Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll.
Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in an airplane crash, Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll."[1]
His works and innovations inspired and influenced contemporary and later musicians, notably The Beatles, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton, and exerted a profound influence on popular music.[2]
Holly was among the first group of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.[3]
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Holly #13 among "The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[4]
Biography
| Buddy Holly | |
|---|---|
 Buddy Holly in 1957 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Charles Hardin Holley |
| Born | September 7, 1936 Lubbock, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | February 3, 1959 (aged 22) Grant Township, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock and roll, rockabilly, Lubbock sound |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano, violin |
| Years active | 1955–1959 |
| Labels | Decca, Brunswick, Coral |
| Associated acts | The Crickets, The Picks |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Stratocaster | |
Early life
Charles Hardin Holley was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, to Lawrence Odell and Ella Pauline (Drake) Holley.In Philip Norman's biography it is stated that his mother's family claimed to be descended from the English navigator Francis Drake.
Holly was always called "Buddy" by his family.
Buddy was the youngest of three siblings, and brothers Larry and Travis taught him to play a variety of instruments, including the guitar, four-string banjo and lap steel guitar.
At the age of five, his young voice and exuberance won him a talent contest singing a then-popular song, "Have You Ever Gone Sailing (Down the River of Memories)."[5]
In 1949, still retaining his soprano, he recorded a bluesy solo rendering of Hank Snow's "My Two Timin' Woman" on a wire recorder borrowed by a friend who worked in a music shop.[6]
In 1952, he met Bob Montgomery at Hutchinson Junior High School.
They shared an interest in music, and teamed up as "Buddy and Bob".
Initially influenced by bluegrass, they sang harmony duets at local clubs and high school talent shows.
The duo performed on a local radio station KDAV Sunday broadcast that made them a top local act.
Hutchinson Junior High School now has a mural honoring Holly, and Lubbock High School, where he sang in the school choir, also honors the late musician.[7]
Death
Holly was offered a spot in the Winter Dance Party, a three-week tour across the Midwest opening on January 23, 1959, by the GAC agency,[citation needed] with other notable performers such as Dion and the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.He assembled a backing band consisting of Tommy Allsup (guitar), Waylon Jennings (bass) and Carl Bunch (drums), and billed them as The Crickets.[citation needed]
Following a performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, 1959, Holly chartered a small airplane to take him to the next stop on the tour.
Holly, Valens, Richardson and the pilot were killed en route to Moorhead, Minnesota, when their plane crashed soon after taking off from nearby Mason City in the early morning hours of February 3.[21]
There was a snowstorm, and the pilot was not qualified to fly by instruments only. Bandmate Waylon Jennings had given up his seat on the plane, causing Holly to jokingly tell Jennings, "I hope your ol' bus freezes up!"
Jennings shot back facetiously, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes!"
It was a statement that would haunt Jennings for decades.[22]
"Although the plane came down only five miles northwest of the airport, no one saw or heard the crash", wrote rock performer, archivist and music historian, Harry Hepcat, in his article about Buddy Holly.
"The bodies lay in the blowing snow through the night...... February indeed made us shiver, but it was more than the cold of February that third day of the month in 1959.
It was the shiver of a greater, sometimes senseless, reality invading our sheltered, partying, teenaged life of the 50s."[23]
Holly's funeral was held on February 7, 1959, at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lubbock.[24]
The service was officiated by Ben D. Johnson, who had presided at the Hollys' wedding just months earlier. The pallbearers were Jerry Allison, Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan, Bob Montgomery, Sonny Curtis and Phil Everly.[25]
Waylon Jennings was unable to attend due to his commitment to the still-touring Winter Dance Party. Holly's body was interred in the City of Lubbock Cemetery in the eastern part of the city.
His headstone carries the correct spelling of his surname (Holley) and a carving of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.
Holly's pregnant wife, a widow after barely six months of marriage, miscarried soon after, ending that part of the Holly family tree.
The miscarriage was reportedly due to “psychological trauma”.[26]
Because of this incident, authorities found it necessary, in the months following, to implement a policy against announcing victims’ names until after families had first been informed.[26]
María Elena Holly did not attend the funeral, and has never visited the gravesite.
She later told the Avalanche-Journal:
In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I wasn't with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane.[19]The first song to commemorate the musicians was “Three Stars” by Eddie Cochran.
This song was recorded just one day after the disaster occurred.[26]
Twelve years later, in 1971, Don McLean released his single, "American Pie”, to commemorate Buddy Holly’s death and further accentuate the loss of the United States’ innocence.[26]
Don McLean’s song began the reference to the tragedy as "The Day the Music Died".
Source: Wikipedia.org
Much more info at Wikipedia on Holly and the day that the Music died.
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