I vividly recall the morning of February 3, 1959. We'd had a Chinook wind that removed most of the Spokane snow. I had false spring fever, but I was sad and in shock. Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash a few hours before. This day became known as “The Day the Music Died.” But the music actually lived on.
In 1960-61 I lived in a dorm at Michigan State University. A kid down the hall liked Buddy Holly also. He played Oh Boy continuously -- with his door open. I didn't mind. I still listen to some of the Buddy Holly songs on my iPod. My little car plays them on voice command .. I, being an old nerd and geek.
Trivia
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Buddy Holly was actually Buddy Holley. His contract with Decca records had a clerical error. He went with it. (IBM did the same to me. So, 42 years later I'm still called Lou at work, not Ed)
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He recorded so prolifically that his record label released new albums and singles for 10 years after his death. Examples include Peggy Sue Got Married and Crying Waiting Hoping. The music really hadn't died in 1959.
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He proposed to his wife, Maria, on the first date. It was really the first date. She'd never dated anyone before.
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Sixteen-year-old Bob Dylan attended a Holly concert three days before the plane crash.
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The Beatles chose their name partly in homage to Buddy Holly and The Crickets.
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The tune That'll Be the Day took its name from a John Wayne phrase in the 1956 movie The Searchers.
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Waylan Jennings could have died in that plane crash. Instead, Richardson, The Big Bopper, took his place on the plane.
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Richie Valens and Tommy Allsup flipped a coin to determine which would ride the plane. Valens "won," but Allsup still lives.
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The early Rolling Stones recorded a rendition of Holly's Not Fade Away.
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Maria and Buddy were married only six months. She miscarried after Holly's death. She has never remarried, nor has she visited the grave.
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Many Buddy Holly songs feature a hiccup-chirp glottal stop that emphasize chosen words. (tru-ue; day-ay; weh-eh-ell)
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Holly pioneered harmonies and rhythms more complex than rock-and-roll had seen at the time.
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Paul McCartney owns publishing rights to Buddy Holly's catalog of songs.
“Oh Boy” Lyrics