Musician and songwriter, Buddy Holly wanted to charter a plane for him and his band to fly from Mason City, Iowa to the tour's next stop in Moorhead, Minnesota. Roger Peterson, a 21 year old pilot, agreed to fly the group to the nearest airport in Fargo, North Dakota, where the musicians could catch a flight to Moorhead. The proposed arrangement promised an early arrival at the tour's next stop, so Holly made and finalized plans to leave after the second performance.
After touring for eleven days straight, everyone needed to do laundry. Buddy Holly planned to arrive in Moorhead early, get everyone's laundry done and get some rest before the next performance. Band member, Waylon Jennings, gave his seat to J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper," because Richardson was suffering with a cold. Ritchie Valens won a coin toss and a seat on the plane.
The second show at The Surf Ballroom ended at midnight. Holly and fellow musicians drove to nearby Mason City and loaded their instruments on the single engine plane, with adoring fans waving good-bye.
The plane left the Mason
City Municipal Airport
at 12:30 am on
February 3, 1959.
A few minutes later, the plane crashed into a corn field.
After visiting The Surf Ballroom, Eric and I must visit the crash site.
The GPS coordinates on a
brochure brought us to
this field.
Eric thinks the crash site is
about 3 tenths of a mile in
from the road.
He decides to "drive around the block," looking for access to the place in a farmer's field where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper," died.
We parked near these over-sized
black frame glasses.
Buddy Holly was known for his heavy black frame glasses.
Eric & I walk about
half a mile along this
mowed tract.
I think the field is
planted with
Soy Beans.
The crash site & memorial
The weather vane is made
of JELL-O molds & topped
with a decorative
Red Winged Blackbirds are seen everywhere in Northern Iowa.
The memorial for Buddy Holly,
Ritchie Vallens & J.P.
Richardson, "The Big Bopper"
The memorial to Roger
Peterson, the pilot of
the doomed flight.
The tragic deaths of three Rock and Roll music idols is known as, "The day the music died." Eddie Cochran recorded "Three Stars" on February 4, 1959, to memorialize the shocking loss.
In 1959, no one knew what the decade of the 1960s would bring. The 1960s started with hope and boundless energy and ended with war and cynicism.
Twelve years later, in 1971, Don McLean recorded "American Pie." The song brought America back to the snowy night in February 1959, when the country's collective innocence was lost. The rest of the 8.5 minute opus, after "the day the music died," chronicles the murky, conflict filled 1960s.
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