I heard a rare interview a few years ago with Buddy Holly, late in his short career, where he was saying that he was anxious for the rock 'n roll "fad" to be over so he could play something slower. Apparently he liked regular country more than rock 'n roll. I'll try to find it online.
On a billboard, a rock-n-roll radio station in Lubbock had (don't know if they still do) pictues of Buddy, Elvis, and Roy Orbison. Roy (52) lived to be oldest, but all of them died too young, IMO.
I used to live an hour from the surf ballroom, great place! you can feel the presence of that last night of rock and roll....Its picture gallery, history, (winter dance party T shirt) and photo ops, make the trip well worth it. you might keep it in mind. its not far from torque fest in may, or the power tour in june! I went to the surf as often as i could...couldn't ever get any one to go along. most acted like they had never herd of the place, and cared less
This date gets to me every year as its one of Rock& Rolls greatest tragedies. Every year someone puts a thread on this subject but someone ends up closing it down because it doesn't have "anything to do with the topic at hand" . I think there are enough car guys around here that are in to real music - so it does have its place. So, to the moderators, please don't close this! Axle
<CENTER>"American Pie" By Don McLean</CENTER> The entire song is a tribute to Buddy Holly and a commentary on how rock and roll music changed in the years since his death. McLean is lamenting the lack of "danceable" good time party music in rock and roll and (in part) attributing that lack to the absence of Buddy Holly et. al. (Verse 1) A long, long time ago... "American Pie" reached #1 in the U.S. in 1972; the album containing it was released in 1971. Buddy Holly died in 1959. I can still remember how That music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, That I could make those people dance, And maybe they'd be happy for a while. One of early rock and roll's functions was to provide dance music for various social events. McLean recalls his desire to become a musician playing that sort of music. But February made me shiver, Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959 in a plane crash in Iowa during a snowstorm. With every paper I'd deliver, Don McLean's only job before becoming a full-time singer-songwriter was being a paperboy. Bad news on the doorstep... I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride Holly's recent bride was pregnant when the crash took place; she had a miscarriage shortly afterward. But something touched me deep inside, The day the music died. The same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly also took the lives of Richie Valens ("La Bamba") and The Big Bopper ("Chantilly Lace"). Since all three were so prominent at the time, February 3, 1959 became known as "The Day The Music Died". So... (Refrain) Bye bye Miss American Pie, Don McLean dated a Miss America candidate during the pageant. Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin whiskey and rye Singing "This'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die." One of Holly's hits was "That'll be the Day"; the chorus contains the line "That'll be the day that I die". (Verse 2) Did you write the book of love, "The Book of Love" by the Monotones was a hit in 1958. And do you have faith in God above, If the Bible tells you so? There's also an old Sunday School song which goes: "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so" Now do you believe in rock 'n roll? The Lovin' S****ful had a hit in 1965 with John Sebastian's "Do you Believe in Magic?". The song has the lines: "Do you believe in magic" and "It's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll." Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Dancing slow was an important part of early rock and roll dance events -- but declined in importance through the 60's as things like psychedelia and the 10-minute guitar solo gained prominence. Well I know you're in love with him 'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym Back then, dancing was an expression of love, and carried a connotation of committment. Dance partners were not so readily exchanged as they would be later. You both kicked off your shoes A reference to the beloved "sock hop". (Street shoes tear up wooden basketball floors, so dancers had to take off their shoes.) Man, I dig those rhythm 'n' blues Some history. Before the popularity of rock and roll, music, like much else in the U. S., was highly segregated. The popular music of black performers for largely black audiences was called, first, "race music," later rhythm and blues. In the early 50s, as they were exposed to it through radio personalities such as Allan Freed, white teenagers began listening, too. Starting around 1954, a number of songs from the rhythm and blues charts began appearing on the overall popular charts as well, but usually in cover versions by established white artists, (e. g. "Shake Rattle and Roll", Joe Turner, covered by Bill Haley; "Sh-Boom", the Chords, covered by the Crew-Cuts; "Sincerely", the Moonglows, covered by the Mc Guire Sisters; Tweedle Dee, LaVerne Baker, covered by Georgia Gibbs). By 1955, some of the rhythm and blues artists, like Fats Domino and Little Richard were able to get records on the overall pop charts. In 1956 Sun records added elements of country and western to produce the kind of rock and roll tradition that produced Buddy Holly. I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)", was a hit for Marty Robbins in 1957. The pickup truck has endured as a symbol of ***ual independence and potency, especially in a Texas context. But I knew that I was out of luck The day the music died I started singing... Refrain (Verse 3) Now for ten years we've been on our own McLean was writing this song in the late 60's, about ten years after the crash. And moss grows fat on a rolling stone Rolling Stone Magazine But that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the King and Queen The jester is Bob Dylan, as will become clear later. Elvis Presley is the king, which seems pretty obvious. The queen COULD be either Connie Francis, Little Richard, or someone else. In a coat he borrowed from James Dean In the movie "Rebel Without a Cause", James Dean has a red windbreaker that holds symbolic meaning throughout the film. In one particularly intense scene, Dean lends his coat to a guy who is shot and killed; Dean's father arrives, sees the coat on the dead man, thinks it's Dean, and loses it. On the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan is wearing just such as red windbreaker, and is posed in a street scene similar to one shown in a well-known picture of James Dean. And a voice that came from you and me Bob Dylan's roots are in American folk music, with people like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Folk music is by definition the music of the m***es, hence the "...came from you and me". Oh, and while the King was looking down The jester stole his t***** crown A reference to Elvis's decline and Dylan's ascendance. (i.e. Presley is looking down from a height as Dylan takes his place.) The t***** crown a reference to the price of fame. Dylan has said that he wanted to be as famous as Elvis, one of his early idols. The courtroom was adjourned, No verdict was returned. The trial of the Chicago Seven. And while Lennon read a book on Marx, Literally, John Lennon reading about Karl Marx; figuratively, the introduction of radical politics into the music of the Beatles. The "Marx-Lennon" wordplay has also been used by others, most notably the Firesign Theatre on the cover of their album How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All? The quartet practiced in the park The Beatles. And we sang dirges in the dark A reference to some of the new "art rock" groups which played long pieces not meant for dancing OR a reference to The Door's song "Light My Fire" which said "... a funeral pyer..." in one line. The day the music died. We were singing... Refrain (Verse 4) Helter Skelter in a summer swelter "Helter Skelter" is a Beatles song which appears on the White album. Charles Manson, claiming to have been "inspired" by the song (through which he thought God and/or the devil were taking to him) led his followers in the Tate-LaBianca murders. "Summer swelter" a reference to the "long hot summer" of Watts. The birds flew off with the fallout shelter Eight miles high and falling fast The Byrd's "Eight Miles High" was on their late 1966 release "Fifth Dimension." It was one of the first records to be widely banned because of supposedly drug-oriented lyrics. It landed foul on the gr*** One of the Byrds was busted for possesion of marijuana. The players tried for a forward p*** Obviously a football metaphor about the Rolling Stones, i.e. they were waiting for an opening which really didn't happen until the Beatles broke up. With the jester on the sidelines in a cast On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his Triumph motorcycle while riding near his home in Woodstock, New York. He spent nine months in seclusion while recuperating from the accident. Now the halftime air was sweet perfume This line and the next few refer to the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The "sweet perfume" is tear gas. While sergeants played a marching tune The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" music in general as "marching" because it's not music for dancing. But music with a message to which we march. We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance The Beatles' 1966 Candlestick Park concert only lasted 35 minutes and there wasn't any music to dance to OR due to the break-up of The Beatles. 'Cause the players tried to take the field, The marching band refused to yield. A reference to the dominance of the Beatles on the rock and roll scene. For instance, the Beach Boys released "Pet Sounds" in 1966 -- an album which featured some of the same sort of studio and electronic experimentation as "Sgt. Pepper" (1967) -- but the album sold poorly. It's a comment about how the dominance of the Beatles in the rock world led to more "pop art" music, leading in turn to a dearth of traditional rock and roll. Do you recall what was revealed, The day the music died? We started singing Refrain (Verse 5) And there we were all in one place Woodstock. A generation lost in space A reference to the "famous" (and horrible) 60s TV "Lost In Space." With no time left to start again The "lost generation" spent too much time being stoned, and had wasted their lives. So come on Jack be nimble Jack be quick A reference to Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones; "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was released in May, 1968. Jack Flash sat on a candlestick The Stones' Candlestick park concert. 'Cause fire is the devil's only friend The Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil." And as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in hell Could break that satan's spell While playing a concert at the Altamont Speedway in 1969, the Stones appointed members of the Hell's Angels to work security. In the darkness near the front of the stage, a young man named Meredith Hunter was beaten and stabbed to death -- by the Angels. Public outcry that the song "Sympathy for the Devil" had somehow incited the violence caused the Stones to drop the song from their show for the next six years. And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite About Altamont, and in particular Mick Jagger's prancing and posing while it was happening. The sacrifice is Meredith Hunter, and the bonfires around the area provide the flames. I saw satan laughing with delight Satan would be Jagger. The day the music died He was singing... Refrain (Verse 6) I met a girl who sang the blues Janis Joplin. And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away Janis died of an accidental heroin overdose on October 4, 1970. I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before The "sacred store" was Bill Graham's Fillmore West, one of the great rock and roll venues of all time. But the man there said the music wouldn't play Nobody is interested in hearing Buddy Holly et.al.'s music. And in the streets the children screamed "Flower children" being beaten by police and National Guard troops; in particular, perhaps, the People's Park riots in Berkeley in 1969 and 1970. The lovers cried and the poets dreamed The trend towards psychedelic music in the 60's. But not a word was spoken, The church bells all were broken The broken bells are the dead musicians: neither can produce any more music. And the three men I admire most The Father Son and Holy Ghost Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens. They caught the last train for the coast A way of saying that they had left the scene (or died -- "went west" as a synonym for dying). The day the music died And they were singing... Refrain (2x)
Milner sure said it right in AG. Oh boy! I was just a kid but remember 1959 quite well, especially older sis (RIP). She listened to Buddy and the others and never ever missed American Bandstand. Yup, downhill till it hit bottom with the invasion in/about '64. There are a few pleasant exceptions they're far and few between. Most stuff I listen to is 50s & early 60s stuff.
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i remember that day very well. I came home from school for lunch and the news was on the radio.sad day for me! Later today i'm going to the budddy holly center for a free tour hosted by bill griggs.
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin whiskey and rye Singing "This'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die." I read somewhere "the levee" was actually "The Levee" which was a bar that closed down (levee was dry) which forced Don McLean and his friends to drink wiskey in Rye (not and rye) which was a town in New York
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Buddy's 58 Impala ! <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mppMPqfe1FY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mppMPqfe1FY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
that (#38) just shows what pretentious **** people like McCleane turned out in the late '60's. Doesn't hold a candle to Buddy's "Rock around with Ollie Vee" REAL R'n'R forever Buddy,Ritchie & Jape,R.I.P.
I think you're right-with the obvious exception of Rave On - most of the 1958 songs had more complex arrangements and orchestral back grounds. That doesn't go down the road to country music, but still, I think Holly was looking to grow musically. It would've been interesting to see where (and if) he and Waylon Jennings would've gone together.
For anyone that lives in the Los Angeles area. Ritchie's grave site is located at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WyjgppkV0Ts&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WyjgppkV0Ts&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
There is some truth to that. Buddy , like so many, started off by playing Rockabilly - a blend of Hillbilly and Rhythm & Blues, then polished his sound to Rock & Roll, In his last years he experimented with orchestrated sounds. I can name quite a few mid 60's singers/bands that have a deep Buddy Holly sound. He was waaaaaaaaay ahead of his time. Ritchie's music can be heard in bands from El Chicano, Santana, to Los Lobos ! Another influential hero !
i live 1 hour half from clear lake and work up that way time to time cool place to just drive by and it is big deal for people around here lots of people go each year its like a summer vac to them and their is a kid from iowa he is 18 years old his name richey lee this kid rocks he was on the radio one day and it sound like buddy and it made my hair stand up (after the music died then we got the beatles oh joy)
Are you serious? What about the great B.B.King & one of the best guitar players ever, Buddy Guy? RIP Ritchie, Buddy, & The Big Bopper.
I have a great cd of all of their music that just feels so right to listen to in the car. I grew up with in a house on the levee and we always drove Chevy's so it just feels right.
Buddy was a musical genius - influenced a whole generation of musos, way ahead of his time/generation. His pieces were timeless and he wrote/arranged/produced brilliant songs.....and he was so young !! Gone at 23. BUDDY HOLLY LIVES !! Rat
Yes , this day in the music history does **** with the lost of so much Great Talent ! You still have to wonder if they were still playing how the music would be so different today ! This **** that is on the radio today is the absolute worst garbage that was ever made ! The music has really gone downhill since that dreary day . R.I.P Buddy Holley ! You will never be forgotten ! RetroJim
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