The Day The Music Died

February 2nd has different meanings to
all people... It's Groundhog Day and everyone
looks to Pennsylvania to see if 'old Phil is going
to see his shadow or not. (He did this year)
February 2 has another distinction for those
of us that love music,..more specifically Rock &
Roll Music. It was February 2, 1959 when a
small plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa took the
lives of three of the greats of R&R. This is the
music that was still in it's infancy and still needed
to get it's legs on the ground. Buddy Holly, Ritchie
Valens, and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) had
performed the night before and were taking a
flight to the next location on the tour. The weather
was not perfect, but other planes were flying in it.
The small plane crashed and took the lives of the
performers and the pilot. Ritchie Valens was to be
the first big star of the Mexican-American generation
with his first two hits "La Bamba" and "Donna" going
to the top ten of Billboard Magazine. J.P. Richardson
was a disc jockey from Beaumont, Texas that got into
the music business by accident. He was master of
ceremonies and just started singing with various bands.
He had a big hit in "Chantilly Lace", but song writing was
his specialty,..writing "White Lightnin'" for George Jones,
"Running Bear" for Johnny Preston, and "Purple People
Eater." The most famous casualty that night was Buddy
Holly..the Lubbock, Texas native was instrumental in the
forming of Rock & Roll. His arrangements and guitar playing
are still being imitated today. Groups such as the Beatles, the
Hollies, the Dave Clark Five, Paul Anka, and many more were all
influenced by Buddy Holly. Ten years after the plane crash
Don McLean immortalized the group when he wrote the
song "American Pie"...the chorus of the song brought all the
memories back again...."The Day the Music Died"..