By 1950s standards, the Winter Dance Party of 1959 was a dream-come-true concert tour for emerging rock 'n' roll stars like the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, Frankie Sardo and Dion and the Belmonts.
However, the headliner of that tour was unquestionably Buddy Holly, the west Texas-born singer-songwriter who had already become a major force in American pop music with a four-year run of hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic.That came to a tragic end in the early morning hours of Feb. 3, 1959, when a road-weary Holly - who had just performed for about 1,500 people at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa - decided to rent a four-seat Beechcraft Bonanza to fly to Fargo, N.D., for the next stop on the 24-date tour.
Valens won a coin toss with Holly's guitarist, Tommy Allsup, for one seat on the plane, and the Big Bopper was given the seat that was to go to Holly's bassist, Waylon Jennings. Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper, as well as the pilot, were killed when the plane crashed moments after takeoff from a Mason City, Iowa, airfield.
Holly's original band, the Crickets, are now touring with folkabilly queen and fellow west Texan Nanci Griffith, all of whom will be performing Monday, Nov. 17, at Kingsbury Hall.
"The Crickets have been playing together on and off for 40 years now," says guitarist Sonny Curtis, who was with Holly before the Crickets were born. "We like working, and we love the fact people still want to hear that music. It's fun to play, it's happy-feeling music that really has staying power."
The merging of Nanci and the Crickets resulted when Curtis met Nanci Griffith at a banquet about 10 years ago, forging a friendship that evolved into an opportunity a couple years back to record together on a Buddy Holly tribute album called "notfadeaway."
The Crickets also joined Nanci on her latest "Blue Roses From the Moon" album, and on a yet-to-be-released "Other Voices, Other Rooms II" album.
"Nanci brought us back into the spotlight," admits drummer Jerry Allison, who has kept the Crickets chirping. "We've gotten such a great response at her shows, and we're still amazed at how her crowd responds to us."
Of course, the common refrain is "we didn't realize you guys were still around."
Actually, today's Crickets have been close friends since they were teenagers, never losing touch with one another and helping out with each other's songwriting and recording endeavors over the years.
The Crickets never attained the stardom separate from Buddy Holly that they did with him, but that never deterred their musical ambitions. The band scored hits in 1960 with "When You Ask About Love" and "Baby My Heart."
Holly's legacy is unmistakably present during the Nanci Griffith shows. Nanci starts the show with six or seven of her own songs, after which the Crickets join her on stage where they do some songs together. The Crickets then play about 30 minutes, some of it new stuff but mostly the old classics.
Then Nanci comes back on stage for six or seven solo songs, and then the Crickets join her again for four or five closing songs. When you add in Nanci's own Blue Moon Orchestra, and there may be 10 people on stage at one time.
The Crickets music should strike a familiar chord with Nanci's fans, who have gravitated to her unique blend of country, folk and rockabilly. The Crickets were pioneers of blending country, rockabilly and rhythm and blues - a hybrid that would emerge into the pop music of the 1960s.
The Crickets' new-discovered popularity has the band members - all in their late 50s and early 60s - talking about hitting the road more than the 50 or so dates a year they have been accustomed to. They have just signed with Buddy Lee Attractions, a major booking agent out of Nashville, and plan to do as many as 75 shows a year.
An album of new Crickets songs is in the works, as is a concert tour involving local symphonies.