Buddy

Buddy Holly was born on this day in 1936. He is as influential on modern popular music as anyone I can think of, and started blossoming in Lubbock, Texas back around 1956.
He died Feb. 3, 1959, a.k.a. "The Day The Music Died", a well-publicized plane crash. Now, I am old enough to remember Buddy alive, I turned 6 that year but I don't believe I ever saw him. I was still into my parent's music (and still am, by the way): lots of Bill Monroe, Carter Family, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Marty Robbins, Ray Price, George Jones, Hank Williams, Patsy... whatever was in our collection of 45s or playing on the jukebox in places like the Blue Star Inn. Yes, there was Buddy Holly on some of those, that's true, but he was right on the edge of things, not very traditional.

Buddy would have turned 71, considered well past an age that a rock-n-roller is expected to make it. Seems like if they turn 60, they are considered to have "survived". [LINK: Rock Stars Do Die Younger] (Well, duh. It's not a healthy lifestyle. Live fast, love hard, die young, and leave a beautiful memory. Even if they stay clear of recreational medicinals, there is constant travel in every kind of weather, poor nutrition, and lotsa tobacco smoke). You have to wonder what twists and turns Buddy's music would have taken over the years. Would he be playing down at Antone's this weekend? The Saxon Pub? Waylon Jennings (bass player for Buddy) gave up his seat on that airplane to the Big Bopper that night. Think about what a difference there would have been without Waylon and Willie and the Boys, and that whole melding of outlaw musical cultures in the late 70s?

Link: BuddyHolly.com

Tags: Music - Buddy Holly - Texas - Texas Music