The pilot was only 22 years old, not instrument current, and instrument flying in those days was less than perfect. So you have to imagine a 22-year-old, at midnight or 1 AM, with three rock stars who want to go. Took off and white out conditions, made it a very short distance before vertigo took over.
Read the FAA report on the crash. Describing all the pressure on the pilot, the weather, his certification, it was an accident waiting to happen. Very tragic.
A factor in many crashes, Get-there-itis.