On any given day, a number of things have happened throughout history. On this particular day, 3 February, one such thing is that my mom was born. It was 1958, which leaves me wondering how she is once again turning 37. Perhaps someday I will understand. My mom, like me, does not particularly like to celebrate her birthday. It is, after all, just another day. As such, this is not what I'm writing about (which is good, given the title).
On this day in 1959, my mom turned 1. On this very same day, in a fiery plane crash*, the music died. At least, so states the song describing it. Charles Hardin Holley, known to kids everywhere as Buddy Holly, lay in a cornfield somewhere in Iowa. At the age of 22, he was dead. In his short career he recorded some of the greatest music ever heard by man**, directly influencing such mainstay artists as The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and the Rolling Stones, while indirectly affecting nearly every Western artist. Also on the plane were Richie Valens and The Big Bopper, along with two members of Buddy's band, The Crickets.
Interestingly enough, country music legend Waylon Jennings*** was supposed to have been on the plane as well. However, the heat on the tour bus had went out. Waylon was asked by a sick bandmate to trade places. After all, it was roughly -25°, not weather for the sick. Holly had been particularly looking forward to talking to Jennings on the flight. As such, he was not happy.
"I hope you freeze your ass off in the bus," Holly joked.
Jennings responded in kind: "I hope your plane crashes." They both laughed, but he was haunted by those words for years. As a matter of fact, he refused to play music for years. When he returned to playing music, he no longer played bass as he had in The Crickets, but instead switched to guitar.
One of Jennings first shows after the hiatus was at an art bar in New York. Andy Warhol was there. Jennings got up to play and said, "I'm here to play some country music. If you don't like that, you can kiss my ass."
"Who are you?" someone from the crowd shouted back.
"I'm Waylon God Damn Jennings." Several years later Jennings actually did an album with the surviving members of The Crickets, which featured several of the songs they had done with Holly.
No one ever forgets Buddy Holly, but his memory inspires many of us, not just Waylon Jennings. Let us not forget such songs as American Pie by Don McLean, Three Stars by Eddie Cochran, or even Buddy Holly by Weezer. Holly was a pioneer in the two guitars/bass/drums sound, as well as one of the first to really bridge the gap between rock and blues. He was one of the few white musicians in this era who were willing to play with black musicians like Little Richie and Chuck Berry. Even Elton John said that in his teens he began wearing his glasses (then much less iconic) as a tribute to Buddy Holly.
Buddy Holly, we miss you. If we must find a good thing, you didn't live long enough to record a single bad song.
Bye bye, Miss American Pie. Drove the chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry. And good ole boys drinking whiskey and rye singing "This'll be the day that I die. Oh, this'll be the day that I die."
*Is there such a thing as a fireless plane crash? I don't know why we always mention that a plane crash is fiery. That is, after all, the nature of a plane crash.
**I can neither confirm nor deny that this is hyperbole.
***If you, like me, live in Beacon Hill, you've doubtless been to The Station. Waylon, the usual morning barista, is named after Waylon Jennings. If you've never seen the picture of Luis, the owner/evening barista with President Obama, ask him to see it.
On any given day, a number of things have happened throughout history. On this particular day, 3 February, one such thing is that my mom was born. It was 1958, which leaves me wondering how she is once again turning 37. Perhaps someday I will understand. My mom, like me, does not particularly like to celebrate her birthday. It is, after all, just another day. As such, this is not what I'm writing about (which is good, given the title).
On this day in 1959, my mom turned 1. On this very same day, in a fiery plane crash*, the music died. At least, so states the song describing it. Charles Hardin Holley, known to kids everywhere as Buddy Holly, lay in a cornfield somewhere in Iowa. At the age of 22, he was dead. In his short career he recorded some of the greatest music ever heard by man**, directly influencing such mainstay artists as The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and the Rolling Stones, while indirectly affecting nearly every Western artist. Also on the plane were Richie Valens and The Big Bopper, along with two members of Buddy's band, The Crickets.
Interestingly enough, country music legend Waylon Jennings*** was supposed to have been on the plane as well. However, the heat on the tour bus had went out. Waylon was asked by a sick bandmate to trade places. After all, it was roughly -25°, not weather for the sick. Holly had been particularly looking forward to talking to Jennings on the flight. As such, he was not happy.
"I hope you freeze your ass off in the bus," Holly joked.
Jennings responded in kind: "I hope your plane crashes." They both laughed, but he was haunted by those words for years. As a matter of fact, he refused to play music for years. When he returned to playing music, he no longer played bass as he had in The Crickets, but instead switched to guitar.
One of Jennings first shows after the hiatus was at an art bar in New York. Andy Warhol was there. Jennings got up to play and said, "I'm here to play some country music. If you don't like that, you can kiss my ass."
"Who are you?" someone from the crowd shouted back.
"I'm Waylon God Damn Jennings." Several years later Jennings actually did an album with the surviving members of The Crickets, which featured several of the songs they had done with Holly.
No one ever forgets Buddy Holly, but his memory inspires many of us, not just Waylon Jennings. Let us not forget such songs as American Pie by Don McLean, Three Stars by Eddie Cochran, or even Buddy Holly by Weezer. Holly was a pioneer in the two guitars/bass/drums sound, as well as one of the first to really bridge the gap between rock and blues. He was one of the few white musicians in this era who were willing to play with black musicians like Little Richie and Chuck Berry. Even Elton John said that in his teens he began wearing his glasses (then much less iconic) as a tribute to Buddy Holly.
Buddy Holly, we miss you. If we must find a good thing, you didn't live long enough to record a single bad song.
Bye bye, Miss American Pie. Drove the chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry. And good ole boys drinking whiskey and rye singing "This'll be the day that I die. Oh, this'll be the day that I die."
*Is there such a thing as a fireless plane crash? I don't know why we always mention that a plane crash is fiery. That is, after all, the nature of a plane crash.
**I can neither confirm nor deny that this is hyperbole.
***If you, like me, live in Beacon Hill, you've doubtless been to The Station. Waylon, the usual morning barista, is named after Waylon Jennings. If you've never seen the picture of Luis, the owner/evening barista with President Obama, ask him to see it.
