Buddy Holly was a little more complex than the usual myth makes him out to be. He lost his virginity—according to biographer Ellis Amburn—in a Texas backseat, he bet $3,000 on a dice roll against Danny “Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Here To Stay” Rapp in an afterhours craps match, and he carried a pistol which he drew at least once on hoods who got too hood-y. And we’ve gone so far as to personally verify the pistol story with Crickets drummer Jerry Allison, who carried a .25 automatic himself. (“Wasn’t a big deal,” he added.) And while that’s not quite the Buddy Holly in the famed musical Buddy, you can rest easy knowing that this kid from Texas was absolutely the rock ‘n’ roller the legend makes him out to be—in spirit, in deed and across a discography brought to vital life in a play that tells just one of many Buddy Holly stories.
Wed., April 21, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., April 28, 7:30 p.m., 2010
