Although I have heard this song so many times that I don't care if I ever hear it again...I still gave it a "9" for how perfectly it is assembled and produced.  Folk-rock at its finest.

Great song to play around the campfire, everyone knows the chorus. 

Although there's not much about the actual song here (which was never a favorite of mine anyway) this is the best synopsis of the events that I have ever read.  I was a diehard Waylon fan, knew that he gave up his seat but never really ran across the details of the flight or surrounding circumstances. Good job Peyotecoyote and thanks for sharing the research.

 peyotecoyote wrote: 

 Ndugu wrote: 
Classic, full of arcane references one can spend hours deciphering ... and musically as interesting as vanilla pudding. It's so deadly dull. Instant mute for me.

It was on February 3, 1959, that a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll musicians: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. This day was later cal...led The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song "American Pie".

Events leading up to the crash: "The Winter Dance Party" was a tour that was set to cover twenty-four Midwestern cities in three weeks. A logistical problem with the tour was the amount of travel, as the distance between venues was not considered when scheduling each performance. Adding to the disarray, the tour bus used to carry the musicians was ill-prepared for the weather; its heating system broke down shortly after the tour began. Holly's drummer, Carl Bunch, developed a severe case of frostbitten feet while on the bus and was taken to a local hospital. As he recovered, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens took turns playing the drums.
The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, was never intended to be a stop on the tour, but promoters, hoping to fill an open date, called Carroll Anderson, who was the manager of the Surf Ballroom, and offered him the show. He accepted and the date of the show was set for Monday, February 2.

By the time Buddy Holly arrived at the ballroom that evening, he was frustrated with the tour bus and told his bandmates that once the show was over, they should try to charter a plane to get to the next stop on the tour, which was Moorhead, Minnesota. According to VH-1's Behind the Music: "The Day the Music Died", Holly was also upset that he had run out of clean undershirts, socks, and underwear and he needed to do some laundry before the next performance and the local laundromat in Clear Lake was closed that day.

Flight arrangements were made with Roger Peterson, a 21-year-old local pilot who worked for Dwyer Flying Service in Mason City, Iowa. A fee of $36 per passenger was charged for the single-engine 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza 35 (V-tail), registration N3794N (later reassigned). The Bonanza could seat three in addition to the pilot. Richardson had developed a case of flu during the tour and asked Waylon Jennings, one of Holly's bandmates, for his seat on the plane...Jennings agreed to give up his seat. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said in jest, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up" and Jennings responded in jest, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes". This exchange of words would haunt Waylon Jennings for the rest of his life. Ritchie Valens had never flown in a small plane before, and asked Holly's remaining bandmate on the plane, Tommy Allsup, for his seat. Tommy said "I'll flip ya for the seat". Contrary to what is seen in biographical movies, the coin toss did not happen at the airport shortly before takeoff, nor did Buddy Holly toss it. Bob Hale, a DJ with KRIB-AM who was working the concert that night, flipped the coin at the ballroom shortly before the musicians departed for the airport. Valens won the coin toss, and with it a seat on the plane. Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts was approached to join the flight, although it is unclear exactly when he was asked. Dion decided that, since the $36 cost of the flight was the same as the monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment, he couldn't justify the indulgence.

The Crash: The plane took off at around 12:55 AM Central Time. Just after 1:00 AM Central Time, Mr. Hubert Dwyer, a commercial pilot and owner of the plane, observing from a platform outside the tower stated, "I saw the tail light of the aircraft gradually descend until out of sight." Peterson had told Dwyer he would file a flight plan with Air Traffic Control by radio after departure. When he did not call the Air Traffic Control communicator with his flight plan, Dwyer requested that Air Traffic Control continue to attempt to establish radio contact, but all attempts were unsuccessful. By 3:30 AM, when Hector Airport in Fargo, North Dakota, had not heard from Peterson, Dwyer contacted authorities and reported the aircraft missing. Around 9:15 AM, Dwyer took off in another small plane to fly Peterson's intended route. A short time later, he spotted the wreckage in a cornfield belonging to Albert Juhl, about five miles (8 km) northwest of the airport. The Bonanza was at a slight downward angle and banked to the right when it struck the ground at around 170 miles per hour (270 km/h). The plane tumbled and skidded another 570 feet (170 m) across the frozen landscape before the crumpled ball of wreckage piled against a wire fence at the edge of Juhl's property. The bodies of Holly and Valens lay near the plane, Richardson was thrown over the fence and into the cornfield of Juhl's neighbor, Oscar Moffett, and the body of Peterson remained entangled inside the plane's wreckage. Surf Ballroom manager Carroll Anderson, who drove the musicians to the airport and witnessed the plane's takeoff, made positive identifications of the musicians.

All four had died instantly from "gross trauma" to the brain, the county coroner Ralph Smiley declared. Holly's death certificate detailed the multiple injuries which show that he surely died on impact:
The body of Charles H. Holley was clothed in an outer jacket of yellow leather-like material in which four seams in the back were split almost full length. The skull was split medially in the forehead and this extended into the vertex region. Approximately half the brain tissue was absent. There was bleeding from both ears, and the face showed multiple lacerations. The consistency of the chest was soft due to extensive crushing injury to the bony structure. Both thighs and legs showed multiple fractures. Investigators concluded that the crash was due to a combination of poor weather conditions and pilot error. Peterson, working on his Instrument Rating, was still taking flight instrumentation tests and was not yet rated for flight into weather that would have required operation of the aircraft solely by reference to his instruments rather than by means of his own vision. The final Civil Aeronautics Board report noted that Peterson had taken his instrument training on airplanes equipped with an artificial horizon attitude indicator and not the far-less-common Sperry Attitude Gyro on the Bonanza. Critically, the two instruments display the aircraft pitch attitude in the exact opposite manner; therefore, the board thought that this could have caused Peterson to think he was ascending when he was in fact descending. They also found that Peterson was not given adequate warnings about the weather conditions of his route, which, given his known limitations, might have caused him to postpone the flight.

So the story goes.
* sources: Wikipedia, Rolling Stone Magazine, VH1-Behind the Music*

This is an AMERICAN classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The plane crash represented the move from the innocent '50s to a more troubled decade, which is essentially what American Pie is about. Classic song with tons of little references to pick up on - listen closely for Dylan, The Beatles and Janis Joplin to show up.

 lmic wrote: 

Yeah, I heard it, but it just hit me now—

On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, United States killed three American rock and roll musicians: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean in his 1971 song "American Pie".

 Hannio wrote: 
Roberta Flack didn't write "Killing Me Softly"; but she did record the best version of it.  I think the song was based on a lyrics by Lori Lieberman.  I agree, though, it is kind of strange in to realize that Don McLean had that much influence at some point.

 rluss wrote: 
(bump)

 Jack_Jefferson wrote: 

Sky Pilot by The Animals was another one. 

When I was about 10 years old, I got a hand-me-down collection of 45's from my cousin.  They were songs she liked in her grade school and high school years (late '60's/early '70's).  This one was included.  This whole song was on both sides.  The chorus faded out on the first side then the "Helter Schelter" verse started on the B side.  I wish I still had that 45.  I can't imagine there being many 45's like that.

Hard to believe that it was this clown that Roberta Flack wrote her song about.

Back in high skool we made fun of this song. We kool kats thought it was disgusting. But over the years, having had a chance to grow up a little and think about things in a different perspective, it's gotten worse.

Very clever, right after Buddy Holly.

 ch83575 wrote: 

Agreed! Talk about a song that collapsed under its own weight...

 jmsmy wrote: 

  Good to know because I missed the beginning!

It's like the jocks having the star spangle banner before the big game.... The hipsters have to play this once a year.

 Smoove_D wrote: 

thanks Smoove, I always had heard it wrong as well...

It made a huge impression on me at the time and that counts for a lot IMO.  Plus, everyone loves a good sing-a-long tune.

Long Version :)

 Daveinbawlmer wrote: 
It's "dancing in the gym."

This is a great song... once a year.  Today.  Other than today it kind of grates on the nerves.

srbarry (Upstate NY)

Posted: Jun 15, 2005 - 14:35  < Reply > I think if one more person complains about this song and how long it is, RP should play Alice's Restuarant. That'll show em.

---

I don't care WHAT day it is.... I cannot tolerate this song! And it DEFINITELY grates my nerves (and turns my stomach). Not only taht, I just HAD a potty break.

Bring on Alice's Restaurant.... ANY day! Maybe it's time to go to lunch?

Oh man, you had to go and play it. I was hoping you would resist, Bill. Every single radio station in the country is playing this song today.

Good song, but certainly overplayed today.

pdjpirate wrote:

Yeah, I know. Golly, I'm glad there's old people like you around to help us youngsters. But who explains the past to you? How do you, like, understand things from before your time?

"dancing nin to chin" ??

Whats a nin? I'm 44 years old, I done my share of dancing and know anatomy pretty damn well.

So? Whats a nin ??



8-<

jbtidwell wrote:

Between your answer and Trustocity's, I might be persuaded to listen afresh. Jury's still out, though.

For some of us who marched for Eugene McCarthy ... we hate when this song ends ...

Crazy - awesome - unintelligible - a great rock song that defined music in the early 70's.

:-({|= Melodramtic - but aren't we all?