Les MacDonald

 

Here is the introduction...

 

 

    Music has the ability to stir our emotions. It can make us laugh; it can make us cry. Many of us associate songs

with memories. A golden oldie might remind us of an old flame. Certain songs will take us back to a different

time—a different place. Unfortunately, the same can be said when one of our favorites passes away. Many of us

remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

Same thing with the murders of RFK and MLK or Princess Diana in that auto accident back in 1997. It’s the same

with our favorite entertainers. Being a huge Beatles fan, I will never forget the night of December 8, 1980, and

hearing about the murder of John Lennon from Howard Cosell during a Patriots/Dolphins Monday-night football

game. On August 16, 1977, I was in my dad’s car with both my mom and dad when we heard the news on the

radio that Elvis was gone. I’m sure I’ll never forget sitting in the little Tropicana sports book in Las Vegas with

my son Tristan on June 25, 2009, and hearing the stunning news of Michael Jackson’s sudden death. In this

book, I’ve tried to highlight some of the lives and deaths that have occurred in the music industry throughout

the years. While some of our favorites may have lost their way at some point during their lifetimes, we must

remember that there is one thing that the passage of time cannot erase … and that, my friends, is the music!

 

Les MacDonald

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

May 27, 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few reviews for The Day the Music Died

 

 

 

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the facts, ma'am. March 3, 2015

By Elizabeth Leffler

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

 

"This book is pretty interesting as far as it goes. It covers a lot of people, from the very famous to the relatively obscure. The author seems to have been diligent in separating fact from rumor and hearsay. However, the writing style feels to me like a series of news briefs. There's not a whole lot of depth to any of the stories, just the basic facts, which makes it a quick read. I was going to give it three stars, but I decided to give it four for the effort to avoid sensationalism and the quantity of people covered."

 

 

 

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good book. January 13, 2015

By Mike Edmondson

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

 

"I grew up in the era of a lot of these people, so this book really hit home. A very good book."

 

 

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Great information in this book February 14, 2015

By B. Mckee

Format:Kindle Edition

"So many musicians self-destructed with alcohol and drugs, it was almost a relief to read that someone died from accident or disease. I want to thank the author for reviving my interest in Queen and Freddie Mercury who shared with us some of the best music ever made.  I felt the book was incomplete without Marty Robbins, Hank Williams, Jim Reeves, Keith Whitley, and other country greats who left us too soon."

 

 

 

  Here is the chapter on Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper

 

 

 

                                               Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper

 

 

                                                       Buddy Holly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

   Buddy was born as Charles Hardin Holley on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas. Very early in

life, Buddy (as he was called by his family) learned how to play the piano and the guitar. In his teens,

he teamed up with pal Bob Montgomery, singing duets at clubs and schools. The early fifties saw a

bit of a lull in the music business. Even the singing career of former teen idol Frank Sinatra had

slowed down as fads and styles were changing. By the mid-fifties, the music industry needed a

boost, and that boost was provided with the arrival of Elvis Presley. Elvis brought energy and

excitement to the music scene. None of this was lost on Buddy, who, up till then, had played mostly

bluegrass and a little rockabilly. The future King of Rock and Roll played three shows in Buddy’s

hometown—one on January 6 and two on February 13, 1955. It is said that Buddy was in the

audience for at least one of these shows and that the concert had a profound influence on him and

the path that his career would take. After seeing Elvis, Buddy turned his attention to rock and roll.

When Elvis once againcame to Lubbock on October 15, 1955, it was Buddy Holly who opened the show.

Based on this live appearance,Buddy was signed to a contract by Decca Records. Decca misspelled

Holley as Holly on the contract,and Charles Hardin Holley was reborn as Buddy Holly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                        Ed Sullivan (left) with Buddy Holly

 

 

  Success came fast, and just several months after signing the contract, Buddy had a hit single

on hishands with That’ll Be the Day. A second album was released in February 1958, which spawned two

more hit singles, Peggy Sue and Oh Boy! In June of the same year, Buddy met Maria Santiago, and it

was love at first sight. In fact, it was on their first date that Buddy actually proposed. Just two

months after that first date, the pair was married. The sky was the limit for Buddy Holly when he

was signed to go on tour as part of the Winter Dance Party in January 1959.

 

 

                                                        

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                        Ritchie Valens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela was born in Los Angeles on May 13, 1941. Like Buddy Holly,

Ritchie was making music at a very early age. By his early teens, Ritchie was already proficient on

guitar, trumpet, and drums. He joined a local LA band known as the Silhouettes in October 1957. Ritchie

was only sixteen years old, and already, there was a buzz about the young musician. By May of 1958,

that buzz had reached the ears of Bob Keane, who was the owner of a Hollywood record company

known as Del-Fi Records. Ritchie was invited to Keane’s home for an audition, and based on that

audition, he was signed to a contract. Also, like Buddy Holly, a name change was in order, and Richard

Valenzuela became Ritchie Valens. Ritchie had some modest success with a couple of singles but then

came a double A-side single featuring  Donna and La Bamba. They both received a lot of airplay and

became huge hits for Ritchie. No one would ever have guessed at the time that they would be his last.

By mid-1958, Ritchie had left high school to go on tour. He appeared several times on Dick Clark’s

American Bandstand and also shared the stage in Hawaii with Buddy Holly and Paul Anka. It looked like

Ritchie Valens was a lock for stardom when in January 1959, he was signed to do the Winter Dance

Party.

 

          

                                            The Big Bopper                                              

                                                  

                     

 

     Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. was born on October 24, 1930, and spent most of his early life in

Beaumont, Texas. He worked part time as a DJ at a local radio station while going to college but gave

up on school when the station offered him a full-time gig. In 1955, Uncle Sam came calling, and JP or

Jape, as his friends called him, answered the call. He spent the next two years as a radar instructor at

Fort Bliss, Texas. Once out of the army, JP returned to radio. His bigger-than-life personality played

well on radio, and he was quickly promoted from DJ to supervisor and then became the station’s

program director. Kids at the time were doing a new dance called the Bop, so JP decided to adopt the

moniker and became the Big Bopper. The Big Bopper wrote hit songs for the likes of Johnny Preston

and country star George Jones. In 1958, he was signed to a contract by Mercury Records and, in the

summer of that year, recorded Chantilly Lace, which would become his biggest hit. In order to

capitalize on the success of Chantilly Lace, JP took a leave of absence from the radio station to go

on tour. He was promptly signed to join the Winter Dance Party.

 

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                                       The Winter Dance Party

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

   By this time, Buddy Holly had seen enough. He decided to charter a plane (a single-engine four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza) to fly them to Fargo, North Dakota, which was right next door to Moorhead, Minnesota, the next stop on the tour. Waylon Jennings, who played with Buddy Holly and would go on to become a country music star, was to be on the plane with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the pilot, Roger Peterson. This is where fate would intervene. The Big Bopper had a terrible cold combined with the flu and couldn’t face another night on the frozen bus. He begged Jennings for his seat on the plane, and Waylon graciously gave up his seat to the Big Bopper. Tommy Allsup and Ritchie Valens ended up tossing a coin to see who would ride on the plane. Valens “won” the toss and took his seat on the plane. Old friends Waylon Jennings and Buddy Holly shared a quick exchange before each one boarded their modes of transportation. Buddy told Jennings that he hoped the old bus broke down while Jennings told Buddy that he hoped his damn plane crashed. Even though they were joking, it’s something that Jennings felt guilty about for the rest of his life. At approximately 1:00 AM on the morning of February 3, 1959, the plane took off into a raging snowstorm. The pilot, Roger Peterson, was only twenty-one years old and inexperienced and should not have been flying that night, especially into the teeth of a storm. When the plane hadn’t reached Fargo by 3:30 AM, a search was organized. Jerry Dwyer, the owner of Dwyer Flying Services who Buddy had chartered the plane from, found the plane in a cornfield not even five miles from the airport. Buddy, Ritchie, and JP had all been thrown from the crash while the pilot had been pinned inside. All were killed instantly. Rock and roll had just suffered its first casualties.

 

 

 Edit in crash site pic and news headline

 

 

 

  The Buddy Holly Story was made in 1978 with Gary Busey playing the title role. Busey was nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of the singer. The movie did pick up an Oscar for Best Musical Score. Lou Diamond Phillips played Ritchie Valens in 1987’s La Bamba. That film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture. February 3, 1959, was immortalized as the day the music died in Don McLean’s 1972 hit, American Pie. For many years, there had been rumors about what occurred on board the plane that night. Buddy was supposed to have owned a gun, and there were whispers of gunplay on board. In 2007, Jay Richardson, the Big Bopper’s son, decided to have his father’s remains exhumed to determine the cause of death. When the casket was opened, a remarkably well-preserved JP Richardson lay there with his trademark fifties-style haircut. Forty-eight years after the crash, an autopsy was performed. The Big Bopper suffered massive fractures from head to toe, and there was absolutely no evidence of foul play. Ironically, the original Winter Dance Party had one open date. That date was February 2. Instead of leaving that date open, the promoters offered it to the owners of the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, who quickly accepted. One can only wonder what might have been if that date had remained open. Buddy Holly is buried in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. Ritchie Valens is buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles. The Big Bopper, JP Richardson, is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in his hometown of Beaumont, Texas.

 

 

 

 

                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© copyright 2010 by Les MacDonald

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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