I fell down a rabbit hole looking for an explanation of the non-grammatical “love is love not fade away” line (which I never really found) but it started me thinking of the group in general. Much is always made of the fact that Waylon Jennings gave up his seat on the ill fated plane ride. I started watching old films and videos of BH & tCs on YouTube to see what Waylon looked like young. Though I find lots of live performances none seem to have Ol’ Waylon.
Probably just my sucky searching skills. Can someone link to an old live performance that includes Waylon? Thanks.
Thanks but no. Waylon was apparently in Buddy Holly’s back up band, The Crickets, I’m looking for a live performance of Buddy Holly with Waylon in his group.
Waylon wasn’t a member of The Crickets. Buddy had already split with them and formed a new band for the Winter Dance Party tour. That tour started on Jan 23 and the fatal plane crash occurred leaving the Feb 2 concert, so there were only a limited number of shows with Buddy and Waylon playing together.
I was surprised when I first watched Walk The Line to discover that Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash lived together at one time and, between them, couldn’t pay the phone bill.
I remember an old interview with Waylon. He described the day Buddy Holly died. That’s pretty well known.
What shocked me is Waylon’s memory of continuing the Winter tour after the tragedy. Waylon said he sang Buddy’s songs in lower keys. Waylon didn’t say what they did for the opening acts. I guess Ritchie Valens and Big Bopper were replaced. I wish the interview had gotten more information from Waylon.
It must have been incredibly difficult. But Waylon was very young and just starting in the business. He had to take any opportunities that he could.
I agree with all that. And presumably they were close enough that Waylon was conflicted but I doubt the impact of that day, The Day The Music Died, wasn’t quite the big deal then as it is thought about these days.
Interesting thought. You may be right; I wasn’t around back then. Some claim that Holly was already in “greatest hits” mode by the time he died at 22, but I don’t know about that. He was such an innovative artist that I tend to think he would have had a lot more great music in him had he lived longer.
Valens may or may not have gone on to bigger things. No way we can know for sure. And Richardson, while a well-known DJ, was a novelty act at best, musically speaking.
So it’s difficult to say exactly how much the world of music lost that day. I do wonder how it was considered at the time. Obviously it was a very sad event.
Interestingly, had Jennings been on the plane, he would have been a mere footnote, a near-unknown. It was only later that he achieved legendary status, which may never have been.