1959: The day that "the music died"

In 1972, Don McClean introduced our generation to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in the # 1 song"American Pie". 

It started like this:     

"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."

The "day the music died" was years ago, a big triple loss for pop music. 

McClean's tune got me very interested in Buddy Holly, a native of West Texas.

 

I bought his records. I visited his grave during a business trip to West Texas about 20 years ago. I have followed the creation of The Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, TX.

 

I learned that Paul McCartney was also a huge fan of Buddy Holly. He toured England in 1958!

 

The Beatles recorded Holly's "Words of Love" in one of their early LP's. The Rolling Stones recorded "Not fade away", another of Holly's songs.

 

Buddy Holly was only 22 but ".....In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Holly #13 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time."

 

You can hear Buddy Holly's influence in every rock song recorded over the years. You can specially hear it in garage bands or every 15-year old who has played a rock guitar.

 

Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were killed in the same plane crash. They were not as popular as Holly but Valens had incredible potential since he was only 17!

 

The day "the music died", a sad day in the history of rock.

 

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We remember Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)

Norman Rockwell was born in New York City on this day in 1894.   He started painting at a young age and became an American Treasure.   His paintings are just wonderful.

The Norman Rockwell Treasury by Thomas S. Buechner https://t.co/hvMyXfxlWW via @amazon

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 2, 2017

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

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Buddy Holly is still making fans years later!

We recall what they call “the day that the music died”.

Like most of my generation, we learned of Buddy Holly when Don McClean released “American Pie”.    

I just  remember reading the lyrics and asking a friend:  What’s this guy singing about?   

He said:  “Buddy Holly”, the guy who sings “Peggy Sue”.    

We didn’t have “You Tube” or downloads back in the 1970’s.   So I went to the record store and bought me a copy of a “Best of ” Buddy Holly vinyl LP.    I became a fan instantly when I heard those guitar rifts and catchy songs like “That’ll be the day” and “Maybe baby”.

It was many ago that Buddy Holly (along with Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper) were killed in a plane crash .    I don’t think that anyone in 1959 had a clue that we’d be talking about them so many years later.

Holly touched a nerve with his music.  One of his biggest fans was a teenager in Liverpool, Paul McCartney.   (The Beatles recorded “Words of Love” in a 1965 LP)

Holly’s impact was huge, as Phillip Norman wrote from the UK:

”Holly and Elvis Presley are the two seminal figures of Fifties rock ‘n’ roll, the place where modern rock culture began. Virtually everything we hear on CD or see on film or the concert stage can be traced back to those twin towering icons – Elvis with his drape jacket and swivelling hips and Buddy in big black glasses, brooding over the fretboard of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.

But Presley’s contribution to original, visceral rock ‘n’ roll was little more than that of a gorgeous transient; having unleashed the world-shaking new sound, he soon forsook it for slow ballads, schlock movie musicals and Las Vegas cabarets. 

Holly, by contrast, was a pioneer and a revolutionary. 

His was a multidimensional talent which seemed to arrive fully formed in a medium still largely populated by fumbling amateurs. 

The songs he co-wrote and performed with his backing band the Crickets remain as fresh and potent today as when recorded on primitive equipment in New Mexico half a century ago: That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Not Fade Away.

To call someone who died at 22 “the father of rock” is not as fanciful as it seems. 

As a songwriter, performer and musician, Holly is the progenitor of virtually every world-class talent to emerge in the Sixties and Seventies. 

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and Bruce Springsteen all freely admit they began to play only after Buddy taught them how. 

Though normal-sighted as a teenager, Elton John donned spectacles in imitation of the famous Holly horn-rims and ruined his eyesight as a result.”

We will never know what other great songs Holly would have recorded.  We do know that he had a monumental influence on rock groups and even country stars.

Who knows what kids in 2059 will be listening to?  I’ll bet you that quite a few will be marking the 100th anniversary of Holly’s death.

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