February 3rd, 1959 – The day the music died...

[MichaelWinicki]

Just as is quite often the case the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens was a tragic series of decisions and circumstances.

The lad they hired to fly them from Iowa to Minnesota was very young and inexperienced, which was the prime reason for the crash.

Back then promoters had all the power when it came to dealing with bands and the tour bus the group was riding on was pretty much a cold, rambling wreck, which influenced their decision to forgo the bus on this leg of the journey.

Out of the 3, Holly probably would have had the longest career and was migrating out of the "rockabilly" genre that we became famous for. "True Love Ways", which was released after his death is truly a beautiful song.

A couple interesting points about the crash is that Waylon Jennings, who was a member of Holly's tour band gave up his seat on the plane to the Big Bopper who was ill. While Valens won a coin flip to get the other seat. Dion DiMucci chose not to pitch in the $36 to join the flight.

Bob Dylan saw Buddy Holly perform just two days before the crash.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Yeah. I remember hearing about this as a kid in the 80's through the movies depiction.
The movie was bubble gum, which was what the times were, so i liked it.

Still very powerful movie.

Oh I thought the weather was the reason got the crash.
Bopper was sick too. I thought it was Valens that was sick.



Like you said, many plane crashes. For me, even though I wasn't aware of him until 1983-84 it was Randy Rhoads... 3/19/82

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Yeah. I remember hearing about this as a kid in the 80's through the movies depiction.
The movie was bubble gum, which was what the times were, so i liked it.

Still very powerful movie.

Oh I thought the weather was the reason got the crash.
Bopper was sick too. I thought it was Valens that was sick.



Like you said, many plane crashes. For me, even though I wasn't aware of him until 1983-84 it was Randy Rhoads... 3/19/82

Correct in that the weather contributed to it by reducing visibility.

Supposedly the young adult who was flying the plane may not have been able to read one of the instruments in the cockpit, which wasn't covered as part of the certification process he went through and lost control.

He was the only one that was left in the plane. Valens, Bopper and Holley all spilled out prior to what was left of the plane coming to a complete stop.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Just as is quite often the case the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens was a tragic series of decisions and circumstances.

The lad they hired to fly them from Iowa to Minnesota was very young and inexperienced, which was the prime reason for the crash.

Back then promoters had all the power when it came to dealing with bands and the tour bus the group was riding on was pretty much a cold, rambling wreck, which influenced their decision to forgo the bus on this leg of the journey.

Out of the 3, Holly probably would have had the longest career and was migrating out of the "rockabilly" genre that we became famous for. "True Love Ways", which was released after his death is truly a beautiful song.

A couple interesting points about the crash is that Waylon Jennings, who was a member of Holly's tour band gave up his seat on the plane to the Big Bopper who was ill. While Valens won a coin flip to get the other seat. Dion DiMucci chose not to pitch in the $36 to join the flight.

Bob Dylan saw Buddy Holly perform just two days before the crash.

I think Valens could have changed some of the tide of the British invasion in the early 1960s. The latin beat would have been more established in the music scene with him in full force. When the English bands came over, none of the American rockers were doing anything original. At the very least, Valens sound was original and he was just getting started in his career time he died. By 1964 when the Beatles arrived, Valens would have been 23. Just entering the prime of his talent.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Correct in that the weather contributed to it by reducing visibility.

Supposedly the young adult who was flying the plane may not have been able to read one of the instruments in the cockpit, which wasn't covered as part of the certification process he went through and lost control.

He was the only one that was left in the plane. Valens, Bopper and Holley all spilled out prior to what was left of the plane coming to a complete stop.

Oh man. Didn't know that.

I think Valens could have changed some of the tide of the British invasion in the early 1960s. The latin beat would have been more established in the music scene with him in full force. When the English bands came over, none of the American rockers were doing anything original. At the very least, Valens sound was original and he was just getting started in his career time he died. By 1964 when the Beatles arrived, Valens would have been 23. Just entering the prime of his talent.

He would have continued to impact for sure. But I don't think it would have been billed/dubbed/marketed as "Latin". I don't know... Was it. Did they?

They made him change his name for that reason. Close minded. They tried to Americanize him and name. Valenzuela.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Oh man. Didn't know that.





He would have continued to impact for sure. But I don't think it would have been billed/dubbed/marketed as "Latin". I don't know... Was it. Did they?

They made him change his name for that reason. Close minded. They tried to Americanize him and name. Valenzuela.

By some quirk, The Big Bopper ended up ahead of the plane. While the plane (or what was left of it) was resting against a fence he kept going and ended up in the next field.

Not long ago they had to rebury his remains to another part of the cemetery and they opened the casket for his son to identify him. Supposedly he was still readily identifiable as The Big Bopper.

Yeah, Valens was being positioned as being more American-Anglo. I doubt that record company would have changed direction on that or that it would have mattered much if they did.

The change in music was so abrupt starting in February of '63 that I doubt Valens would have remained a headliner throughout that period... but he certainly could have come back in the later '60's like a few early performers did (like Elvis) and charted once again.

The whole "British Invasion" thing is interesting on so many levels. And there was a list of performers as long as your arm that got lost in that time period. Unless you were a Mo-town backed group, Bobby Vinton or the Four Seasons, your ability to chart after February of '63 was gone.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

By some quirk, The Big Bopper ended up ahead of the plane. While the plane (or what was left of it) was resting against a fence he kept going and ended up in the next field.

Not long ago they had to rebury his remains to another part of the cemetery and they opened the casket for his son to identify him. Supposedly he was still readily identifiable as The Big Bopper.

Yeah, Valens was being positioned as being more American-Anglo. I doubt that record company would have changed direction on that or that it would have mattered much if they did.

The change in music was so abrupt starting in February of '63 that I doubt Valens would have remained a headliner throughout that period... but he certainly could have come back in the later '60's like a few early performers did (like Elvis) and charted once again.

The whole "British Invasion" thing is interesting on so many levels. And there was a list of performers as long as your arm that got lost in that time period. Unless you were a Mo-town backed group, Bobby Vinton or the Four Seasons, your ability to chart after February of '63 was gone.

Yup... Lots of great music in those nook and cranny years.

I only 44 but 50's and 60's are big for me.

As a kid being driven around by parents. That music etched into my brain. Love that stuff!

 

[big dog cowboy]

They made him change his name for that reason. Close minded. They tried to Americanize him and name. Valenzuela.

Still happens today. All about a broader appeal.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

He would have continued to impact for sure. But I don't think it would have been billed/dubbed/marketed as "Latin". I don't know... Was it. Did they?

They made him change his name for that reason. Close minded. They tried to Americanize him and name. Valenzuela.

Latin rock or so called. Valen's wiki page.... "Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock and Latin rock,".

 

[CyberB0b]

Correct in that the weather contributed to it by reducing visibility.

Supposedly the young adult who was flying the plane may not have been able to read one of the instruments in the cockpit, which wasn't covered as part of the certification process he went through and lost control.

He was the only one that was left in the plane. Valens, Bopper and Holley all spilled out prior to what was left of the plane coming to a complete stop.

Yeah, it was a different era then. He didn't have an instrument rating. Flying in that area in a single engine airplane this time of year is a tough enough task, but not having an instrument rating pretty much doomed this flight before it took off.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

The change in music was so abrupt starting in February of '63 that I doubt Valens would have remained a headliner throughout that period... but he certainly could have come back in the later like a few early performers did (like Elvis) and charted once again.

The whole "British Invasion" thing is interesting on so many levels. And there was a list of performers as long as your arm that got lost in that time period. Unless you were a Mo-town backed group, Bobby Vinton or the Four Seasons, your ability to chart after February of '63 was gone.

The change in music was so abrupt in '63 because the major American rocker's were not original anymore. Valen's voice would have gotten much stronger and better as he got older (just 17 when he died) and more experienced. Valen's wrote his own music. His style was original and different from other artists.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The change in music was so abrupt in '63 because the major American rocker's were not original anymore. Valen's voice would have gotten much stronger and better as he got older (just 17 when he died) and more experienced. Valen's wrote his own music. His style was original and different from other artists.

You could be right.

It's one of those things... We just don't know. Unfortunately Valens was just too young. Holly was young too, but he had split with the Crickets, was living in NYC and was recording some things that were way different than he was doing before... That's why I think he had the best chance to survive what the Beatles were throwing down at the start of '63.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Yeah, it was a different era then. He didn't have an instrument rating. Flying in that area in a single engine airplane this time of year is a tough enough task, but not having an instrument rating pretty much doomed this flight before it took off.

Yep, pretty sad really.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Still happens today. All about a broader appeal.

Actually not near as much. It's an ethnicity badge. More use it now.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

You could be right.

It's one of those things... We just don't know. Unfortunately Valens was just too young. Holly was young too, but he had split with the Crickets, was living in NYC and was recording some things that were way different than he was doing before... That's why I think he had the best chance to survive what the Beatles were throwing down at the start of '63.

Sure, if Holly was doing original stuff still by then in '63. Valen's was around the same age of Lennon and McCartney.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

One more thing, I think Eddie Cochran would too have been a major force had he lived. The Brits loved him. Listen to the girls in the UK audience going wild as if Elvis was there. Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EZ3T-fwO288

 

[BoysFan4ever]

WAY before my time but I have heard Buddy Holly & I like what I heard. And then I saw a picture of him & he surely did not look like what my mind pictured. Very sad to think all those guys passing & what might have been.

Great voice.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The change in music was so abrupt in '63 because the major American rocker's were not original anymore.

That's a great point, and you hit the nail on the head.

It had everything to do with originality. It was faster, more up tempo.

But it's funny, it's not the previous type of music had been around long... only 8 years. But I think the kids got bored with the same old performers too and the particular genre's like the teen-idols, the doo-wop groups and the girl groups.

And the British Invasion thing really only last about 3 years when music changed again, merging some of what went on prior to the Beatles with some completed new point of views when it came to music.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

One more thing, I think Eddie Cochran would too have been a major force had he lived. The Brits loved him. Listen to the girls in the UK audience going wild as if Elvis was there. Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EZ3T-fwO288

Great point about Eddie Cochran. A great talent.

 

[Aikmaniac]

"Donna" is still one of my favorite Valens tunes.