Monday, February 9, 2009
Buddy Holly’s Legacy Lives On
In his tribute song “American Pie,” songwriter Don MacLean gave us the phrase, “The day the music died” in reference to Feb. 3, 1959. On that frigid night during a blinding snowstorm, a small plane crashed into an Iowa field, instantly killing all passengers on board. The charter held a small contingent of musicians, fresh from a performance at the Surf Club in Clear Lake, heading off to the next leg of their tour. Among them were recording artists The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and most notably, Buddy Holly, a young singer/songwriter/guitarist who had enjoyed success for only a year and a half before the plane crash.
Holly was considered very innovative at the time, with a sophisticated style not seen during his day. He has been credited with influencing many of his peers and countless other musicians who came after him. The Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, even Lennon and McCartney, have attributed Holly’s style as having inspired their own music. In fact, Paul McCartney was so taken with Buddy Holly’s music, he bought the publishing rights to Holly’s song catalog.
Buddy Holly’s short career inspired posthumous record releases, movies, a Broadway musical, an annual tribute tour, a number of monuments, a long list of modern-day song lyrics, and more. With hundreds of artists immortalizing Buddy Holly in hundreds of different ways, he remains an unforgettable legend in pop culture history. That’s why we at Betty’s Attic believe the music will never die!
posted by Betty at
5:34 PM
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