Buddy Holly

The music video for the song was included with Microsoft Windows 95. However, today there can be found no statue, plaque or even sign anywhere in New York honoring Jolson, his talents, or his contributions to the Broadway stage. Buddy Holly was a hit song in 1994 for the indie rock band Weezer on their self-titled debut album. On the day he died, Broadway turned off its lights for 10 minutes in his honor. As one of the caprocks of Rock 'n' Roll Buddy influenced groups for decades. He died on October 23, 1950 in San Francisco and was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. Although his career was cut short, his body of work is considered some of the best in rock music history and his music would influence not only many of his recording contemporaries, but also the future direction music would take. A life-long devotion to entertaining American troops, servicemen and women, (he first sang for servicemen of the Spanish-American War as a boy in Washington DC) and, against the advice of his doctors, he was entertaining troops in Korea in 1950 when his heart began to fail.

Buddy Holly is considered one of the founding fathers of rock 'n roll and one of its most influential. Jolson was billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer", which is how many of the greatest stars (including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Jackie Wilson, etc.) referred to him. This musical is still alive in various countries. His legacy is considered by many to be severely neglected today because of his use of stage blackface which, while at the time was a theatrical convention used by many performers (both white and black), but is today seen by many as a racial slur. The dramatic arc of Holly's life story inspired a Hollywood biography The Buddy Holly Story, for which actor Gary Busey received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Holly, as well as a successful Broadway musical documenting his career. Despite such singers as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Perry Como being in their primes, Jolson was voted the "Most Popular Male Vocalist" in 1948 by a Variety poll. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003. A box office smash (it was the highest grossing film since Gone With the Wind) led to a whole new generation who became enthralled with Jolson's voice and charisma.

He also created a similar stainless steel monument to the three musicians near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. However, Jolson scored what many believe to be the greatest comeback in show business history when Columbia Pictures produced the film biography The Jolson Story in 1946, which starred Larry Parks as Jolson, lip-synching to Jolson's voice. It is located on private farmland, about one quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, approximately eight miles north of Clear Lake. After leaving the Broadway stage Jolson starred on radio, and his shows were always in the top ten of ratings. In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the '50s era, erected a stainless steel monument depicting a steel guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of each of the three performers. "Jolie" as he was known to his friends in "The Show Business" was the first entertainer to sell one million records. Funeral services were held at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas, and Buddy Holly was interred in the City of Lubbock Cemetery. His Broadway career is unmatched for length and popularity, having spanned close to 30 years (1911-1940).

(She would miscarry soon after.) This event inspired singer Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad American Pie, and immortalized February 3rd as The Day The Music Died. He is best known, however, for his appearance in one of the first "talkies" The Jazz Singer, (the first film with sound to enjoy wide commercial success), in 1927 (See also blackface). The crash killed Holly, Valens, Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson, leaving Holly's pregnant bride, Maria Elena Holly, a widow. Jolson became a popular singer and a superstar of the Broadway stage, radio and film, becoming the first pop music star to crossover to the silver screen, a career move taken for granted among pop stars today. The four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza took off into a blinding snow storm and crashed into Albert Juhl's corn field several miles after takeoff at 1.05 a.m. Asa Yoelson (May 26, 1886 - October 23, 1950), better known as Al Jolson, was an American immigrant son of a Russian Jew, and was born in Seredzius, Lithuania. Following the February 2nd performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the performers and their road crew drew straws to decide who would fly in the airplane, and who would ride in the unheated tour bus. The unlucky winners were Holly, Valens and Richardson.

One audience member at the tour stop in Duluth, Minnesota was a young Bobby Zimmerman who would later be known as Bob Dylan. Richardson, "The Big Bopper". In 1959, Holly split with the Crickets and began a solo tour with other notable performers including Ritchie Valens and J.P. He married Maria Elena Santiago on August 15, 1958.

Holly's personal style, more controlled and cerebral than Elvis's and more youthful and innovative than the country and western stars of his day, would have an influence on youth culture on both sides of the Atlantic for decades to come, reflected particularly in the New Wave movement in artists such as Elvis Costello and Marshall Crenshaw, and earlier in folk rock bands like The Byrds and The Turtles. In the audience were teenagers named John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who later cited Holly as a primary influence (the band's name, The Beatles, was later chosen partly in homage to Holly's Crickets). After the release of several highly successful songs, in March of 1958, he and the Crickets toured the United Kingdom. Holly also managed to bridge some of the racial divide that punctuated rock, notably winning over an all-black audience when accidentally booked for New York's Apollo Theater (though, unlike the fictional portrayal in his movie biography, it took several performances for audiences to be convinced of his talents).

While Holly could pump out boy-loves-girl songs with the best of his contemporaries, other songs featured more sophisticated lyrics and more complex harmonies and melodies than had been previously shown in the genre. Holly was an influential lead and rhythm guitarist, notably on songs such as "Peggy Sue" and "Not Fade Away". Holly's music was sophisticated for its day, including the use of instruments considered novel for rock and roll. This put Buddy in the unusual position of having two record contracts at the same time!.

Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca, signed Buddy Holly and The Crickets. Norman had music industry contacts, and believing that That'll Be the Day would be a hit single, he contacted publishers and labels. Among the songs they recorded was That'll Be the Day, which takes its title from a phrase which John Wayne's character says repeatedly in the movie, The Searchers. Back in Lubbock, Holly formed his own band, "The Crickets", and began making records at Norman Petty's studios in Clovis, New Mexico.

However, early success as a solo artist eluded him. He was signed by a scout from Decca Records to a solo recording contract. Holly's big break came when they opened for Bill Haley and his Comets at a local rock show. As a teenager he was already singing professionally as part of a country duo.

The Hollys were a musical family and as a young boy Holly learned to play the violin, piano and guitar. Holly was born in Lubbock, Texas. Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936–February 3, 1959), better known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and a pioneer of Rock and Roll. International Buddy Holly website (http://buddyhollygermany.homepage.t-online.de/).

Comprehensive digital discography (http://www.famousfolk.com/holly/). Official Web Site (http://www.buddyholly.com/). "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" – 1963. "Bo Diddley" – 1963.

"Reminiscing" – 1962. "True Love Ways" – 1960. "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" – 1959. "Peggy Sue Got Married" – 1959.

"Raining In My Heart" – 1959. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" – 1959. "Well All Right" – 1958. "Heartbeat" – 1958.

"Rave On" – 1958. "Maybe Baby" – 1958. "Not Fade Away" – 1957. "Oh Boy!" – 1957.

"Everyday" – 1957. "Peggy Sue" – 1957. "That'll Be The Day" – 1957.