Singer Trini Lopez, 83, dies of COVID-19 complications

(Chicago Sun Times) RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Trini Lopez, a singer and guitarist who gained fame for his versions of “Lemon Tree” and “If I Had a Hammer” in the 1960s and took his talents to Hollywood, died Tuesday. He was 83.
 ... Buddy Holly saw Lopez at a small nightclub in Wichita Falls, Texas, and introduced him to Norman Petty, his record producer in Clovis, New Mexico. Holly died in a plane crash six months later, and Lopez briefly replaced him as lead singer of The Crickets. Continued

Sonny Curtis

 

(Wikipedia) Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Most of his work falls into the pop and country genres. He was a teenage friend and band member with Buddy Holly in Lubbock, Texas.
... Curtis joined the Crickets after Holly's death in 1959, and soon took over the lead vocalist role in addition to lead guitar. As the credits show, he was part of the band for the 1960 album In Style with the Crickets for which they recorded the original versions of two of Curtis's best known songs, "I Fought the Law" and "More Than I Can Say" (co-written with drummer Jerry Allison). Along with Cricket Jerry Allison he participated in Eddie Cochran's last recording sessions, including the song 'Three Steps to Heaven.' Continued

Buddy Holly's Classmates Remember The Pioneer 60 Years After 'The Day The Music Died'

 

(NPR) … Rock and roll got an especially cold reception in Lubbock at the time. Nelson remembers preachers regularly smashing vinyl records or using cars to crush them.
Local teenagers who wanted to listen to rock and roll would circle their cars out in cotton fields, blast the radio and dance. Nelson recalls that the conservative people in Lubbock "thought the young people were going to hell." Continued

ALSO: On the Enduring Genius of Buddy Holly, Sixty Years After His Death

Tommy Allsup

Tommy Allsup, 2009 (Wikipedia)

(Rockabilly Hall of Fame) Tommy, [November 24, 1931 – January 11, 2017], a Rockabilly Hall of Fame Inductee, started his musical career in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1949 with the "Oklahoma Swingbillies."
In 1950 he went to work with fiddle player Art Davis in Miami, Oklahoma; from there to the Cowboy Inn in Wichita, Kansas with singer, fiddle player Jimmy Hall.
In 1952 and 1953, he moved back to Tulsa, Oklahoma to join the "Johnnie Lee Wills Band." From 1953 to 1958, he had his own band, "The Southernaires" in Lawton, Oklahoma with homebase being the Southern Club.
In 1958, Tommy's career would take a different direction. On a trip to Clovis, New Mexico to record at Norman Petty's famous studio, he met the late Buddy Holly. In April, he started playing lead guitar with Holly and the Crickets.
He continued playing with Buddy until the fatal plane crash that took Buddy's life, along with the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. It was Allsup who flipped a coin with Ritchie Valens for a seat on the ill-fated plane. Continued

Buddy Holly

(Wikipedia) Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American musician and singer-songwriter who was a central figure of mid-1950s rock and roll.
Holly was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression; he learned to play guitar and to sing alongside his siblings.
... Unhappy with Bradley's control in the studio and with the sound he achieved there, Holly went to producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, and recorded a demo of "That'll Be the Day", among other songs. Continued

Jerry Allison

Buddy Holly and
the Crickets in 1958
 (top to bottom: Allison,
 Holly and Mauldin)

(Wikipedia) Jerry Ivan Allison (born August 31, 1939) is an American musician, best known for being the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their Buddy Holly hits "That'll Be The Day" and "Peggy Sue."
Allison's first professional recording can be heard on a 45-rpm disc of a local group, Hal Goodson and the Raiders. This very rare recording was named "Who's Gonna Be the Next One Honey." It was also performed at the Norman Petty studio in Clovis, New Mexico, about six months before "Peggy Sue" was recorded.
In their early days at the Lubbock Youth Center, Buddy Holly's vocals and guitar were backed only by Allison's drumming, allowing for some of Holly's best guitar work. Continued

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings, Jesse Colter, Rosalynn Carter (Library of Congress)

(Wikipedia) Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor.
Jennings began playing guitar at eight and began performing at 14 on KVOW radio. His first band was The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a DJ on KVOW, KDAV, KYTI, and KLLL.
In 1958, Buddy Holly arranged Jennings's first recording session, of "Jole Blon" and "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)". Holly hired him to play bass.
In Clear Lake, Iowa, Jennings gave up his seat on the ill-fated flight that crashed and killed Holly, J. P. Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and pilot Roger Peterson.
... Waylon Arnold Jennings was born on June 15, 1937, on the G.W. Bitner farm, near Littlefield, Texas. Continued

Sonny Curtis

 

(Wikipedia) Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Most of his work falls into the pop and country genres. He was a teenage friend and band member with Buddy Holly in Lubbock, Texas.
... Curtis joined the Crickets after Holly's death in 1959, and soon took over the lead vocalist role in addition to lead guitar. As the credits show, he was part of the band for the 1960 album In Style with the Crickets for which they recorded the original versions of two of Curtis's best known songs, "I Fought the Law" and "More Than I Can Say" (co-written with drummer Jerry Allison). Along with Cricket Jerry Allison he participated in Eddie Cochran's last recording sessions, including the song 'Three Steps to Heaven.' Continued

The Day the Music Died

Photo by Bill Larkins

(Wikipedia) On February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean so referred to it in his 1971 song "American Pie".
At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens and Richardson had joined the tour as well. Continued

Tommy Allsup

Tommy Allsup, 2009 (Wikipedia)

(Rockabilly Hall of Fame) Tommy, [November 24, 1931 – January 11, 2017], a Rockabilly Hall of Fame Inductee, started his musical career in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1949 with the "Oklahoma Swingbillies." In 1950 he went to work with fiddle player Art Davis in Miami, Oklahoma; from there to the Cowboy Inn in Wichita, Kansas with singer, fiddle player Jimmy Hall. In 1952 and 1953, he moved back to Tulsa, Oklahoma to join the "Johnnie Lee Wills Band." From 1953 to 1958, he had his own band, "The Southernaires" in Lawton, Oklahoma with homebase being the Southern Club.
In 1958, Tommy's career would take a different direction. On a trip to Clovis, New Mexico to record at Norman Petty's famous studio, he met the late Buddy Holly. In April, he started playing lead guitar with Holly and the Crickets. He continued playing with Buddy until the fatal plane crash that took Buddy's life, along with the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. It was Allsup who flipped a coin with Ritchie Valens for a seat on the ill-fated plane. Continued

Don Walser

(Wikipedia) Donald Ray Walser (September 14, 1934 - September 20, 2006) was an American country music singer. He was known as a unique, award-winning yodeling "Texas country music legend."
Walser was born in Brownfield, Texas and raised in Lamesa. A roots musician since he was 11 years old, Walser became an accomplished guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.
He started his first band, The Panhandle Playboys, at age 16, and shared bills with another aspiring Texas singer, Buddy Holly. Continued

Buddy Holly

(Wikipedia) Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American musician and singer-songwriter who was a central figure of mid-1950s rock and roll.
Holly was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression; he learned to play guitar and to sing alongside his siblings.
... Unhappy with Bradley's control in the studio and with the sound he achieved there, Holly went to producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, and recorded a demo of "That'll Be the Day", among other songs. Continued

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings, Jesse Colter, Rosalynn Carter (Library of Congress)

(Wikipedia) Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor.
Jennings began playing guitar at eight and began performing at 14 on KVOW radio. His first band was The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a DJ on KVOW, KDAV, KYTI, and KLLL.
In 1958, Buddy Holly arranged Jennings's first recording session, of "Jole Blon" and "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)". Holly hired him to play bass. In Clear Lake, Iowa, Jennings gave up his seat on the ill-fated flight that crashed and killed Holly, J. P. Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and pilot Roger Peterson.
... Waylon Arnold Jennings was born on June 15, 1937, on the G.W. Bitner farm, near Littlefield, Texas. Continued

Norman Petty

(Wikipedia) Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician and record producer who is best known for his association with Buddy Holly and the Crickets, who recorded in his studio.
Petty was born in the small town of Clovis, New Mexico, near the Texas border. He began playing piano at an early young age. While in high school, he regularly performed on a fifteen-minute show on a local radio station. Continued

Sonny Curtis

(Wikipedia) Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Most of his work falls into the pop and country genres. He was a teenage friend and band member with Buddy Holly in Lubbock, Texas.
... Curtis joined the Crickets after Holly's death in 1959, and soon took over the lead vocalist role in addition to lead guitar. As the credits show, he was part of the band for the 1960 album In Style with the Crickets for which they recorded the original versions of two of Curtis's best known songs, "I Fought the Law" and "More Than I Can Say" (co-written with drummer Jerry Allison). Along with Cricket Jerry Allison he participated in Eddie Cochran's last recording sessions, including the song 'Three Steps to Heaven.' Continued

The Day the Music Died

Photo by Bill Larkins

(Wikipedia) On February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean so referred to it in his 1971 song "American Pie".
At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens and Richardson had joined the tour as well. Continued

Jerry Allison

Buddy Holly and
the Crickets in 1958
 (top to bottom: Allison,
 Holly and Mauldin)

(Wikipedia) Jerry Ivan Allison (born August 31, 1939) is an American musician, best known for being the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their Buddy Holly hits "That'll Be The Day" and "Peggy Sue."
Allison's first professional recording can be heard on a 45-rpm disc of a local group, Hal Goodson and the Raiders. This very rare recording was named "Who's Gonna Be the Next One Honey." It was also performed at the Norman Petty studio in Clovis, New Mexico, about six months before "Peggy Sue" was recorded. In their early days at the Lubbock Youth Center, Buddy Holly's vocals and guitar were backed only by Allison's drumming, allowing for some of Holly's best guitar work. Continued

Buddy Knox

(Wikipedia) Buddy Wayne Knox (July 20, 1933 – February 14, 1999) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1957 rock hit song, "Party Doll". Knox was born in the tiny farming community of Happy, Texas and learned to play the guitar in his youth. In his teens, he and some high school friends formed a band called the "Rhythm Orchids." After they performed on the same 1956 radio show as fellow Texan Roy Orbison and his "Teen Kings" band, Orbison suggested that Knox go to record producer Norman Petty, who had a recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, the same studio where Buddy Holly recorded several of his early hits, including "That'll Be the Day." Continued