Thread: Febuary 3rd 1959 the day the music died

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today is Febuary 3rd 50 years ago today the music died, outside clear lake iowa at about 1am we lost Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. i remember my grandma telling me about this when i was younger. and since i have always loved 50's and 60's music i dug into it all. how many of you guys remember where or what you were doing when you heard about it?

How can one forget?
I heard it on my "very coveted for the time" Motorola six transistor radio as I walked to school. I was a Freshman attending my first year of high school.

I was always a "Big Bopper Fan". He did allot more for music than Chantillie Lace.

Try this site....downloadable but slow.
Thousands of songs from this era.

DT

http://thehound.net/

Scooter, I was a sophomore in high school getting ready to go to school. It was a Monday morning as Feb 3rd, 1959 was a Sunday.
And as Sonny Curtis sings in "The Real Buddy Holly Story" the music never died because Buddy Holly lives every time you play Rock & Roll.

The music didn't die, just some of the originators and performers of it!!!! The music still gets played around here, sometimes a bit too loud!!!!!

[QUOTE=dogtag;341023]
I was always a "Big Bopper Fan". He did allot more for music than Chantillie Lace.
DT


The Big Bopper, J. P. Richardson, was more of a song writer than he was a performer. Other than Chantilly Lace he wrote White Lightnin' that was a fair sized hit for George Jones.

jp richardson was also toying with the idea of a new jukebox that would play small videos of the artists singing their songs he called them "music videos"

i know the music really didint die but thats the name febuary 3rd recieved me and them guys have turned alot of wrenhes many a late night out in the garage before racedays and always at a "loud" level

If you like the music, Watch " The Buddy Holly Story " or " Labamba "... both are good movies worth watching and Tell Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens life stories very well.... I found 1 of the original radio newscasts from when it happened on the internet.

They actually crashed just outside of Mason City. There is a municipal airport there (Still in operation). Same airport I went to as a kid to watch the Blue Angels put on an air show 50's. Same airport we dropped my brother off at when he went in the army (and came back - same airport)60's. Van Horne salvage yard is just a couple miles down the road, between Mason City & Clear Lake. My brother & I got some deals there. Last time I was at the Surf Ballroom we saw R.E.O. Spud' wagon in concert. That's been a few years ago too 70's. Been to a few rod runs in the park @ Clear Lake not far from the Surf. One of my H.S. buddies lives just a few blocks from the Surf still today. I haven't been back there since Oct.15, 2006, the day my Mother died.

I beg to differ with you Matt,The Buddy Holly story was pure BS. Paul McCartney, who owns the rights to all of Buddy's music and is a huge fan, released a documentary titled "The Real Buddy Holly Story" which told the real story. Sonny Curtis wrote and recorded "The Real Buddy Holly Story" and it's more accurate than the movie ever was. I don't know much about Ritchie Valens so I won't comment on the movie only that the two actors who portrayed Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper were idiots.
There are a lot of things I don't know much about, but Buddy Holly is not one of them.

I saw them at the Prom Ballroom in St. Paul, MN the week before.

Originally Posted by Bobw

I saw them at the Prom Ballroom in St. Paul, MN the week before.

My Dad worked at Midway Chevrolet just up the road from the Prom ballroom and dropped me off to make the show that night,I was right up front by the stage.We were coming back from a trip in Wisconsin when news of the crash came over the AM radio,the snow was coming down pretty hard that night.I am glad I was able to see those Legends perform,they had some fantastic shows at the Prom in those days!

A guy that worked with us for years, grew up in Mason City, Ia. His dad worked for the newspaper, he took the pic's you always see of the plane crash.

Pat

Here's a few that JP performed.

1. Chantilly Lace
2. Big Bopper's Wedding
3. Little Red Riding Hood
4. Walking Through My Dreams
5. Beggar to a King
6. Crazy Blues
7. White Lightnin'
8. Bopper's Boogie Woogie
9. That's What I'm Talking About
10. Pink Petticoats
11. Monkey Song (You Made a Monkey out of Me)
12. It's the Truth Ruth
13. Preacher and the Bear
14. Someone Watching Over You
15. Old Maid
16. Strange Kisses
17. The Clock
18. Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor - The Big Bopper, Johnson
19. Teenage Moon

Remember where and when!!?? Oh, yeah! That day is one of those days that is stuck in my head like a picture; I even remember what I was wearing that day. It was my senior year in HS, and the news came down sometime during first period; as I left the classroom after algebra, I saw all of the girls crying and holding on to each other, or their boyfriends, and guys just standing looking dumbstruck, and wondered just what was happening - then I found out. It seems funny that even though it was a bright desert winter day, it somehow seemed dimmed, like there was a hazy overcast. But the music grew up, along with most of us, to some degree or another - it certainly did not die. When I think of it in this context, I wonder: Man, fifty years - where did it go??

In September, 2004, we visited our son in Fairmont, MN, and took a day trip to Clearlake, IA and visited the Surf Ballroom, and drove out to the crash site - out in the middle of a cornfield; we decided not to walk out to the actual site, as the corn was ready for harvest, dry, dusty, and a ways off the road, and there was no developed public access. We heard that there is a sort of shrine out there, though, by a tree and the fenceline. That trip stirred some deep emotions I thought had been put away long past.

A lot of law suits have been in process concerning the legality of some of the contracts signed by Buddy.MCA is saying Buddy was under age when he signed the record contracts and are not paying Royalties to the Holly family.

Buddys' wife is also trying to stop a book from being published by a person named Peggy Sue.

Other controversies sorround his death,that have yet to be resolved.Heck it's only been 50 years.

I remember just finishing basic training when this happened and was in the process of getting serious with a cute little girl who later became my wife in June .

Like was stated earlier where did the time go. It's getting spookey.