Sonny Curtis remembers the day he and other members of the Crick-ets attended a special screening of the film "The Buddy Holly Story."
He was so disturbed by inaccuracies in the film he went back to his hotel room and wrote a song called "The Real Buddy Holly Story." It is a song about a pretty good West Texas country band that had a lot of fun, chased a few women and enjoyed a brew or two.As for Holly, he was just a good ol' boy with a Christian soul "who loved us all and treated us right." And when he died the music didn't die but lived on in the heart of rock 'n' roll.
And it lives every time it inspires another songwriter to pick up a guitar and share some words and music. Just like it did for fellow West Texan Nanci Griffith, who as a teenager not only found inspiration in the music of Buddy Holly and the Crickets but who now inspires millions herself.
Nanci did it again Monday night at Kingsbury Hall where Nanci hon-ored the Crickets and the Crickets - Curtis, Jerry Allison, Joe B. Mauldin and Glen D. Hardin - returned the favor, offering up a glorious reminder that creative genius never dies.
Referring to herself as the opening act, Nanci's initial set included "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness," "Across the Great Divide," "Two for the Road," "These Days," "Love at the Five and Dime," "Ford Econoline" and "Gulf Coast Highway."
When the Crickets then joined her on stage for "Battlefield" from her new "Blue Roses" album, Nanci looked like a star-crossed adoring fan. There was Nanci doing her best Patsy Cline impression on the Crickets tune "Do You Wanna Be Loved" and on Curtis' classic "I Fought the Law."
There were Holly favorites, like "Oh Boy" and "Maybe Baby," and even the Crickets' "Love You More Than I Can Say."
Nanci eventually left the stage to the Crickets, who offered up classics like "That'll Be the Day," "True Love Ways" and "Peggy Sue," all of which were pleasant enough.
But the magic was palpable when Nanci returned for "Rave On," and it stayed through "Flyer" and "It's a Hard Life," and on stunning tributes to Townes Van Zandt , Bob Dylan and Guy Clark.
Nanci and the Crickets also offered a prayer to the ailing Johnny Cash by performing "I Still Miss Someone," which is included on the soon-to-be-released sequel to "Other Voices, Other Rooms."
The timelessness of the Buddy Holly-Nanci Griffith relationship was unmistakable on the encores of "Well, All Right" and"Wing and the Wheel," which featured a couple new verses tailored for her Salt Lake audience.
Somewhere in Kingsbury Hall, the spirit of Buddy Holly was smiling. The music never died.