Forget the Carruthers Brothers concerts at the Murrayfield Dome or Johnnie Beattie's rock group a real rock n roll legend Tommy Allsup plays New Anniesland on Friday 8 June
Who is Tommy Allsup I hear you ask--well unfortunately I am about to tell you
Tommy Allsup was the guy that tossed the coin with Richie Valens and lost his seat on the ill fated plane ride that took off on 2nd February 1959 from Clear Lake Iowa to Fargo North Dakota then crashed killing Buddy Holly ,the Big Bopper and Valens--"the day the music died"
Allsup played with the Crickets on such Holly classics as "Heartbeat" and "Its So Easy"

Read on

On a cold winter's night a small private plane took off from Clear
Lake, Iowa bound for Fargo, N.D. It never made its destination.

When that plane crashed, it claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie
Valens, J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson.
Three of Rock and Roll's most promising performers were gone. As Don
McLean wrote in his classic music parable, American Pie, (annotated)
it was "the day the music died."




Performing in concert was very profitable, and Buddy Holly needed the
money it provided. "The Winter Dance Party Tour" was planned to cover
24 cities in a short 3 week time frame (January 23 - February 15) and
Holly would be the biggest headliner. Waylon Jennings, a friend from
Lubbock, Texas and Tommy Allsup would go as backup musicians.

Ritchie Valens, probably the hottest of the artists at the time, The
Big Bopper, and Dion and the Belmonts would round out the list of
performers.

The tour bus developed heating problems. It was so cold onboard that
reportedly one of the drummers developed frostbite riding in it. When
they arrived at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, they were cold,
tired and disgusted.

Buddy Holly had had enough of the unheated bus and decided to charter
a plane for himself and his guys. At least he could get some laundry
done before the next performance!

That night at the Surf Ballroom was magical as the fans went wild over
the performers.

Jiles P. Richardson, known as The Big Bopper to his fans, was a Texas
D.J. who found recording success and fame in 1958 with the song
Chantilly Lace.

Richie Valenzuela was only 16 years old when Del-Fi record producer,
Bob Keane, discovered the Pacoima, California singer. Keane rearranged
his name to Ritchie Valens, and in 1958 they recorded Come On, Let's
Go. Far more successful was the song Valens wrote for his girlfriend,
Donna, and its flip side, La Bamba, a Rock and Roll version of an old
Mexican standard. This earned the teenager an appearance on American
Bandstand and the prospect of continued popularity.

Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holley (changed to Holly due to a misspelling
on a contract) and his band, The Crickets, had a number one hit in
1957 with the tune That'll Be The Day. This success was follwed by
Peggy Sue and an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. By 1959, Holly
had decided to move in a new direction. He and the Crickets parted
company. Holly married Maria Elena Santiago and moved to New York with
the hope of concentrating on song writing and producing.


Dwyer Flying Service got the charter. $36 per person for a single
engine Beechcraft Bonanza.

No, the plane wasn't named American Pie. It only had serial numbers, N3794N.

Waylon Jennings gave his seat up to Richardson, who was running a
fever and had trouble fitting his stocky frame comfortably into the
bus seats.

When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well,
I hope your old bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope
your plane crashes." This friendly banter of friends would haunt
Jennings for years.

Allsup told Valens, I'll flip you for the remaining seat. On the toss
of a coin, Valens won the seat and Allsup the rest of his life.

The plane took off a little after 1 A.M. from Clear Lake and never got
far from the airport before it crashed, killing all onboard.

A cold N.E wind immediately gave way to a snow which drastically
reduced visibility. The ground was already blanketed in white. The
pilot may have been inexperienced with the instrumentation.

One wing hit the ground and the small plane corkscrewed over and over.
The three young stars were thrown clear of the plane, leaving only
pilot Roger Peterson inside.

Over the years there has been much speculation as to whether a shot
was fired inside the plane which disabled or killed the pilot. Logic
suggests that encased in a sea of white snow, with only white below,
Peterson just flew the plane into the ground.


Deciding that the show must go on at the next stop, Moorhead, MN, they
looked for local talent to fill

This article was originally posted on 20-Apr-2007, 07:22 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 20-Apr-2007, 07:35.