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The day the music died


Uncle Joe

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It was 46 years ago on this date, (Feb. 3, 1959)that Buddy Holly, Jaype (not J.P. as many think) Richardson/The Big Bopper and Richie Valens died in that terrible plane crash in Iowa. Holly was only 22 and had been on the scene for only 18 months or so. Yet, look at the collection of hits he'd already had. How many can you name? I can name 12. And he was already being copied. 22! Imagine the volume of work he'd have achieved had he lived to say, the ripe old age of 40? He was a giant. That's why he's been honored by having groups name themselves in his memory...The Beatles wanted a name close to Holly's group name, The Crickets and chose the play on the word beatle. The Hollies were honoring him with their name.

As with Pearl Harbor (before my time) JFK's assassination, and the Twin Towers horror we all know where we were when we heard the news of the plane crash. I was home from school with a swollen arm from the booster shot given the previous day. My aunt and I were walking to the post office. It was very cold. A lady came out to her porch and told us the news. I was 12 1/2 and it numbed me. I wasn't much of an Elvis fan. Holly was my guy. And I loved The Big Bopper's humor. Valens' Donna was a favorite song, too.

Anyway, play Don McLean's American Pie, sing along and thank these guys for their awesome contributions to rock 'n roll.

Who knows where we'd be without them?

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A long long time ago

I can still remember how that music, used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my chance

Then I could make those people dance

And maybe they'd be happy, for a while

But February made me shiver

With every paper I delivered

Bad news on the doorstep

I couldn't take, one more step

I can't remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

Something touched me deep inside...

The day...

The music...

Died...

There's my 2 cents.

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There really was a sense ' the music died ' that day as rock was quite new and fairly limited in stars. Thanks for the reminder , unclejoe !

BTW, anyone interested in Don Maclean's song can find a fair number of sites on the web, some of which analyze it as though it were one of the 'Canterbury Tales' or a Shakespearean sonnet ! -- which it is in a modern-sort of way, I guess. Check them out.

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oohh Kevin I have! That's one of my favorite songs, and I lived through the stuff Maclean talks about. It means a lot to me, and spent many hours learning the song word for word. I can sing it all, off the top of my head. Considering my voice, the inside of my car is the only place I do!

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