Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

This Saturday will mark 65 years since Buddy Holly (aged 22) died with two other musicians-Jiles Perry “J.P.” Richardson Jr., better known by his stage name The Big Bopper (aged 28) and Ritchie Valens (aged 17)-along with their pilot, Roger Peterson-in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. The cause of the tragedy remains unknown to this day.

Charles Hardin Holley, better known as Buddy Holly, circa 1957. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Referred to at the time as “The Day The Music Died” because the crash was believed to mark the end of the early rock & roll era, the phrase  was immortalized by Don McClean in his now legendary ode from 1971. Released more than a decade after the crash, the loss of three musical pioneers-a teenager, a newlywed and a married father of one with another on the way-and the only one of the three to serve in the U.S. Army-still resonated with those who never recovered from the “bad news on the doorstep” on that cold February morning. 

Jiles Perry “J.P.” Richardson Jr., a/k/a The Big Bopper, circa 1958. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

My post from 5 years ago explored the families left behind by these three men. And their roots in music still run deep more than six decades after that awful day. Two are already members of The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame-Holly and Valens-while a 2017 documentary I have yet to find on a streaming service, “Bopper & Me“, explores one man’s quest to have Richardson inducted as well. As a songwriter, one of his most famous compositions aside from the one he sang is “White Lightning” by George Jones. It became his first #1 country hit for five weeks in April/May 1959, about two months after Richardson’s death. The song is featured prominently in the first episode of Showtime’s 2022-2023 miniseries, “George & Tammy“.  

Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known as Ritchie Valens, circa 1958. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The crash linked these men forever in history by death, by comparison to their unbelievably short lives and by their musical legacies. But it connected a lot of other people, too. And every year when this somber anniversary comes around, I cannot help but think of the fans in the audience at the Surf Ballroom who watched these three men perform on February 2, 1959. As a music lover myself, I know how long my high lasts after a show by one artist, so to see so many in one night must have been a phenomenal feeling. But then to wake up the next morning to that tragic news, how could those people even comprehend that their presence at one show at one moment in their lives tied them forever to these three artists, to history and to fate? What a staggering reality. 

These two pictures appeared in a February 2023 online story about the 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour and tragedy. It suggested that both photos were taken on February 1, 1959 at the show at the Green Bay, WI Riverside Ballroom. However, I believe the bottom photo is the same as the top one except it has been photoshopped with Valens image to show the three men together. But that is just my theory. Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Big Bopper: ”Chantilly Lace” (1958, written by J.P. Richardson). 

Buddy Holly: “Everyday” (1957, written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty). 

Ritchie Valens: ”La Bamba” (1958, written by Ritchie Valens based on a traditional Mexican folk song).

Don McLean: ”American Pie” (1971, written by Don McLean). 

Stay safe & well.