Okay so I'm going to let you guys in on a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. My music taste varies from Cradle of the Filth to the Backstreet Boys to Lady Gaga to Pat Benetar to The Birthday Massacre to Carly Simon & of course alot of fluff in between. But another era of great music I absolutely adore is 50's music. I love the words of hopeful love, the struggles, & the cuteness of the sincerity in the lyrics. When I'm havin a bad day I'll put in one of my All 50's songs cds & just rock out to Dion & the Belmonts, the Four Seasons, Brian Hyland, Elvis, & any tune you swing at me.
Today I'd like to take a minute to remember the following singers who died today in an unfortunate plane crash in a snowstorm back in 1959. Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, & Richie Valens. Some of you may not know who these men are but have you ever heard of the movie, La Bamba?? That was about Richie Valens. He sang the song, "La Bamba", "Donna", & "Come on Let's go". His song "Donna" is so heartfelt & so true to real love that it makes ya tear up. It's beautiful. Buddy Holly sang the song, "Peggy Sue" & it's so cute how he describes her. The Bigger Bopper sang the song, ""Chantilly Lace."
The song called, "American Pie" by Don Mclean, you must have heard that song somewhere, is actually about these three men. Madonna, I have to say, butchered the absolutely amazing song in a much shorter version a few years ago."I can still remember how the music used to make me smile..." There was a terrible snow storm & I can't understand why they would take off in the airplane. I guess times were different then & the show must go on regardless of the snow. A coin toss determined the young Richie Valens's fate. It was either him or Waylon Jennings. Richie won the coin toss to go on the plane. The pilot also died. I don't know his name but I think he should be remembered too & not forgotten. Without these singers music wouldn't be what is today. Even Bob Dylan says that.
Richie Valens was just 17 years old, Buddy Holly was 22, & The Big Bopper was 28 years old. What a terrible shame. Well even 51 years later after your death all of your music can still be blasted in a Honda Civic in the lil town of Pearl River, NY in 2010. "They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died...". R.I.P. & Thank you for the music.
Here is a video of the song for "Donna" by Richie Valens. I love this song. He loved a lady named Donna & because of life issues they broke up. It's probably one of the most true love songs I've ever heard. If you get a minute listen to it. It's a beautiful song.
-Don Mclean, "American Pie"
37 comments:
Hey there. I'm also a big fan of older music. Have you heard this slowed down version of Maybe Baby? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfWocxFxUU (Also recorded by Buddy Holly but diff from the released.)
I read a random story about Ritchie Valens's song Oh Donna the other day--producer Phil Spector early on in his career lied to his girlfriend, Donna Kass, telling her he wrote Donna for her...when Ritchie died she heard the real Donna talking about him on the radio and realized Phil had lied. Fun stuff.
Liking your blog a whole lot!
I used to listen to an oldies radio station that would play hits from the 50s and 60s. Now all of the oldies stations I find seem to play music from the 80s. It's amazing that the music of these men can still resonate emotionally with people so long after their deaths.
i love these guys! it's a shame how sad their lives ended...
one of my old-time favorites is Roy Orbison...my parents listened to him all of the time when we were growing up.
xoxo alison
ahh, nothing compares to the well-crafted soul and oldies of the bygone decades between 49-69. check out: martha reeves & the vandellas. their song "i promise to wait my love" will knock you out. also, if you love richie valens (and who wouldn't??) listen to "we belong together". they featured it in the film-biopic. such a beautiful song. and finally, nina simone's "feeling good".
they come highly recommended.
good post!
Hmm i love that song!
I like music from this era too!
Fun post!
xoxox,
CC
I love this kind of music as well, my taste in music varies greatly, and I love it all :) THanks for bringing this music up :)
i love this type of music too! and the four seasons are amazing :)
Btw, you've been given an award on my page :) check it out.
so great that you love all types of music. i do too and my son is 17 and on his ipod, he has a super eclectic variety from opera and classic to well...i have to say, groups i've never heard of. hmmm, maybe i'm getting old? no, it couldn't be? catching up on a few of your posts, your gym post is a freakin' riot! i've not experienced anything like that while i've had gym memberships. so funny, it's like they're trying to keep everyone overweight and needing their services. strange rewards for working out. they should be offering fruit shakes or things like that, what next, chocolate? hmmm, now that would be tempting! :)
The music does every night, but it's reborn as we awaken. Just another perspective.
I totally agree! thank you for sharing that with us. they truly had great music back then. I am a fan of the beatles still :)
American pie is probably one of the best songs ever written
I like to think that I have a "varied" taste in music but I can't believe I've never gotten into 50's stuff before :/ It's amaaaazing.
I think it is great to like lots of different types of music - mkaes things more open.
Kate xx
<3 RIP
Why do all of those men look so wholesome
I'm such a clueless moron when it comes to music that it's quite incredible actually.
But I think my goal for today will have to be to youtube these 50's musicians.
I will admit to know a few words to all of these songs and starting to sing them in my head as I read each title and NOT because I lived in the 50's!
My taste in music tends to shift with the times though I skipped most of the crap in the 80's why do people insist on reliving the 80's music!
Okay, this made me a bit sad today.
I wonder if he hadn't passed away if his music would have made such a huge impact during his time to inspire other musicians to continue the type of music he produced.
i love people who are still in touch with the past. im not like that though... im so mainstream and maybe even underground if you ask... but never songs from the past... ahh... i don't even know where to begin. but i love your passion for music :]
I too am a huge fan of the oldies! I love this era of music too.
I always find it a bit disconcerting when I realise just how young certain celebrities were when they died - how did they make so big an impact in such a short time? It's mind boggling...
awesome post!! I love oldies!! so much amazing music!!
Oldies are the best...totally make me remember my childhood and driving around with my mom. :)
well, dylan was a very wise man.
Wow, this is so bizarre. Earlier today, "American Pie" randomly popped into my head. lol.
Oldies but goodies...my mom loves Doris Day!
xo*
Hey Mel, I love that you're into the older stuff! And I agree that Madonna killed "American Pie". Are you familiar with Don Maclean's other well-known song, "Vincent"? It was written about van Gogh, whose painting you feature in your sidebar. Listen to the lyrics to this song, they're absolutely beautiful.
He was a great singer - and died way too young, like sadly too many of the greats do. I went with school to see the Buddy Holly show in London once, it was great, totally surprised at how many of the songs I knew.
Glad to see there's still over people out there that will admit to still having a liking for the Backstreet Boys!
i;m with you on all of these. great music is driven by great lyrics - something somewhat lost on many of today's tunes.
nice to find you
Ooh love this post!! What a sweet tribute. Two of my favorite oldies stations used to play all the best 50s music but in the past five years have switched their oldies from "50s and 60s" to "70s, 80s, and 90s." Ugh. Such a shame.
I always knew American Pie was about these three music legends; I just didn't know the whole story. So, thanks for this post! xo
So many really talented people die so young. It's such a shame.
My grandfather built a recording studio for Stevie Ray Vaughn and Lonnie Mack when I was a baby. We lived in Indiana. I have pictures of Stevie Ray holding me when I was like 2, but I don't even remember it. My mom loved him, said he was such a nice, down to Earth guy.
I think it was just a tragedy they were lost so young to the world....but the music they left us with is just fantastic. Thanks for this post honey.
xoxo
I love that song! It's such a classic. I don't like Madonna's remix of it though.
All great musicians. I had never heard the part about the flipping of the coin. Interesting.
what a great tribute to these singers, melanie! i also enjoy music from the 50s:) i had no idea buddy holly died in a plane crash. how tragic and they were all so young!
that's some pretty eclectic taste in music!
Somehow I just recently saw La Bamba. My dad had been telling me to watch for years and when I saw it on TV I had to watch. Such a sad story about all of them =(
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