By Thomas Best
Early on in my broadcasts, I talked about some of the early heroes of rock n’ roll music. One person I mentioned as a pioneer in this emerging sound in the 1950s was Buddy Holly of Lubbock, Texas. This summer, I had the opportunity to visit the site of Buddy Holly’s last concert—the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Not only did I tour the famed concert hall and pick up an interesting book (which I will also address in part three of this series), but I also experienced a true “brush with history” with an interview of Billy Oliver. As a 14-year-old in February 1959, Billy was not only at the Surf Ballroom during the night of Holly’s last concert, but he also got to visit with Holly backstage, and then be connected to the site of the doomed plane crash that claimed Holly’s life on February 3, 1959.
Let’s start with some facts about that tragic last night. The Surf overlooks the beautiful Clear Lake in north central Iowa, where swimming, fishing, and boating are favorite pastimes. The Surf, by 1959, was already well-known as one of the Midwest’s best venues for musical performances. Holly, already nationally famous for such hits as “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll be the Day,” was touring with J.P Richardson (“The Big Bopper”) and Richie Valens, best known for his “La Bamba” hit. They were traveling the Midwest as part of the “Winter Dance Party” which had earlier stopped in Davenport, Iowa. On a very cold and snowy night on February 2, they would next perform at the Surf.
That’s the general history, but how did Olson remember this fateful night? A retired farmer, he first described how he begged his father to take him into town to see these rock ‘n’ roll stars. His Dad didn’t want to go, but finally relented and the teenaged Billy he could take the car and go with one of his friends (remember, yes, 14-year-old farm boys could drive in these days). Olson couldn’t recall all the music played that magical evening before one of the Surf’s largest crowds ever (paying $1.25 to get in), but the atmosphere of that evening has never eluded him. With family connections to the man who ran the Surf, at the intermission, Billy, was allowed to go back stage to visit with the stars. He vividly remembers their friendly nature and how Holly asked the management for six $100 bills to pay off his band and the other performers. Holly rolled up the $100 bills and tucked them into his pockets (that memory would later be essential information). After the concert, Billy went home in increasingly blizzard-like weather. The next morning, while out milking cows on their farm, the radio told of the tragedy that the rest of the nation was hearing as well—three music stars: Holly, Richardson, and Valens were dead after a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. What came next, brought him and his father into their own brush with greatness. The rest of that story, I will reveal next week. Be sure to tune in.
And thank you for listening.
