Vancouver Interview - October 23, 1957

Some interesting points from this short interview in late 1957. One, Buddy is asked how long he thinks the genre of rock 'n roll will last. His answer? Only about six or seven more months. He is asked if he'd quit if that was the case or ride the next big thing, and he cheerfully responds that he'd change his style. As an explanation, he says he prefers quiter music anyway. He also states a preference for 'Oh Boy!' (about to be released at the time of the interview) over 'That'll Be the Day'.

Some people have said that Buddy misunderstood the question about rock 'n roll, but I disagree. The answer as it stands was consistent with the question and he doesn't seem confused. Maybe he was having a 'down' day, maybe he was in a bad mood, maybe he really feared for the future of rock 'n roll. Who knows?

As far as the preference for 'Oh Boy!', it may be true or it may just be a case of selling the latest release to the press.

I also think his preference for quieter music is not, necessarily, an indicator that Buddy would have abandoned rock had he lived.

My Autobiography by Buddy Holly

This is the complete text of an assignment Holly wrote for his sophomore English course in the spring of 1953. He was 17 (?) at the time, which seems a bit old for a sophomore. Then again he writes of starting school at age seven, which itself is a little long in the tooth for the here-and-now.

Note Buddy's snarkiness and self-deprecating humor. That fits in nicely in 2009 but I doubt they were standard or appreciated qualities in the 1950's.

I also love the last line "that's my life to the present date, and even though it may seem awful and full of calamities, I'd sure be in a bad shape without it"

* * * *

I was born one fall day, a certain particular one, because it was Sept. 7, 1936 and school for that year was starting. It also the first Monday of the month and Dollar Day, and also Labor Day, so you see, it was very eventful in more ways than one. Mr. and Mrs. L.O. Holley were the happy parents of this bouncing, baby boy, or so I'm told, because I was a little young then to be remembering it now.

My life has been what you might call an uneventful one, and it seems there is not much of interest to tell. I was born here in Lubbock and except for a year and a half when I moved to the Roosevelt School District, I have lived here all my life so far. I don't remember too much of this period of my life up until the time I started to go to school at Roscoe Wilson when I was seven. Since then I remember most of the more important events of my school days.

It was during the 4th grade that I moved to Roosevelt and continued to school there until I finished the 6th grade. I then moved back to the Lubbock School Dist. and started to Junior High School at J.T. HUTCHINSON. It was great to be back among my old grade school friends and everything clicked right off. It was really a joy to me to become a westerner of Lubbock Senior High School.

Little did I know what the last nine weeks of my sophomore year held in store for me. This will make the second time I have given my English theme for my test; I got kicked out of Plane Geometry class in the last week of school; I am behind with my Biology work and will probably fail every course I'm taking. At least that's the way I feel. But why quit there? I may as well go ahead and tell all. My father's out of town on a fishing trip, and he is really going to be proud of my latest accomplishments when he gets back.

As of now, I have these on the list.

When I was driving our pickup Sunday afternoon against a hard wind, the hood came unfastened and blew up and now it's bent so that it won't fasten down good. Before I got home, I stopped at a boy's house and he knocked a baseball in to the front glass, shattering it all over me. As if that wasn't enough, I had n appointment to apply for a job with a drafting firm yesterday afternoon and when my mother came after me, she let me drive on towards town. I had brought a picture of the choir and she was looking at it. She asked where I was, and I pointed to my picture. Just as I looked back up we hit the back of a Chrysler and tore the front end of our car up. So you see, I hope my father gets to catching so many fish that he will forget to come back for a little while.

Well, that's enough of bad things for a while. I have many hobbies. Some of these are hunting, fishing, leatherwork, reading, painting and playing western music. I have thought about making a carer out of western music if I am good enough but I will just have to wait to see how that turns out. I like drafting and have thought a lot about making it my life's owrk, but I guess everything will just have to wait and turn out for the best.

Well, that's my life to the present date, and even though it may seem awful and full of calamities, I'd sure be in a bad shape without it.

FINIS
FINALE
In other words,
THE END

Thanks to Lisa for typing in the copy!

A phone call from Feb 28th, 1957

Here's a grand piece of history. In 1956 The Crickets were signed by Decca Records. Buddy clashed with the producers, who wanted to pigeonhole the group into a country-western sound. Without any fanfare the company refused to renew their contract, and on the last day of February 1957 Buddy placed this call to Paul Cohen of Decca.

A few things to note while listening: Buddy's obviously being given the run-around here. But throughout the six minute call he buries his temper and keeps his cool. He displays a very civil and courteous attitude, even when Cohen tactlessly tells him that if another record company wants to 'waste their money' on him, that was their problem.

Later that year Buddy was signed to another label willing to 'waste their money' on him. The Crickets released 'That'll Be the Day' and he was on his way to superstardom.

'Two Timin' Woman' - by (a 13 year old) Buddy Holly

Here's a rare song by a twelve or thirteen year old Charles Hardin Holley, later better known as Buddy Holly. It was recorded in their family home at 3315 36th Street in Lubbock, Texas sometime in 1949. His voice at the time hadn't changed yet, and the vocals can be mistaken for those of a girl.

His guitar playing is far from childish though; check out the solo between 1:09 and 1:30 in the song.





(The video says he's 13 or 14 at the time, but I've double checked the recording date, and he was born 09/07/36, putting him at 12 or 13 here. )

Fair Warning: Today will be all Buddy Holly on Slapinions

At 1:05 in the morning today, a crowd of fans stood on the Holly crash site - still a working farm field - and sang American Pie.

At the same time in Milwaukee, in an equally corny move, yours truly put on my coat and stepped onto my front porch. I raised a drink to the northwest sky, took a pull, and then poured a little to the ground. I said a quick prayer, wished their spirits well, and darted inside.

Yes, it was silly. Sue me.

I watched some of the events online from the Surf Ballroom, and I was mighty nervous when word came that the rumor mill said Clapton, Springsteen, Dylan, or McCartney would show. It would've been hard to swallow missing them, but in the end it was just empty rumor. Plenty of name acts showed, but no upper-tier superstars.

If you have a mind to, check out the Des Moines Register's spectacular barrage of coverage of the anniversary. There are interviews with personalities related to the crash, video of the event, official documents related to the crash, dowloadable posters, music and more. It is MIGHTY impressive.

I learned several things I hadn't known. Plane owner Jerry Dwyer was sued for 1.5 million (a huge sum in 1959) by Ritchie Valens mom but won the case. In fear of future lawsuits he kept the wreckage, and he still has the plane in storage somewhere. My God what a coup for a museum if he'd ever release it!

Dwyer came off as a bit of a conspiracy nut in his interview. He wouldn't discuss some things, mentioned cryptic 'truths' he knows but won't tell, etc. I get the impression that even 50 years later he's still trying to absolve his conscience. I can only assume the 'truth' he hinted at is the ridiculous notion that the pilot was shot in a scuffle aboard the plane. It's been refuted a million times, but America loves a conspiracy.

Sadly the Big Bopper's son, who wasn't born until two months after the crash, bought into some of those rumours and had his father exhumed two years ago. There's a very thorough article on the Des Moines site by the forensic scientist who did the deed. The Bopper was not shot, nor did he try to crawl away to safety. His body structure was destroyed by the impact, a fact hidden by what the article's author called stunning work by the undertaker. His face and haircut were instantly recognizable even after 48 years in the ground - this despite the fact that there were no bones left to hold up the face. He was given a new casket and reburied.

Get this: despite the fact that the original coffin carried an odor so bad the funeral home would not allow it inside during the exhumation, the casket is being PUT UP FOR SALE ON EBAY by the Bopper's son. I . . don't understand the thought process behind that.

The coroner's reports on the bodies revealed some gruesome truths, including massive damage to Valen's head. I won't go into it here, but all the reports are fascinating reading.

They've finally gotten around to putting a maker at the crash site honoring the pilot. About time.

Something I did know but had forgotten: Waylong Jennings last words to Buddy after the concert was a mocking 'Well I hope your old plane crashes'. Those words, spoken innocently, would haunt Jennings for years and escalate his addictions.

Anyway, check out the site, and be prepared for a slew of music posts here today.

Rave on!

Remember

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while.

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

- American Pie by Don McLean.

At around 1:05 AM on the morning of February 3rd, 1959 - fifty years ago nearly to the moment - a plane carrying four men crashed in a dark Iowa cornfield. No one saw or heard the crash, and it did not make front page news in many cities. I doubt anyone at the time, even the families involved, realized that people fifty years later would mourn the losses of that day.


CHARLES HARDIN HOLLEY, AKA BUDDY HOLLY, AGE 22






RICHARD STEVEN VALENZUELA AKA RITCHIE VALENS, AGE 17





J.P. RICHARDSON, AKA THE BIG BOPPER, AGE 28





(PILOT) ROGER PETERSON, AGE 21





Rest in peace gentlemen. Your music lives on.

50 Winters Later in Clear Lake Iowa

It was probably a bad time to pick a fight with Springsteen fans, coming as it does on the eve of a slew of Buddy Holly posts. I still say 'relevant today' is a vastly different beast than 'influential'.

Enough of that tho'. For what it's worth, I wouldn't choose (a living) Buddy to do the halftime show either, and Springsteen is a Holly fan, which means he has some good qualities ;) Says the Boss: "I play Buddy Holly every night before I go on. It keeps me honest!"

I should be in Iowa right now, preparing to celebrate the event with a massive tribute concert at the Surf Ballroom, where Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and Buddy played their last concert.




I have tickets, rather pricy ones at that, but given my current financial climate I just couldn't pull the trigger on the trip. [My efforts to resell them fell short]. I'd been hoping for a bigger paycheck to make up the difference, but it came a week too late. There were many 'wounded in action' items after my lay-off; this is the first confirmed KIA.

Scheduled to appear at the concert:

Tommy Allsup
Big Bopper JR
The Crickets
Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens
Joe Ely
Wanda Jackson
Los Lobos
Los Lonely Boys
Delbert McClinton
Chris Montez
Cousin Brucie Morrow
Graham Nash
Peter & Gordon
Sir Tim Rice
Bobby Vee

I'm trying to look on the bright side. I'm not out a few hundred, I'm saving a few hundred by not tacking on the cost of the trip. Yeah, that's it. I'm saving money.

Besides, the Escort is down with an unknown engine problem, and with the van as our only vehicle I don't care to risk it on a 12 hour rountrip to Iowa in the middle of winter. What if it breaks down? What if it has a flat? I can't afford those repairs on top of the gas/wear and tear/food/lodging.

Fuggetaboutit.

So . . .a few tears, some Buddy playing on the computer, and some plans of a summer trip to Clear Lake brewing in my head.

[sidenote: right now I'm listening to the guitar solo on Buddy's version of Chuck Berry's Brown Eyed Handsome Man. It is a thing of beauty.]

Wanted: Tickets to the (Iowa) Winter Dance Party Feb '09

I've written about it here before. Since 1987 I've wanted to spend the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death in Clear Lake, Iowa, the site of his fatal plane crash. Don't ask me why a 13 year old kid thought like that, but I did.

I went to buy tickets to the events as early as last year, and time and again was told nothing was set in stone yet. I checked the website for the Surf Ballroom, the host of the event, over and over. Nothing. I skip a few weeks, go back to check yesterday, and boom! the 50th Winter Dance Party was online.

And sold out.

I called the Ballroom today and found out there is a seperate event for that night, and I was placed on the notification list for that. I called the Chamber of Commerce, and they stated the only Buddy Holly events would be at the Surf.

So I'm probably screwed.

I've already hit Ebay and I've posted on Craigslist in Iowa, BUT . . if anyone in JLand lives in Iowa and has a spare ticket, or works in the music business, knows the owner of the Surf or whatever, PLEASE PLEASE let me know.

Backup plan: Lisa and I will go to the Tommy Allsup (sp?) concert at  Milwaukee's Eagle Ballroom on Jan 23rd. That'll be the 50th anniversary of a Buddy Holly concert on that very stage. [Tommy was in Buddy's band on that fateful tour.]

Then I'm thinking we could still, maybe, head out to Iowa and tour the Surf, which is considered a museum of rock 'n roll. Then in the cold of night we could mark the annivesary by making our way to the cornfield outside of town where the plane crashed..

I"m keeping my fingers crossed.

Tags: Buddy Holly, Iowa

Buddy Holly - 49 years on

Today is the 49th anniversary of ‘The Day the Music Died’, the fateful day when Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, along with their pilot, Roger Peterson, perished in a plane crash near Clear Lake Iowa.

Rest in peace guys.

My wife asked me if I was going to write anything new for the anniversary, and I said no, thinking I’d just rehash some of my old tributes. (here, and here, for instance). I’ve changed my mind for two reasons. One, the old stuff was kind of skimpy, and two, well, the mood struck me.

I first got into Buddy Holly because of Robocop. Back in ’87 Robocop was a double feature, playing first and followed by La Bamba. My friend Erv went with me to see Robocop, and I went because I wanted to see LaBamba.

I was immediately hooked on Ritchie Valens and grabbed every cassette of his I could find, including a copy of a concert he did at his high school. (you’d be surprised how much the man recorded in an 8 or 9 month career).

[Sidenote: The concert cassette had an address of a fan club - pre-zip code no less - and I wrote in. The President of the Club, at the time of my letter a woman in her fifties, kindly wrote back and said the club had been phased out nearly thirty years before.

I still have the letter somewhere around here.]

Anyways, the movie soundtrack had a great cover of Holly’s Crying, Waiting, Hoping and I hesitantly called Mean Mountain Music, a store specializing in ‘50’s LP’s and tapes, and asked if they had any Buddy Holly.

“Uh, yeah,” the guy said, sarcastically. I deserved it; hell, I deserved a ‘duh!’.

So I became hooked on Buddy and stayed hooked, long after my affection for Valens faded into childhood nostalgia.

Why do I love the guy?

Not to sound shallow, but first and foremost I like the songs themselves. They’ve held up great over the decades, much better than many of the ’50’s rock tunes, and they still get you moving.

[ It’s a shame most people only know of “Peggy Sue”, a song I find pretty dull by Holly standards. ]

I also love his inherent cockiness. Here’s this curly haired, scrawny Texas kid with huge glasses, in an era that idolized beauties like Elvis and Troy Donahue. Yet he goes out and records songs that just reek of smug self-assuredness.

In his cover of Chuck Berry’s Brown Eyed Handsome Man, a fun and aggressive song (and one of my favorite of Buddy’s) he sings:

Arrested on charges of unemployment,
he was sitting in the witness stand
The judge's wife called up the district attorney
Said you free that brown eyed man
You want your job you better free that brown eyed man

Or in one of his own tunes, That’ll be the Day, he rejects his girlfriends threats of breaking off their relationship and retorts: ‘if we ever part and I leave you’

I like the fact that a half century after he’s gone musicians still tip their hat to him and acknowledge his influence. In 1998 Bob Dylan won album of the year and said in his acceptance speech:

"And I just want to say that when I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armory [note: this was on the final and fateful tour} and I was three feet away from him...and he LOOKED at me. And I just have some sort of feeling that he was — I don't know how or why — but I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way."

I love the fact that no two songs of his ever sounded the same; Nickelback he was not. ‘Peggy Sue’ is not ‘Not Fade Away’ and ‘Words of Love’ is about as far away from “Oh Boy!” as a single artist can get. And whenever possible he was innovative, both in the recording studio and as a composer and arranger. Check out the use of the celeste/xylophone solo in ‘Everyday’. Who does that???

Finally, I love his inspired guitar work, which seems far and above anyone of the era, with the exception of Berry himself, and I really like Buddy’s voice and trademark ‘hiccup’.

Anyone can play ‘what might have been’ and mourn a great and productive future that never came to pass; Lord knows no one ever has the guts to come out and say ’had so-and-so lived, they’d have ended up locked in a mental hospital like Britney Spears’.

But with Buddy I think it’s safe to assume that the crash ended what would have been a long and influential career. Perhaps not as an artist himself, because he was already deeply interested in the producer/publishing aspect of the business. But with his knack for finding new and exciting ways to push the boundaries of rock ’n roll, who knows what he could have culled from some never-to-be-heard artist.

Next year is the 50th anniversary of the crash, and for the past 21 years I’ve wanted to spend that day in Clear Lake, Iowa to commemorate the event. I told my wife today to start making plans for the date, and God willing we’ll be there.

I only wish we were celebrating 50 years of new Buddy Holly recordings instead. 

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Tags: Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly's Widow is at it Again

Maria Holly, the wife of Buddy Holly for mere months before his untimely death 49 years ago, is suing to prevent the publication of a memoir by Peggy Sue Gerron, the woman "Peggy Sue" was named after.

Maria Elena Holly says Peggy Sue Gerron's "Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?" is unauthorized and will harm her late husband's name, her own reputation and that of her company, Holly Properties. . .

"Confusion and tarnishment of Buddy Holly's name and Ms. Holly's reputation are likely to result from this unauthorized book," the letter states.

It demands the ceasing of promotion and sale of the book, removal of the subtitle and cancellation of all book orders. It also asks for refunds on any deposits for the book and for an accounting of revenues from any sales.

Uh, sure. Listen, it's swell that you managed to turn a few months in the sack into a 50 year gravy train, but enough is enough. No one on earth believes that marriage would've lasted, and if it was destined to be forever, why the obsessive greed over his work?

You tried to make the city of Lubbock PAY you for holding a day honoring their native son (did you succeed? I don't remember). Wouldn't you want your husband honored by his home town? Then again you allegedly screwed  Buddy's parents and family over the years.

I don't know the woman but nothing I've heard or read in the 21 years I've been a Holly fan lead me to any conclusion but that she's Courtney Love version 1.0.

Let the man's memory live on, and let the poor woman publish her diary.

Tags: Buddy Holly

Follow up on Buddy Holly

The recent coverage (what there was of it) of the anniversary of Buddy Holly's death must have brought some folks out of the woodwork.

Today's Journal Sentinel features a front page article that includes two never before published photos from the Milwaukee leg of that fateful final tour. Up until today, there were thought to be no photos from the show in existence.

Check out the story here.

 

Tags: Buddy Holly

The Day the Music Died - 48 years ago

For most of a month now we've been unable to access the AOL software on my home computer due to a 'runtime' error. Tonight, in my eagerness to post, I finally realized I could do so via Internet Explorer. I'll try to update y'all soon.

Today is the 48th anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper outside of Clear Lake, Iowa.

Buddy remains one of my favorite artists of all time - my personal (if eclectic) concert in Heaven would feature Buddy, Led Zeppelin, Artie Shaw, and Nirvanna, among others.

Here's a few clips of rare footage of Buddy performing.

Rest in Peace.

 

Tags: Buddy Holly

Remembering Buddy

                                                                                                   

Lest you think I forgot, today is the day, 47 years ago, when 'the music died'

Buddy Holly remains one of the greatest of all rock legends, and one of (if not the) personal favorite of mine.

Rest in peace.

Buddy Holly

Today, take a moment to listen to a Buddy Holly song and realize why it's called the day the music died.