On this day in 1959, Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Dion and the Belmonts

[mahatmakanejeeves]

put on a show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

Hat tip, (and I really should have remembered this one), This Day in Rock:

http://www.thisdayinrock.com/index.php/general/1959-appearing-at-surf-ballroom-clear-lake-iowa-buddy-holly/

1959 Winter Dance Party Tour





Schedule

January 23: George Divine’s Million Dollar Ballroom, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
January 24: Eagles Ballroom, Kenosha, Wisconsin (Debbie Stevens also performed)
January 25: Kato Ballroom, Mankato, Minnesota
January 26: Fournier’s Ballroom, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
January 27: Fiesta Ballroom, Montevideo, Minnesota
January 28: Prom Ballroom, St. Paul, Minnesota
January 29: Capitol Theater, Davenport, Iowa
January 30: Laramar Ballroom, Fort Dodge, Iowa
January31: National Guard Armory, Duluth, Minnesota
February 1: Riverside Ballroom, Green Bay, Wisconsin
February 2: Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa

About

In January, 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. “The Big Bopper”, Dion and the Belmonts, Frankie Sardo, Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup and Carl Bunch set out on a 24 day tour barnstorming the Midwest. It became the most infamous tour in rock ‘n roll history.

Organizationally speaking, the tour was a complete catastrophe. The shows were often scheduled hundreds of miles apart from one another as they zigzagged through one of the deadliest winters the Midwest had seen in decades, in the worst possible transportation available. The musicians crammed into a drafty bus to perform in small ballrooms and theatres and by February 1st, Carl Bunch (Holly’s drummer) had left with frostbitten feet. ... By the time the tour limped into Clear Lake, Iowa on the evening of Monday, February 2nd, Holly had decided to charter a small plane for himself, Allsup and Jennings to fly to the next venue in Fargo, North Dakota following the show at the Surf Ballroom. At the last minute, Jennings gave up his seat to The Big Bopper (who had the flu) and Tommy Allsup lost his seat to Ritchie Valens with a flip of a coin.

The performance in Clear Lake was electric and the music brought a joy that would remain forever in the hearts and minds of all who attended. It was a night that burned bright with some of rock and roll’s greatest songs and its brightest stars…and ended with the unthinkable. After their performance here at the Surf Ballroom, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, were killed when their plane crashed shortly after taking off from the nearby Mason City Municipal Airport.

The rest is rock ‘n’ roll history. Bobby Vee & The Shadows performed in Fargo, ND on Feb. 3rd, and Jimmy Clanton, Fabian & Frankie Avalon were substituted as the tour’s headliners. Frankie Sardo, Dion & The Belmonts and The Crickets continued until the end of the tour. ... That day was forever immortalized as ‘The Day The Music Died’ by Don McLean in his 1972 anthem American Pie. For many people, that tour and subsequent crash symbolized the end of a period in both rock and roll and American history. The innocence, it seems, was forever lost.

I know some people have heard this song more times than they feel is necessary, but here it is. I've posted the album version before, so let's go with a live version:

Edited: I just spoke to a coworker years (decades) younger than I am and pointed out that tomorrow was the anniversary of "the day the music died."

"What music?" she said.

Oh, boy.

When I drove across Iowa many years ago on a trip across the United States, I made sure to stop in Clear Lake to see what was left. (Yes, I went to Spirit Lake first. I quickly learned that those are two different cities.) It's a pretty little town.

The Surf Ballroom is still there:



From back then, Dick Clark Show 1958 (September 20 or November 22):

[asiliveandbreathe]

1. A GREAT POST..thank you - eom

[Docreed2003]

2. Excellent post, with one caveat

The plane crash actually happened early in the morning of Feb 3rd.

Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been fascinated by Holly and this story since I was a kid.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Yes, you are correct. 02-03-1959 was the date of the crash. The show was the night before.

I didn't want the date to slip my mind, so I posted ahead of time.

We've got Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas coming up in March.

[Docreed2003]

6. Gah thats a sad one too

I went to college not far from that crash site.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. This should be right up your alley:

Wait -- wait -- this!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. What is so incredibly mind-boggling

is that Buddy Holly was only 22 years old when he died. He'd already influenced music, and had he lived even five more years he would probably have become the most influential writer/performer of all time. The Beatles cite him as a strong influence.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. "the most influential writer/performer of all time"

People say that Mozart guy was no slouch.

Yeah, yeah; I'm just having some fun.

Thanks.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. That Mozart guy lived to age 35.

Thirteen years longer than Holley. Lucky guy.

And yes, I'm having some fun back at you.

[red dog 1]

11. Ritchie Valens was only 17 when he died (DOB 5/13/1941)

Who knows how big an "influence" he could have become had he lived?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. I'm inclined to think his influence would have been negligible.

He'd have gone on to have several more hit songs, and then spent the rest of his career touring.

Obviously, my guess is only a guess. But Valens wasn't writing his own songs. Nor was The Big Bopper. And I likewise think the Bopper would have been essentially a one hit wonder.

But Buddy Holly. Oh, Buddy Holly. He was writing incredible songs. He influenced and entire generation. And his career lasted about three years. Think about it. Three years and we're still talking about him.

Also this: he left behind so many unfinished recordings that for ten years (ten years!) new songs of his were released. Had he had even two or three more years, let alone Mozart's lifetime, which would have been thirteen more years, his domination of popular music would have been overwhelming.

I recall listening to a "history of rock and roll" back in the mid 60's, and the change that occurs with the Beatles is astonishing. Buddy Holly didn't, in his sadly short lifetime, make such a change, but had he lived, he would have. The Beatles, who had a profound influence on rock and roll, would have been different. Heck, Don McLean's seminal song "The Day the Music Died" would never have been written.

Were I a better student of rock and roll, and were I a vastly better writer, I'd write an alternate history in which that plane crash never happened, Buddy Holly lived and wrote and performed for several more decades.

We'd all be different.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. I read somewhere that Waylon Jennings had a major case of survivor's guilt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. I have read that also.

Supposedly he said something like, "I hope your old plane crashes" to Holly. And of course when the plane did crash he was completely overcome. That's the kind of jesting comment anyone might make under the circumstances, but normally the dumb negative wish does not come true. This time it did.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. That was his response to Buddy Holly

Holly chartered the plane for his band after traveling a month on an unheated bus in sub-zero temps. He found out Waylon gave his seat to the Big Bopper (who had the flu). He teased Jennings and said "I hope your ol' bus freezes up".

[elleng]

10. Thanks. Saving for 'tomorrow.'

[Glorfindel]

12. I remember it well. I was 13 and a HUGE Big Bopper fan

Buddy Holly and Richie Valens, not so much. (Nobody ever said 13-year-old boys have good taste in music.)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. That'll Be the Day

That'll Be the Day

The Day the Music Died