Feb 03 2009
A Half-Century Later, We Remember …
Man, I was just beginning this tribute when, for just a moment, I stopped and thought …
“What were those last few hours like for Buddy, Richie, Bopper and pilot Roger Peterson?” I mean, I just put myself in their shoes for a moment.
It brought chills — and a lump to my throat …
Imagine … pulling into Clear Lake on an extremely cold, drafty old bus, its gears grinding as it errantly chugged its way to the Surf Ballroom. Rubbing their hands together (or sitting on them) to keep ‘em warm, few words spoken — and, if they were, vapor coming from lips as they were uttered. In the darkness of the bus, coughs coming from Bopper (who was suffering from a bad cold) and others. Outside, a hard snow and bitter cold …
THE SHOW MUST GO ON …
After the troupe got off the bus and unloaded their gear, they readied for the show. As the ballroom filled with the sounds of Chantilly Lace, Donna and various Holly hits (as well as those of Dion and others), it was if their cold, bumpy ride had never happened. They were all in great form … and the fans were ecstatic!
SIDE NOTE: One of the most notable singers — one whom rock critics were watching like hawks — was Richie Valens. This left-handed father of “Chicano rock” (as it was later coined) was found trying to play a guitar with two strings as a youngster — until a neighbor re-strung it for him and taught him a few chords. He was so eager to learn to play right-handed like the “greats” in music that he disciplined himself to do it!
But the critics? Oh, they didn’t know if this teenage Chicano would make it (y’see, there were a lot of racist undertones in music back then, even toward Hispanics!). Obviously — with Donna, Let’s Go! and La Bamba under his belt — he more than proved his worth!
THE FINAL HOURS
After the show, Buddy didn’t wanna go back on that broken-down bus to the next stop, Moorhead, Minnesota — after all, it was still several hundred miles away. So (with the help of the ballroom manager) he chartered a plane for Fargo, North Dakota (the nearest airport to Moorhead).
The dread of having to get back onto the bus soon turned to anxious anticipation. After checking with Dwyer Aviation about the cost of the four-seater, he excitedly told the troupe that two others could go with him if they were each willing to shell out the required thirty-six dollars.
Dion didn’t want to pay that much, but Waylon Jennings agreed. Later, he gave his seat to Big Bopper because he (Bopper) had a cold.
Tommy Alsup was included in the group, but Ritchie Valens offered to flip him for the seat since he was ill. After refusing a few times, Tommy gave in, and the host for the “Winter Dance Party” tour flipped the coin. Ritchie called “heads,” and won the toss (years later, Tommy would open a dance club named “The Head’s Up Saloon” to honor that life-saving coin toss).
Before they left, Buddy teased Waylon because he wasn’t gonna go on the plane after all. He said, “So you’re not going on the plane with me tonight, huh?” Jennings said no. Buddy’s then said (in mock sarcasm) “Well, I hope your old bus freezes up again.” Jennings snapped back, “Well, hell, I hope your old plane crashes!” Both events occurred that night.
Of the latter remark, Waylon (through his years as world-famous country star and even until his death) never could forgive himself for his response.
After rushing back to the bus and grabbing their bags, the three of them piled into a car that took them to the airport. On board the slightly-warmer plane, they took their seats and immediately started joking, chatting and even engaging in some light horseplay. They were glad the show went well, and even more so that they were warm — and the ride was bound to be more comfortable!
But at roughly 1:00 am on February 3, 1959, the plane carrying three of rock music’s brightest young stars — two of which (Holly and Valens) created a new look and feel to the genre — took off into a blinding snow storm (Peterson — the pilot — wasn’t qualified to fly by “instruments” [as pilots of small craft do when they can’t see the terrain] and prone to breakdown). About fifteen minutes later — with the young troubadours yelling and panicking — the small plane crashed at around 160 mph into a corn field about fifteen miles northwest of Mason City in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa.
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Jiles P. Richardson, and pilot were all dead.
Now, we’ll continue this as a postscript later this evening, so stay tuned. Until then, here’s one of the first tribute songs to Buddy, recorded in 1961 by the UK’s Mike Berry and the Outlaws (Mike’s probably best remembered in the states as Mr. Spooner on Thames Television’s Are You Being Served?):
See ya on the <em>flip</em> side …
