It was 50 years ago today that the "Music Died"

I am back.

"...February made me shiver with every paper I delivered. Bad news on the door step. I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widow bride but something touched me deep inside the day the music died." Don McLean-American Pie

Well, it was 50 years ago today that an airplane crashed, during a snow storm, in a corn field near Clear Lake, Iowa. On that plane in 1959 sat a pilot, Richie Valens, the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly. That was a bit of musical tragedy.

Buddy Holly was a prolific singer/song writer whose work has stood the test of time. In his 22 years of life, he spit out numerous songs (sort of an early version of Ryan Adams--a kind of obscure alt/country reference to a dude who put out about 3 albums in a one year span in the 2000s). I would have called him the most prolific of artists and it makes me wonder what he would have done over a longer career and how famous he would have been.

Of course, had he not died 50 years ago, what would Gary Busey have done. Busey's big start was his portrayal, done excellently, of Buddy Holly in "The Buddy Holly Story". Think of that, no dead Buddy Holly, no famous Gary Busey and no appearance on "Celebrity Fit Club" or "Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab". Then no real entertainment for the rest of us.

I guess we should all be thankful that Buddy Holly died like he did 50 years ago because we have all been able to enjoy the exploits of Gary Busey and his fellow big toothed son, too. I am not sure how I got there but it does flow.

The Big Bopper had that hit "Chantilly Lace" but that was about it and Richie Valens was only 17 with "Donna" as a big hit. He too had a movie about his life, short though it may have been, with that dude with 3 names whose wife/girlfriend ended up leaving him for Melissa Etheridge (he turned her lesbian--she needed somebody who knew how the work the "equipment" or "terrain"-I like terrain as it gives a sense of the loamy earthiness of the "southern" regions). Lou Philip Diamond was the actor who portrayed Richie Valens in "La Bamba" in 1987.

The death, and manner of death, of Buddy Holly led Don McLean to create his most famous song, "American Pie" a good 12 years after the day the music died. It seems so long ago, and it is, but I can recall hearing that long song on my transistor radio, AM band on CHUM, as a kid (I was certainly younger than the Lad is now, I had to be 8 or 9). I would ride my bike with that radio hanging from my handlebars. There were no Walkmans, Discmans, or iPod/MP3 players back then. I had to deal with crappy AM radio and static...and we liked it!

The curmudgeon is coming out. All these newfangled inventions.....it is like the Wife telling me that the Lad NEEDS a cell phone. I got by just fine without one at his age. Okay, so my parents could not keep tabs on me. I would rarely phone home if I was going to be late (it is always easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission), I did get shit once or twice for it. Usually, my mother was fast asleep and my father a light sleeper would be sort of asleep. He never gave me crap for coming home at any hour of the night or morning.

I think the best was back in 1985. We had just finished our last exam and it was Billfest, where Willie had promised to drink to puking (I look back on that now as rather stupid, but it did not occur in any event). He did not but we ended up back at his place in the hot tub with bottles of beer. Not a good idea as a bottle broke and one of the guys cut his foot. We spent the better part of the early morning in the emergency room. I arrived home at 7 am, brought in the paper and saw my father eating breakfast before he was going to work. He did not hassle me. Of course, I was 20 at the time, but still.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about the Day the Music Died. Of course, that is just the backdrop. I think it is interesting that 50 years have passed and the incident is still remembered. It has endured as it was a spectacular death, kind of like that of Lt. Col. Henry Blake in MASH. A good plane crash death really gets seared into the old memory.

"That'll be the day that I die." Buddy Holly (now Paul McCartney owns the rights to his songs do I have to pay him a royalty? Fuck him, if I do. He can collect from his ex-wife, Heather.

That is all for today. Ciao!