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Rock’s First Tragedy: When Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper Died
UltimateClassicRock ^ | 2/3/22 | David Lifton

Posted on 02/04/2022 12:29:17 AM PST by nickcarraway

Rock 'n’ roll was still in its infancy when it suffered its first tragedy. On Feb. 3, 1959, three of its biggest stars — Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, known as the Big Bopper — were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

The three acts, along with Dion and the Belmonts, were on a package tour called the Winter Dance Party, which was to play 24 Midwestern cities in as many days. But the bus’ heating system was ill-equipped and broke down a few days later, which caused some musicians to catch the flu and Holly’s drummer Carl Bunch to be hospitalized for frostbite. By the time they reached the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake on Feb. 2, about a week and a half into the tour, Holly, after the show, decided to charter a plane from nearby Mason City to Fargo, N.D., just across the state line from their next gig in Moorhead, Minn. As a bonus, Holly would be able to do his laundry, which had been neglected since the tour began.

The plane, a Beechwood Bonanza, had room for only three passengers – Holly and his band – and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Holly’s bass player, future country legend Waylon Jennings, gave up his seat to Richardson, who was ill. According to Jennings' autobiography, Holly teased his bass player by saying, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." To which Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes."

There are conflicting stories as to how Valens wound up in the third seat. Tommy Allsup, Holly’s guitarist, claimed that he lost a coin flip to Valens in the dressing room. In 2010, Dion DiMucci, who had been silent about that night for 51 years, claimed that he, not Allsup, was slated for the third seat because he was one of the headliners. But after winning the coin toss, he balked at paying $36 for the flight – the amount his parents paid in monthly rent for the apartment where he grew up – and gave Valens the seat. Local DJ Bob Hale, who was the MC for the concert, agrees that it was between Allsup and Valens, but that he, not Allsup, flipped the coin.

Regardless of the contradictions, around 12:55AM on Feb. 3, the plane carrying Holly, Richardson and Valens took off in a snowstorm with strong winds. But it traveled only a few miles before crashing, killing all four men instantly.

The federal investigation ruled that even though the weather played a large role in the accident, the 21-year-old Peterson was too inexperienced to have been flying in such conditions. In addition, he had most likely misread the altitude indicator, which was different than the one on which he had trained, and inadvertently brought the plane down instead of up.

At the time, Holly’s wife of six months, Maria Elena, was two weeks pregnant. The day after the crash, she suffered a miscarriage from the emotional trauma.

In March 1980, a long-missing piece of the plane crash was discovered. Holly’s signature black-rimmed glasses had landed in a snow bank and were discovered in the spring of 1959, after the snow melted. They were brought to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s office, sealed in a manila envelope and forgotten about for 21 years. Upon discovery, the glasses were returned to his widow and are currently on permanent display at the Buddy Holly Center in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas.


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: bigbopper; buddyholly; ritchievalens
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To: CaliGirlGodHelpMe

Yes, that’s the one.


21 posted on 02/04/2022 5:37:02 AM PST by dinodino ( )
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To: nickcarraway

AND except for losing a toss of a coin, Waylon Jennings would have been on there.


22 posted on 02/04/2022 6:03:00 AM PST by weezel
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To: Maine Mariner
Students from Concordia college were they in good numbers. The college did not allow dances to be held on campus.

A Christian school?

23 posted on 02/04/2022 6:45:22 AM PST by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Militia to the border! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: nickcarraway

24 posted on 02/04/2022 6:50:15 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: JimRed

Yes, Lutheran!


25 posted on 02/04/2022 7:55:31 AM PST by Maine Mariner
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To: JimRed

Evangelical Lutheran Church


26 posted on 02/04/2022 7:57:22 AM PST by Maine Mariner
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To: nickcarraway
I was in a Biology class dissecting a frog when a classmate walked by and showed the class the front page of a newspaper with their crash posted, think it was the Daily News. The whole class became very sad.
27 posted on 02/04/2022 8:18:31 AM PST by duckman ( Not tired of winning!)
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To: crazycat

Thanks for the link. I first remember hearing Dion on a cool transistor radio in the late 50s. Here we are 60 years later and I had no idea he was still making music. What a nice break from Covid, Biden and China.


28 posted on 02/04/2022 9:42:18 AM PST by sanjuanbob
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To: Maine Mariner

3 days before Iowa they played in the Duluth national guard Armory.


29 posted on 02/04/2022 1:15:08 PM PST by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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To: CaliGirlGodHelpMe
Beechcraft Bonanza was the Dentist Killer. (What I'd heard).

One buzzed his own house frequently. I haven't seen it in a year.

30 posted on 02/04/2022 3:37:37 PM PST by Does so (Americans had no desire for war between 1939 and 1941. Rheinland? Sometimes War Finds YOU!)
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To: mewzilla
Not sure where I got Cessna 172, as Free Republic is usually my only source of news.

A rescue of a Cessna 172 pilot from an oncoming train was in the news recently, but VFR/IFR details of the Buddy Holly crash were included in what I had read.

Maybe a previous February 3... FR thread?

31 posted on 02/04/2022 5:35:23 PM PST by Does so (Americans had no desire for war between 1939 and 1941. Rheinland? Sometimes War Finds YOU!)
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To: dinodino

Thank you. By the way do those planes have a good record?


32 posted on 02/05/2022 2:35:55 AM PST by deek69
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To: deek69

They used to have a bad record…issues with inflight breakup, etc. However, nowadays, all of the V-tail Bonanzas flying have been reinforced, so it’s no longer an issue. Ruddervator flutter was not the reason for this crash, though.


33 posted on 02/05/2022 2:48:18 AM PST by dinodino ( )
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To: dinodino

Thank you for the insight.


34 posted on 02/05/2022 1:36:39 PM PST by deek69
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