THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED...

---a salute to Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens...

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It's been 52 years since a small plane took off to get to the next concert site and in a blaze of snowstorm, gone were Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valenz. Turns out their music is kept alive more than ever by Oldies Radio Stations across the country and I hear their songs virtually every time I switch on the car radio. The Big Bopper probably would've been a one-hit wonder, seeing as how his biggest song, "Chantilly Lace" was a novelty-type-tune, but who knows what Holly and Valens would've done had they decided to take a Bus that ill-fated nite. Buddy Holly and Richie Valens wrote many of their own tunes, and they were good guitarists, too. Holly had already written a whole bunch of songs, and Valens would've churned out a lotta tunes, had Mother Nature not have casted her fickle-finger-of-fate towards them on that blustery February Evening.

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I've collected a lot of music over the years, but frankly, I wasn't even old enough to remember hearing their songs when they first came out. Over the years though, I've backtracked into 50s music, and much of it is a whole lotta fun. Fun, Fun, Fun, in fact. Buddy recorded for the Decca label, which evolved into MCA music, one of the big conglomerates, and as such, his music has continued to be issued and re-issued over the years. My own Holly collection isn't that voluminous, but I have a 'Buddy Holly Greatest Hits', released on Coral (a subsidiary of MCA), and 'Buddy Holly's 20 Golden Greats' LP which was issued in the 1970's. The 'Golden Greats' LP features a few songs which are not on the 'Golden Greats' album, and likewise the 'Golden Greats' LP has 2 or 3 songs not available on the 'Greatest Hits' album. I think a 4-CD retrospective of Holly's music was issued in the '90s, but I've got enough Buddy Holly in ye olde collection to have a pretty good idea what he was all about. My favorite Buddy Holly tunes? "That'll Be The Day", "Rave On, "Well Alright", "Maybe Baby" and "Rainin' In My Heart". Strangely enough, I'm not wild about "Peggy Sue", though. It's an 'okay' tune, tho.

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Richie Valens had very little musical material scattered about in the Musical Marketplace other than "Donna" and "La Bamba", which were issued on the "Del-Fi" label. He wrote both of those songs, and had the winter snows not have fallen on that fateful night, I'm sure he would've turned out a lot more originals. I plead ignorance if there have been any Valens retrospectives issued down through the years; perhaps some Valens Fanatic has assembled a wide assortment of Richie's songs from concerts or unissued takes. I do know a "live appearance" LP was record; "Live At Pacoima High School" (or something that resembles that title. It's a hard LP to find.) I'd enjoy hearing more of Valens' material to get a better idea of what he was all about. I do have another Valens' Del-Fi single, "That's My Little Susie" which is a pleasant upbeat tune. So when Don McLean, who wrote "American Pie" in the early 70s, about "the day the music died", the losses of Holly, Valens and Mr. Bopper just had to be huge; as bad in its own way as John Lennon's death was for me.

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Another 50's rocker, Eddie Cochran, left this planet fairly early; the car he was riding in blew out a tire; his head hit the inside of the car's roof, and he was killed on the spot. Cochran was something of an experimenter; he artificially double-tracked a lot of his tunes and he also wrote many of his own tunes. Cochran had been recording on the Liberty label in the '50s, and Liberty evolved into United Artists records, and several Eddie Cochran albums were released down through the years, and are probably also being issued today, somewhere. All of these guys were ultra-creative, with vivid imaginations and lots of skill, and had they lived, they would almost certainly have had long careers in the business. And as for Mr. Bopper, well, he probably would've been doing oldies-goldies tours promoting his one Hit down thru the years. Hey, it's a fun piece of music. You KNOW what I like!

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You've all probably heard of Pete Best, who was the Beatles' drummer before Ringo came into the group. Pete was probably a very good guy. It is said his drumming just wasn't good enough for what The Beatles wanted, and yes, I believe that's true. I've had a chance to listen to a lot of songs Pete drummed on, and while he could keep the beat, he somehow lacked the punch and power Ringo brought into the group. Also, Pete seemed to never get as crazy and wild as The Other Beatles were, so Pete's sacking was probably due, at least to a part, on personality conflicts. In this picture, from left, is John, George, Paul and Pete, taken c.1961.

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The question I have here is one I've not seen posed: What do you suppose Pete Best felt whenever a new Beatles single came out in the '60s? Did it depress him? Did he have to switch the radio off 'cos he just couldn't take it? Pete continued playing until the late '60s. He and the other members of The Pete Best Combo did record about 25 tracks in the U.S., but it turns out all the record company guy wanted was to cash in on Pete Having Been A Beatle. Ouch. Finally, in 1995, Pete came into a healthy dose of cash. The "Beatles' Anthology Albums" were issued, and lo and behold, the Super-Early tracks Pete recorded with the Beatles are on the "Anthology I" album. It's a thing called 'Royalties'. In a DVD about him, Pete termed it as 'compensation for services rendered.' To this day, none of the Beatles has ever spoken to Pete about the early days. Pete has re-activated his band and he's toured the world. The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth indeed.

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I've been in virtually the same situation. No, I didn't ever play for any famous bands; however, I got into a three-piece rock band because the band's original drummer had to Go To Prison for a while. I played with the group off and on for the next couple of years. One Friday Night, I showed up at The Gig early, and low and behold, my drums had been repositioned on the Dance Floor. Turns out the drummer who'd gone to prison was released, and he was setting up his drums on the stage where mine had been. When were they gonna tell me they didn't want me? So, without a single word, I began taking my drums out to the car, after which I up and drove away. I knew the drummer who replaced me was far superior, however, I'd gotten better over time. Not better enough, I guess...

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Finally, if this posting seems a bit lackluster, it's probably because I am in Day 2 of Having a Bad Cold. My skin literally hurts right now. But I'm in it for the long haul...cough drops, orange juice and mega-doses of Vitamins on top of my sleep medication...hey, look at the bright side...this cold ain't near as bad as the almost-killer-flu that invaded my body a few years ago. 'Scuse me for a minute...hack hack cough sneeze wheeeeze....ack...