The Day The Music Died

50 years ago today in some random field in northern Iowa, the music stopped for a while. Or so I’ve been told. I’m only 32. 

It seems to be getting lots of press due to the 50th anniversary – and deservedly so – but it just seems like one of those moments in history that seems to be forgotten as time goes by. Perhaps if you asked someone in the music business about the song American Pie, they would be able to tell you it’s about the plane crash that happened on Feb 3, 1959, where Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens died. Perhaps not. Almost assuredly most people who listen to music would not….despite the enormous impact that each of them had on the tunes that we hear today. 

I listen to American Pie by Don McLean, and I actually don’t think of the plane crash first. The song takes me to another place….the Bucksnort…..and the amazing times that I had up there with family and friends before Joe stopped singing. The song was one of those that you could count on being played every single time…and one that everyone in the place would sing along with. Almost like clockwork, when finished with the song, Joe would ask if anyone knew what it was about. Again, like the clock, almost nobody knew. I can remember at least 3-4 times getting a free beer for knowing about the meaning behind the song…..but I can’t take full credit for it. I must admit that I didn’t know that until I heard it one time at the Bucksnort. 

So now it’s your turn. Tell someone about the song, tell someone about the day. Tell someone about Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. I remember being educated about Buddy Holly’s ‘Peggy Sue’ by my Dad….a great rif written to get laid. Isn’t that what rock-n-roll is all about? Okay, perhaps it’s a little deeper than that. Or not.