On Feb. 3, 1959 a plane took off from Clear Lake, Iowa carrying three stars of rock n' roll (from left): JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly.
They finished playing a show at the Surf Ballroom and were headed for the next stop on the Winter Dance Party tour. After a miserable experience with a tour bus the day before, Holly chartered a plane, but the plane crashed about five miles from the airport due to poor weather conditions and pilot error.
In a weird bit of fate, Valens and Richardson weren't supposed to be on the plane. It was supposed to be for Holly's band members, but bandmate Tommy Allsup and Valens flipped a coin for who would get to one seat and bandmate (and now-famous country singer) Waylon Jennings gave up his seat for the flu-stricken Richardson.
At the time of the crash, Buddy Holly was 22 years old and left behind a pregnant widow, who miscarried shortly after the crash. JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson was 28 and Ritchie Valens was just 17 years old.
The first verse of Don McLean's famous song "American Pie" called Feb. 3, 1959 "The Day the Music Died" and goes on to chronicle that tumultuous time in history using various musical milestones, starting with the death of these three musicians and ending with a verse about Janis Joplin's death in 1970.
The song is full of interesting references and metaphors, it's definitely worth a listen for any fans of 1960s music or any history buffs out there.
Just as an aside, we grew up not far from the Surf Ballroom. It's a neat old building and most summers there is some kind of festival to commemorate the Day the Music Died. If you're ever out that way, it's worth a trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment