Music & makeovers! I swoon for chippy paint, a gorgeous patina and a fabulous song!!! I love great music (read: Bruce Springsteen & Otis Redding), white lilacs, walking in freshly fallen snow, the Golden Girls, road trips and the fall!!!
Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.
(Image found online. Original source unknown.)
February 3, 1959: The day the music died.
Story of the crash as reported in The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY on February 3, 1959. (Image found on Newspapers.com. Original source unknown.)
October 24, 2025 marked the 95th birth anniversary of Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., better known by his stage name, “The Big Bopper”. This Sept will mark the 90th birth anniversary of Charles Hardin Holley, known by his stage name, Buddy Holly. Tomorrow marks 67 years since the fatal plane crash that ended their lives on Feb 3, 1959 along with those of musician & singer Ritchie Valens (born Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13, 1941) and their pilot, Roger Peterson (age 21).
“But February made me shiver With every paper I’d deliver 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 But something touched me deep inside The day the music died”.
Jiles Perry “J.P.” Richardson Jr., a/k/a The Big Bopper: October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959.
Buddy Holly: September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959.
Ritchie Valens: – May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959.
Roger Peterson: May 24, 1937 – February 3, 1959.
L-R: Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., a/k/a “The Big Bopper”, Buddy Holly. Ritchie Valens and their pilot, Roger Peterson (age 21).(Image found online. Original source unknown.)
J.P. Richardson a/k/a The Big Bopper: “Chantilly Lace” (1958, written by J.P. Richardson).
Buddy Holly: “Rave On” (1958, written by Norman Petty, Bill Tilghman and Sonny West).
Ritchie Valens: “Come On Let’s Go” (1958, written by Ritchie Valens).
Don McLean: “American Pie” (1971, written by Don McLean).
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).
Hi everyone. Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing. But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?
(Image found online. Original source unknown.)
I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.
This month marked the 50th anniversary of Pearl, Janis Joplin’s final album released three months after her death in October 1970. This month also marked her 78th birth anniversary. Joplin, who was born January 19, 1943 in TX, was the second of three artists to die at the age of 27 of a heroin overdose in a one year period. Jimi Hendrix died first in September 1970, then Joplin & then Jim Morrison in July 1971 (No autopsy was ever performed on Morrison so that is the suspected cause of his death). For many who lived through the 1960’s, these three deaths marked the end of what that decade represented: peace, love, the surge of American music after the British Invasion years & the break-up of The Beatles.
For a woman to be in that arc when many of her female counterparts were pursuing folk sounds & singer/songwriter status, Joplin was in a class all by herself. She had just fully established herself as a solo performer after her lead singer role in Big Brother & The Holding Company rock band. While I was never a big fan of most of the music I heard from her-it was a little too raw and explosive for my taste-there is no denying her sound was all her own with its blues/jazz/rock interpretations.
As much as I worship one of the writers of today’s song-Kris Kristofferson-I must admit today’s version is my favorite. It hit the top spot in the country for two weeks in March 1971. And there are many reports that she is who Don McLean referenced in his hit “American Pie” in the lines: “I met a girl who sang the blues/And I asked her for some happy news/But she just smiled and turned away”. However, I could not find any confirmation of this in my online research. But it makes a great story, as do the lyrics of today’s song.
“I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana I was playin’ soft while Bobby sang the blues Windshield wipers slappin’ time I was holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine We sang every song that driver knew“.
(Image found online. Original source unknown.)
Janis Joplin: “Me & Bobby McGee” (1971, written by Fred Foster and Kris Kristofferson).
I do not own the rights to anything. I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.
Lilacs & Rust 