February 9, 2015 Remembering a legend…

Happy post-Groundhog Week to you, it’s Week Number 192 of Adventures in Worddom, brought to you in part this time by the support group for sufferers of ‘I Have Way Too Much Time on My Hands’ Syndrome.

Well, the groundhog has been pretty kind to us. I haven’t been able to complain much at all about this winter’s weather. It’s kind of a mixed blessing, really, because I love to complain.

Just happened to remember the other day that February 3rd was the anniversary of the 1959 plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper and their pilot Roger Petersen. If you want to read an excellent book about these legends and, of course, that fateful day, find a copy of ‘Rave On’ by Phillip Norman, the best Holly book I’ve ever seen. It’s not currently in print, but you can get it from a lot of internet book sites. There’s a ton of stuff in there that I never knew, and I thought I knew Holly. The narrative takes you right up to the time of the fatal flight.

It’s really striking to see (and hear) how well the Buddy Holly catalog, in other words, his total song output, has stood the test of time. There are still hundreds of artists around the world recording his great hits like ‘Maybe Baby,’ ‘That’ll Be The Day,’ ‘It’s So Easy,’ ‘Raining in my Heart’ and many others. Linda Ronstadt was probably the most successful of the Holly revivalists. In the ‘70s and ‘80s she recorded a half-dozen or more of his songs, with her own little spin, but still was very faithful to the original song. Good material just never gets old.

I remember having the Buddy Holly Greatest Hits collection in my Wisconsin apartment back in the late ‘60s. This was the time of the Beatles, Stones etc, which meant ‘old guys’ like Holly were not in style anymore. We had a party there one time and one friend picked up the album and asked “Who’s this guy?” The album cover was black and white with a huge picture of Holly with his trademark black frame specs. He did NOT look like a Beatle or Stone. So I patiently explained just how important he was in rock and roll history and then I put the album on and won over a convert to the cause. Of course, maybe it helped that he was drinking my free beer.

Holly’s time with us as a major artist was very brief. He had less than two years of chart success while he was alive, starting in 1957 and wrapping up on that sad February day in ’59. His song catalog has done just fine since then, though, with posthumous releases into the 1960s and recordings of his material by other artists right up to the present time. By the way, if you want to read what it was like to be part of a rock and roll ‘package tour’ in the ‘50s, again, read ‘Rave On.’ Holly would go on tour with a ‘package’ of artists like Little Richard, Fats Domino and others, and it makes for some interesting reading. The crazy life of touring rockers didn’t just start in the ‘70s. Holly’s difficulties with his producer, the smart but manipulative Norman Petty, are detailed in the book also. Petty was quite the rock ‘n roll guru.

Long live the memory of one of the most talented and nicest guys of early rock ‘n roll.

Our Resident Trivia whizzes were workin’ overtime this week. Let’s check the results…

Terry correctly identified Super Bowl 4 or IV, if you prefer, as the first one to use entertainers instead of marching bands for the halftime show. That was the one where KC beat Minnesota. See, it can be done, Chiefs fans!

Kevin came in shortly thereafter with ‘Otis Taylor’ as the Chiefs great wide receiver who caught the winning score in that same game way back when. Right you are, sir.

Julie remembered Harry! She correctly identified Harry Kline as the one-time Giants player who taught, coached and was athletic director at GB High. Harry was a nice guy who also was our landlord before we bought our first home back in the ‘70s. He also encouraged us to plant a garden, which I’ve written about before in this space.

Charlie came up with ‘Buddy Holly’ (see above) as Linda Ronstadt’s favorite in the ‘70s and ‘80s when she was ‘recycling’ a lot of classic hits. Yes, indeed.

In other business, Charlie agreed that Damian Johnson’s Mom ran the little coffee shop in the American State bank building, and Julie supplied her name: Velma Jean. Thanks to you all.

Note to Terry: I did get your first replies last Monday. I don’t know why they weren’t shown on the website here. Computers!

Okay, looks like some new questions are in order…

Who was the GBHS basketball coach through much of the ‘60s and maybe ‘70s?

What national retailer started his career by making a boot that really didn’t function very well?

What import car of the ‘50s came over here with ‘pop-up’ turn signal indicators?

This mid-to-late ‘80s detective show featured a soon-to-be-famous action star and a former fashion model. What was the show?

Thanks for dropping in here again. See you next week.

John