ON THIS DAY (1959: Buddy Holly killed in air crash)

bbc.com.uk ^ | February 3, 2006

[Ranald S. MacKenzie]

1959: Buddy Holly killed in air crash

Three young rock 'n' roll stars have been killed in a plane crash in the United States.

Buddy Holly, 22, Jiles P Richardson - known as the Big Bopper - 28, and Ritchie Valens, 17, died in a crash shortly after take-off from Clear Lake, Iowa at 0100 local time.

The pilot of the single-engined Beechcraft Bonanza plane was also killed.

Early reports from the scene suggest the aircraft spun out of control during a light snowstorm.

Only the pilot's body was found inside the wreckage as the performers were thrown clear on impact.

Holly hired the plane after heating problems developed on his tourbus.

All three were travelling to Fargo, North Dakota, the next venue in their Winter Dance Party Tour .

Holly had set up the gruelling schedule of concerts - covering 24 cities in three weeks - to make money after the break-up of his band, The Crickets, last year.

Recorded life

Born Charles Hardin Holley - changed to Holly after a misspelling on a contract - he had several hit records, including a number one, in the US and UK with That'll be the Day in 1957.

A singer and guitarist, he was inspired by Elvis Presley after seeing him at an early concert in his home town of Lubbock, Texas.

With Presley serving in the Army, some critics expected Holly to take over his crown.

Richard Valenzuela was the first Mexican American to break into mainstream music, after being discovered by record producer Bob Keane, who changed his name to Ritchie Valens.

He had made three albums and achieved a number two chart position in the US with his composition Donna - about his girlfriend - in 1958.

His rock 'n' roll re-working of the traditional Mexican song La Bamba - on the B-side of Donna - has also received acclaim.

The Big Bopper had been a record-breaking radio DJ - with a 122-hour marathon stint - and reached number six in the American charts with his record Chantilly Lace.

[Ranald S. MacKenzie]

But february made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

Don McLean

[ken5050]

Wow..thanks...I remember it well...

[mc5cents]

"Oh baby, you know what I like!" --The Big Bopper

[kajingawd]

...singing bye bye miss american pie...

[TexasNative2000]

"A long, long, time ago . . . ."

[HEY4QDEMS]

And in the streets
The children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died

[beyond the sea]

Bad news on the doorstep -----

Oh yes!

And........ McLean's "Vincent" is wonderful too!

****

weathered faces lined in pain

are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

And now I understand what you tried to say to me

how you suffered for your sanity

how you tried to set them free

perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you

but still your love was true

and when no hope was left in sight on that starry starry night

You took your life as lovers often do

But I could have told you Vincent

................ this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

****

Hearing that every day.............

[beyond the sea]

A GREAT GREAT SONG!

[capt. norm]

It happened about 30 miles from where I lived but I didn't hear about it until the next day. Seems like it was a Saturday morning and I heard it on the radio while cleaning the basement.

[Nakota]

Rave on!

[lunarbicep]

some amazing pictures taken on Feb. 1, '59 at The Riverside Ballroom performance, can be seen here

[Ranald S. MacKenzie]

Hub City Ping

[WorkingClassFilth]

In my younger and more callused days I had regular travels down to Clear Lake, IA. I met the farmer who owned the field they crashed in and he said he had a box of parts in one of his sheds from stuff he'd plow up every once in a while. I considered a plan to buy that box from him and market the pieces through the Rolling Stone, but circumstances changed and I quit traveling there. Glad I didn't do it though, I've racked up enough regrets in life without adding that particular folly.

[Mike Bates]

Believe it was a Tuesday.

[kittymyrib]

My daughter and her husband danced their wedding dance to "True Love Ways." We teens on the Plains loved Buddy and the Crickets.

[tx_eggman]

"Oh baby, you know what I like!" --The Big Bopper

... ain't nothing in the world like a big eyed girl ... make me act so funny, make me spend my money

[Ranald S. MacKenzie]

My Mom went went to Lubbock High when Buddy was there. (I think she was a year older than him.) Those would have been cool times to hang out at the Hi-D-Ho.

[somerville]

Thanks for the Buddy Holly pix tips.

Those Bender Sisters (with the Big Bopper) haven't aged a day in 40 years.

[Preachin']

I heard that Waylon Jennings (one of Budd Holly's Crickets) gave up his seat to the Big Bopper, because the Big Bopper was ill.

[Texas Deb]

Here's a link to the Buddy Holly Center here in Lubbock.

http://www.buddyhollycenter.org/

And a link to a reprint of the original article in the evening Lubbock AJ on February 3, 1959, reporting the crash.

http://www.buddyhollyarchives.com/crash1.shtml