The Day the Music Died

[CyForPresident]

Tonight will be the 50th anniversary of the plane crash outside Clear Lake, Iowa that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Waylon Jennings lost a coin flip to be on the plane. That night pretty much killed early rock and roll until the british invasion. I was wondering if any old timers had any stories about that time, they might be willing to share.

The register has a pretty cool website about that night for those interested.
DesMoinesRegister.com | Buddy Holly: 50 years after the crash that changed rock 'n' roll | The Des Moines Register


Immortalized by American Pie
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCMuDP0Qhq0]YouTube - The Meaning of American Pie[/ame]

 

[bigredqb7]

are you in music 304 right now

 

[CyForPresident]

are you in music 304 right now

Yeap, and I have nothing else to do.:yes:

 

[4429 mcc]

Iowans and the DSM rag will squeeze everything out of anything no matter how long ago.

 

[danrog]

It was the frontpage story on Cnn.com for a couple of hours this afternoon FWIW

 

[LindenCy]

We can always watch The Buddy Holly Story staring Gary Busey.

 

[dustinal]

Iowans and the DSM rag will squeeze everything out of anything no matter how long ago.

Dude, it's a milestone anniversary. As pointed out already, it's made national news this year. You make it sound like it's all over the Register and the local news every year.

 

[bawbie]

Dude, it's a milestone anniversary. As pointed out already, it's made national news this year. You make it sound like it's all over the Register and the local news every year.

Well, it is all over local news every year, as there is a Buddy Holly festival (complete with a sock hop!!) in Clear Lake on the anniversary that draws people from around the world.

 

[dustinal]

Well, it is all over local news every year, as there is a Buddy Holly festival (complete with a sock hop!!) in Clear Lake on the anniversary that draws people from around the world.

Fair enough. I guess I just mean to say that it's a big enough deal (particularly on a milestone anniversary) that I wouldn't say Iowans and the Register are trying to milk it.

 

[mwitt]

are you in music 304 right now

Why? Are you?

 

[Go2Guy]

Buddy is great; his music will never die.

 

[nickwc]

music 304, i took that class last spring, really enoyed that class

 

[fccy]

My boss said his wife wanted tickets for tonight (when they were still available). At $85 a ticket, he said no.

Lots of rumors floating around about who will be in Clear Lake tonight (Paul McCartney and Springsteen were two names mentioned).

 

[Palmer]

His influence was great...he should be remembered with great fanfair...

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

Fair enough. I guess I just mean to say that it's a big enough deal (particularly on a milestone anniversary) that I wouldn't say Iowans and the Register are trying to milk it.

Except that as the DMR cuts down on regular ordinary news statewide, it's been running numerous stories in a series about the event. I'm not old enough to remember it, so I haven't been reading most of the stories.

 

[Clone96]

Great freaky tale about Waylon Jennings and the plane crash. Jennings was friend of Holly's and was playing bass with the Crickets on that tour. Jennings was originally supposed to be on the plane, but he lost a coin flip with Richie Valens for the seat. The last thing Holly said to him was "Well, I hope your bus freezes up." And Jennings said to him "I hope your old plane crashes." It haunted Jennings for years after that.

 

[ketelmeister]

For what it's worth, my dad's band played the night after at the Surf. The owner took him to see the plane wreckage which was still there and was very distraught to say the least. Dad's band played for about 30 minutes, only about 20 people came out the next night, and they went home. He lived a piece of history.

 

[cydswipe]

It's one of those events that the truth won't ever be know for sure. I can remember seeing a VH1 Behind the Music about the crash. There was a pistol found near the crash with at least one bullet missing. It was in a photo. I'm not saying that had anything to do with the crash, but, questions can be raised from the fact. The pilot that died was from Alta, Iowa 6 miles from here.

 

[IsUaClone2]

I was just about to turn 15 when the plane crashed. Buddy Holly was one of my favorite singers. Peggy Sue was my favorite but they were all good. I remember delivering newspapers and rereading the story numerous times hoping that I had read it wrong. It probably was the first time I really felt the pain of loss by death. Buddy's death was harder to take than Janis Joplin or Jimmy Hendrix because they caused their own deaths. Buddy was about the biggest thing in my life at that time (I hadn't gotten my growth spurt yet so I was too short for the girls) and it was a tragic loss.

 

[superdorf]

Here is some cool commentary for Don McClean... Talking about how Holly inspired him to write "American Pie"

I have loved Buddy Holly's music since I was a kid. I'm only 30 years old... I don't think many people my age have been exposed to enough of his music.