February 3rd, 1959 is considered by Don McLean as The Day The Music Died. Well, not only by him but by an entire generation who saw how the first Rock And Roll wave crashed and faded away by the end of the fifties. Fifty years ago Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens died on a plane crash after a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa. Terrible news indeed. Three rock pioneers dying extremely young (Valens was 17, Holly 22 and Big Bopper 28) and the curse gets spread afterwards: Little Richard decides to resign the wicked ways of rock after fearing death on a plane crash, Chuck Berry gets incarcerated accused of proxenetism, Jerry Lee Lewis marries his 13 year old cousin and his career is over and Elvis gets enlisted in the Army. Rock And Roll wasn't there to stay.
It was something very similar to what happened later in 1994, after the death of Kurt Cobain and the end of the Grunge era. And nowadays we realize it's all part of a cycle, like the wheel. We can't have it all the time, but its energy must pull us through in this world of trouble.
So the untimely and tragic deaths of Holly, Valens and Big Bopper didn't happen on the day the music died, but when it became immortal. Holly, after dying, released four horsemen of the Apocalypse called Beatles who conquered the world in a way he couldn't have ever imagined, using mostly his influence (Buddy Holly's band was named the Crickets!). Ritchie Valens died too young and his legacy in Latino Rock was barely felt with songs like "La Bamba" and "Donna," but he, as well as Holly, was a pioneer. Big Bopper was starting a career as entertainer that could have reached very high places. His song "Chantilly Lace" is one of the most suggestive, sexy and powerful tunes of the Fifties. Songs like these aren't made anymore and I dare you to compare.
Dead? Fuck No! Rock And Roll Rules My Life Bitch!
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