Thanks for the Memories
Crickets drummer Jerry Allison prepares for the 50th anniversary of the day the music died
The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, was never meant to be a stop on the Winter Dance Party tour, but, on Feb. 2, 1959, it was forever enshrined in rock history as the last show played by rock legends Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly. Sometime after 1 a.m. the next day, a single-engine plane carrying the three—chartered at HollyNs insistence because of poor tour-bus conditions—fell from the sky.
“I was at my mom and dadNs house in Lubbock, Texas [when I heard],” Jerry Allison, drummer for the Crickets, HollyNs original band, says today from his house in Lyles, Tennessee, where he, original Cricket bassist Joe B. Maudlin and current Cricket but original Holly session player guitarist Sonny Curtis all live within 30 miles of one another.
“Sonny was . . . sleeping on my folksN couch, and I was asleep in my bedroom when this lady from across the street came over and said, ‘I heard Buddy Holly . . . was killed in a plane crash.N But we knew he wasnNt supposed to be on a plane, so it was an unbelievable deal. Terrible day, it was.”
On Saturday, the Crickets (Allison, Maudlin and Curtis) will take the stage at Deke DickersonNs sixth-annual Guitar Geek Festival to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their childhood friendNs deatH N Mdash;“the day the music died,” as itNs now more famously known thanks to the famous reference in Don McLeanNs “American Pie.” ItNs one of only a few shows theyNll be playing as the anniversary approaches, with the last being on Feb. 2 back at the now-legendary Surf Ballroom.
“You couldnNt tell much difference there today,” Allison, now 69, says. “Even the look of the microphones. TheyNve preserved it all these years. By the 3rd, weNll be on our way back from Clear Lake. I always get a little sad that day.”
Buddy Holly and the Crickets had a profound impact on rock in the late N50s and the N60s, even partly inspiring four lads from Liverpool to call themselves the Beatles; Paul McCartney later bought the publishing rights to HollyNs tunes. It makes sense, considering the simple magnificence of the songs Holly and the Crickets recorded together, such as “ThatNll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” (named for AllisonNs then-girlfriend, now his wife of 40 years).
“The thing that is amazing is that although their music is minimalistic—Buddy Holly was the king of the three-chord song—the fact remains that it only sounds like the records when those original guys play those songs!” Dickerson, a legendary musician in his own right, says. ItNs why he wanted the Crickets to headline his guitar festival. “The feel and style they put on the music is so individualistic only they can make it sound that way.”
Allison, a wildly creative drummer, inherited the role of bandleader from Holly when Holly opted to make a permanent move to New York in 1959; HollyNs band mates remained in Lubbock as the Crickets and would, after HollyNs passing, hit the road together as such. It took them a long time to accept the permanent relationship they would have with HollyNs memory.
“We were best friends, so of course we didnNt want to escape that part,” Allison explains. “Sometimes I wish weNd started back up not as the Crickets.”
By the N60s, when they started touring again (often in England because all the Brits were away invading America), “I had the deal where INd want ‘DonNt put “Buddy HollyNs Crickets” [on the marquee].N But finally, I just learned to shut up because people were just going to do it anyway.” He lets out a chuckle. “Besides, itNs not a bad name to be associated with.”
The Crickets would go through many incarnations, tour with friends such as Waylon Jennings (who, backing Holly in N59, gave up his seat on the infamous chartered plane to the Big Bopper), and record numerous albums and collaborations with such names as Jennings, Eric Clapton and Patti Griffith.
Their impact on those who came after them was obvious: Buddy Holly and the Crickets, geeks playing rock N roll, inspired two subsequent generations to believe that no matter how they looked, how uncool they were, they, too, could be rock stars. Maybe even change the way rock was played.
These days, though, the Crickets are only interested in having fun on the road, which is why they only take off for one or two days at a time. “We donNt turn the money down . . . but we like to hang out with old friends,” Allison says, laughing.
Friends that include Dickerson, whom heNs hoping will take the stage with them on Saturday, along with some of the CricketsN friends over in Los Angeles.
Deke DickersonNs sixth-annual Guitar Geek Festival with the Crickets, Deke Dickerson and more at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel Ballroom, 1700 S. Harbor Rd., Anaheim, (714) 772-5900; www.guitargeekfestival.com. Sat., 4 p.m. $35-$40.
