The Surf Ballrooom
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I visited the Surf in 2003, as part of an all Iowa tour, going to landmarks all over my newly adopted home state. It was a good, fun trip, which is I guess why I look so happy in the picture. Going to the Surf seemed less morbid than going to the marker in the corn field.
The Day The Music Died
At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the “Winter Dance Party” tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens, Richardson, and Dion and the Belmonts had joined the tour as well. The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses adversely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite.
After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly chose to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson, suffering from flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking his seat on the plane, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss. Soon after takeoff, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield, killing all four on board. 2
I got to see Don McLean perform ”American Pie” when he played at the Decatur Celebration in 1991. It’s weird to think that I was closer to the release of “American Pie” in 1971 than I am now to when I saw him. He saved it until the end. It was a beautiful summer afternoon, and the entire crowd sang along, sending chills down my spine.