it provided. "The Winter Dance Party Tour" was planned to cover 24 cities in a short 3 week time frame (January 23 - February 15) and Holly would be the biggest headliner. Waylon Jennings, a friend from Lubbock, Texas and Tommy Allsup would go as backup musicians.
Ritchie Valens, probably the hottest of the artists at the time, The Big Bopper, and Dion and the Belmonts would round out the list of performers.
The tour bus developed heating problems. It was so cold onboard that reportedly one of the drummers developed frostbite riding in it. When they arrived at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, they were cold, tired and disgusted.
Buddy Holly had had enough of the unheated bus and decided to charter a plane for himself and his guys. At least he could get some laundry done before the next performance!
That night at the Surf Ballroom was magical as the fans went wild over the performers.
Dwyer Flying Service got the charter. $36 per person for a single engine Beechcraft Bonanza.
Waylon Jennings gave his seat up to Richardson, who was running a fever and had trouble fitting his stocky frame comfortably into the bus seats.
When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your old bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your plane crashes." This friendly banter of friends would haunt Jennings for years.
Allsup told Valens, I'll flip you for the remaining seat. On the toss of a coin, Valens won the seat and Allsup the rest of his life.
The plane took off a little after 1 A.M. from Clear Lake and never got far from the airport before it crashed, killing all onboard.
A cold N.E wind immediately gave way to a snow which drastically reduced visibility. The ground was already blanketed in white. The pilot may have been inexperienced witht he instrumentation.
One wing hit the ground and the small plane corkscrewed over and over. The three young stars were thrown clear of the plane, leaving only pilot Roger Peterson inside.
Over the years there has been much speculation as to whether a shot was fired inside the plane which disabled or killed the pilot. Logic suggests that encased in a sea of white snow, with only white below, Peterson just flew the plane into the ground.
Deciding that the show must go on at the next stop, Moorhead, MN, they looked for local talent to fill in. Just across the state line from Moorhead, in Fargo ND, they found a 15 year old talent named Bobby Vee.
The crash that ended the lives of Holly, Valens and Richardson was the break that began the career of Vee.
Tommy Allsup would one day open a club named "The Head's Up Saloon," a tribute to the coin toss that saved his life.
Waylon Jennings would become a hugely popular Country singer.
Dion di Mucci would enjoy a long lived solo career.
Inscribed on Ritchie Valens' grave are the words, "Come On, Let's Go."
Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima. He grew up surrounded by Mexican music, but he also intently cocked an ear to black R&B vocal groups like the Crows, the Penguins and the Drifter. He also loved Little Richard (and was known as the “Little Richard of the San Fernando Valley”), Bo Diddley and Buddy Holly.
Valens learned how to play guitar and joined a local dance band, the Silhouettes, at sixteen. In May 1958, he auditioned for Del-Fi label owner Bob Keane, who spotted his raw talent. Under Keane's direction, Valens cut a few sessions at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. His debut single, "Come On, Let's Go," was a spirited rocker that barely missed the Top 40. Valens’ second session produced "Donna" and "La Bamba," rush-released as a single after a deejay played an acetate of "Donna" on KFWB, Los Angeles' biggest station. The song was a sweet, simple love song for a girl he knew at San Fernando High. Many years later, rock critic Lester Bangs called it “one of the classic teen loves ballads.” With "Donna" rising in the national charts, Valens made a promotional trip to New York in late December 1958, where he appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and Alan Freed's Christmas Show.
Though “Donna” made Valens a star, it was “La Bamba” that would become most closely identified with the young Mexican-American rocker. “La Bamba” was a popular huapango – a Mexican fiesta dance song - that he learned from his cousin. Valens put a rock and roll spin on this spirited folk tune, juicing it up with garage-rock riffing and a raw, enthusiastic solo. In essence, he invented Latino rock with this two-minute rock and roll classic.
The budding star was on a fast track when he embarked on the ill-fated Winter Dance Party bus tour of the Midwest in late January 1959. When headliner Buddy Holly chartered a plane to fly from Iowa, to the next date in Faro, North Dakota, Valens flipped a coin with guitarist Tommy Allsop to see who would get the last seat. Valens won the toss and boarded the small aircraft, which took off in the early hours of February 3, 1959. Minutes later it crashed in a cornfield, claiming the lives of Valens, Holly, J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper") and the pilot. Valens, who was only 17 years old, left behind a small but influential body of work.
Buddy Holly played rock and roll for only two short years, but the wealth of material he recorded in that time made a major and lasting impact on popular music. Holly was an innovator who wrote his own material and was among the first to exploit such advanced studio techniques as double-tracking. He pioneered and popularized the now-standard rock-band lineup of two guitars, bass and drums. In his final months, he even began experimenting with orchestration. Holly's catalog of songs includes such standards of the rock and roll canon as "Rave On," "Peggy Sue," "That'll Be the Day," Oh Boy!" and "Maybe Baby." Though Holly lacked the arresting sexuality of Elvis Presley, he nonetheless cut an engaging, charismatic figure with his trademark horn-rimmed glasses and vocal hiccup. His creative self-reliance and energetic, inspired craftsmanship prefigured the coming wave of rock and rollers in the Sixties. Holly was a professed influence on the Beatles and Hollies (both of whom derived their names from his). Even the Rolling Stones had their first major British hit with Holly's "Not Fade Away." He was born Charles Hardin Holley (later amended to "Holly") on September 7th, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas. He learned to play guitar, piano and fiddle at an early age. After high school, he formed the Western and Bop Band, a country-oriented act that performed regularly on a Lubbock radio station and opened for acts that came through town. After being noticed by a talent scout, Holly was signed to Decca in early 1956, recording demos and singles for the label in Nashville under the name Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes. Back home, Holly opened a show at the Lubbock Youth Center for Elvis Presley, an event that hastened his conversion from country and western to rock and roll. ("We owe it all to Elvis," he later said).
On February 25th, 1957, Holly and a revised band lineup, now dubbed the Crickets, recorded "That'll Be the Day" at the Clovis, New Mexico, studio of producer Norman Petty. The effortless, upbeat rocker won them a contract with the Coral and Brunswick labels. Later that year it became a Number One pop hit and even rose to Number Two on the R&B charts. The terms of Holly's arrangement with his record labels, negotiated by producer/manager Petty, were somewhat unusual. Releases alternated on Coral and Brunswick, with those on the former label credited to Buddy Holly and the latter to the Crickets. Between August 1957 and August 1958, Holly and the Crickets charted seven Top Forty singles.
In October 1958, Holly split both with the Crickets and with Petty, moving to Greenwich Village and marrying Maria Elena Santiago, to whom he proposed on their first date. Because of legal and financial problems engendered by his breakup with Petty, Holly reluctantly agreed to perform on the Winter Dance Party, an ill-advised bus tour of the Midwest in the winter of 1959. Following a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a private plane to the next stop on the tour, Moorhead, Minnesota. Two other performers, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, joined him. Their plane left the Mason City, Iowa, airport at two in the morning and crashed in a cornfield a few minutes later, killing all aboard. Buddy Holly was only 22 years old at the time of the crash - an event immortalized in Don McLean's "American Pie" as "the day the music died."
September 7, 1936
Charles Hardin Holley, a.k.a., Buddy Holly, is born in Lubbock, Texas.
September 1, 1953
Best friends Buddy (Holly) and Bob (Montgomery) audition for radio station KDAV in Lubbock. The teenage duo is given a half-hour show on Sunday afternoons, during which they perform country and bluegrass standards.
October 14, 1955
The trio of Buddy Holly, Bob Montgomery and Larry Welborn opens for Bill Haley and the Comets in Lubbock. Holly impresses a Nashville talent scout, leading to his eventual signing with Decca Records.
October 15, 1955
In the process of moving from their country-music origins toward the rockabilly sound, Buddy Holly's trio open for Elvis Presley in Lubbock.
January 9, 1956
Buddy Holly & the Two-Tones (Sonny Curtis and Don Guess) kick off a 14-date country & western tour in Little Rock, Arkansas. They're bottom-billed on a lineup that includes Hank Thompson, George Jones, Wanda Jackson and Cowboy Copas.
January 26, 1956
Signed to Decca Records, Buddy Holly heads to Nashville for his first official recording session. Overseen by veteran country producer Owen Bradley, the session yields four tracks, including Holly's debut single ("Blue Days, Black Nights") and a classic cover ("Midnight Shift").
February 25, 1957
Buddy Holly records "That'll Be the Day" at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. The single is released on the Brunswick label (a Decca subsidiary) and credited to the Crickets.
September 23, 1957
"That'll Be the Day" hits #1. "Peggy Sue" is released hot on its heels, reaching #3. Buddy Holly performs both songs on The Ed Sullivan Show in December.
January 25, 1958
"Oh Boy!" becomes Buddy Holly's third Top Ten hit.
March 28, 1958
Buddy Holly performs at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater as part of a bill that includes Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. It is the kickoff date for a two-month tour billed as "Alan Freed's Big Beat Show."
August 15, 1958
Buddy Holly marries Maria Elena Santiago back home in Lubbock.
October 3, 1958
Another caravan tour, "The Biggest Show of Stars for 1958—The Autumn Edition," kicks off in Worcester, Massachusetts. Buddy Holly and the Crickets share the bill with Bobby Darin, Dion and the Belmonts, Clyde McPhatter, and the Coasters.
January 5, 1959
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" becomes the last release from Buddy Holly before his death.
January 23, 1959
The "Winter Dance Party," an ill-advised tour through the frigid Midwest, is launched at George Devine's Million Dollar Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Buddy Holly, who has parted ways with the Crickets, is the headliner. The other acts are Dion and the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and Frankie Sardo.
February 3, 1959
After performing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly charters a plane to fly him to Fargo, North Dakota. Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashes eight miles northwest of the airfield, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson (a.k.a. The Big Bopper) and pilot Roger Peterson.
March 9, 1959
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore," written by Paul Anka and recorded by Buddy Holly at his last studio session, becomes a posthumous hit.
December 24, 1969
The Buddy Holly Story, a best-of album that has been in print since 1959, is certified gold (500,000 copies sold).
July 1, 1976
Lifelong Buddy Holly fan Paul McCartney purchases rights to the entire Holly song catalog.
September 7, 1976
On what would have been Buddy Holly's 40th birthday, the singer's life and music are the subject of a week-long tribute organized by Paul McCartney. "Buddy Holly Week" becomes an annual affair.
May 18, 1978
The Buddy Holly Story, a popular film biography starring Gary Busey in the title role, is released. Twelve years later, the actor pays a quarter of a million dollars at auction for an acoustic guitar that belonged to Holly.
February 3, 1979
A commemorative concert is held at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, exactly 20 years after the final show played by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Del Shannon and the Drifters are among the performers.
January 23, 1986
Buddy Holly is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner, held in New York City. Holly's widow, Maria Elena, accepts on his behalf.
