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The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens

Larry Lehmer

4.19 · Rating details · 101 ratings · 15 reviews

The story of the last tour of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens-and the fatal air crash that took their lives. Drawing on new documentary information, the author recreates the often grueling conditions of an early rock and roll tour, and provides new facts about "the day the music died." With 50 photos. ...more

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Paperback, 272 pages

Published September 1st 2003 by Schirmer Trade Books (first published October 27th 1997)

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Planes - accidents

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Music Biographies

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Mar 02, 2012 Chris Walker rated it it was amazing

I've read several Holly bio's but this was the first book that I have read that gave equal representation to J.P Richardson, Richie Valens and Roger Peterson. I felt like I was given the opportunity to get to know a little bit about each one of them. Lots of photos, as well. The author details the tour stop-by-stop, and really gives you a better perspective of what that short, fateful tour really was like for the performers and spectators. ...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Pete daPixie rated it liked it

Shelves: poptastic

I'm not sure if it's possible to cram more facts and incidental detail in a book of this kind. Larry Lehmer's 1997 publication of 'The Day the Music Died' contains a vast amount of research with anecdotal testimony centred on the 'Winter Dance Party Tour' of Jan/Feb 1959, the last tour for Buddy Holly, J.D. Richardson (the Big Bopper) and Ritchie Valens.
The author has most certainly left no turn un-stoned. He includes concise biographies of all the artists on the tour, both prior and post '59. N ...more

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Oct 18, 2008 Duane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the last times of three great performers. The author has done superb research into the smallest details of the last days of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Amazing photos are included! A great read for anyone interested in the subject.

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Oct 23, 2020 Viola rated it liked it

Shelves: music, travel

Interview
Don McLean on the tragedy behind American Pie: 'I cried for two years'
Rob Walker

The rollicking song about the souring of the 60s has now spawned a film, a musical and a children’s book. Its creator talks about its meaning – and reveals the family deaths underlying it
Thu 22 Oct 2020

‘You couldn’t talk about my sister because you couldn’t tell the truth’ … Don McLean in the 1970s.

When Don McLean was 15 years old, he had a premonition that his father was going to die. Distraught, he ran ...more

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Feb 12, 2021 Melissa Face rated it it was amazing

This is the second book I've read about Buddy Holly. It is extremely well researched and well written. The author mentions that it was a 16-year project, so it is quite thorough. I appreciate how many interviews and other first-hand accounts were included, as well as photographs. I recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing more about these three legends or about the origins of rock and roll in the US. Great book. ...more

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Jul 04, 2019 Lyn Jensen added it · review of another edition

Just noticed, I finished this book on the Fourth of July--a piece of historical Americana.

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Apr 25, 2020 Robin Herrera added it

Shelves: non-fiction, adult

Research.

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Mar 02, 2013 Gretchen rated it really liked it

I picked this book up to read more about the plane crash that killed J.P. Richardson (the Big Bopper), Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly. I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of late 50's rock and roll, but the stories behind the success of each of these young performers and the history of the ill-fated Winter Dance Party Tour in 1959 were very interesting. These performers were my parents' generation music and as a child, I heard my parents talk about the music and the history of rock and roll quite I picked this book up to read more about the plane crash that killed J.P. Richardson (the Big Bopper), Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly. I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of late 50's rock and roll, but the stories behind the success of each of these young performers and the history of the ill-fated Winter Dance Party Tour in 1959 were very interesting. These performers were my parents' generation music and as a child, I heard my parents talk about the music and the history of rock and roll quite frequently.

What struck me most while reading this book was the sheer lunacy of having a whirlwind tour of the Upper Midwest United States during what is usually the coldest, snowiest part of the year. Not only did these up and coming rock stars not have decent transportation, they also played in some of the smallest dives imaginable. The performers got very ill and one even developed frostbite after their unheated bus broke down in a snow storm. The doomed flight occurred after they had enough of their transportation woes and chartered a plane. The night was terrible for flying and the pilot was only 21 years old and not even fully trained yet.

The book examined the lives that each of the performers led outside of their rock careers. The Big Bopper was a family man whose wife was pregnant at the time of his untimely death. Buddy Holly's wife was also pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage after his death. Ritchie Valens was a shy young man who wrote the famous song, "Donna" about his first real girlfriend. Buddy and his wife allegedly had a troubled marriage. His wife, Maria Elena Holly, did not attend his funeral and has never been to the grave site. Her interest in his estate after his death has led some to speculation about her character. Fortunately, the author himself doesn't speculate on that; however, many of Buddy's friends and family members had much to say about it. Interestingly, both she and Buddy had nightmare premonitions about a plane crash just days before he left his New York home to embark on the tour.

It was also interesting to find out more about the performer's contemporaries who performed or toured with them. I never knew that Waylon Jennings was one of the Crickets. Dion and The Belmonts were also on the tour, something I didn't know until I read the book.

The three who were killed (along with the pilot of the plane) could have contributed so much more to the history of rock and roll. They left us too young. ...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Erin S. rated it really liked it

This book contains everything that you ever wanted to know about the life and death of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens.

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Jan 20, 2008 Andy rated it it was amazing

Comprehensive look at some of the early founding members of Rock and roll. Dwells on their last tour and the plane crash statistics too much, but otherwise very educational.

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