The 4th Annual Buddy Holly Festival (slated for September 7, 1999) didn't happen because Maria, Buddy's widow of five months, didn't think that $50K plus 15% of all revenues from the gate and the vendors was enough this year for her to allow Lubbock to use Buddy's name and image for three days. The citizens of Lubbock wrote in to the local paper and called in to the radio talk shows and let her have their pent up frustrations with a vengeance.
For twenty years, the people have been trying to honor their hometown hero, and for that long, especially the last 10 years, every single thing anyone has tried to do has been thwarted by that abomination her lawyers got passed through the Texas legislature in 1986 called "The Buddy Holly Law," which basically doesn't let anybody breathe the name Buddy Holly unless we pay whatever she wants us to for a license. That would be fine if you were dealing with someone who is reasonable, but that's not the case here. And I don't mind saying it anymore. So sue me, ME. See what you'll get. Buddy Holley, Buddy Holley, Buddy Holley!!!
Anyway, although the REAL Buddy Holley family (his 2 brothers and sister) wrote a letter to the newspaper, offering the City to use the Holley spelling (his legal spelling) for a festival, the City was warned that it would still be "trading on his name and image"... so the City of Lubbock said, "Good riddance," to her and renamed the festival ... ummmmm... Music Crossroads of Texas Music Festival? (I think that was it.) But everybody UNofficial still called it the Buddy Holly Festival. Steve Ritchie did a 10 minute rant on the subject at KDAV on his morning show right before the festival started Labor Day weekend.
The new Buddy Holly Center, which houses the Buddy memorabilia collection and the new Texas Music Hall of Fame as well as Lubbock's Fine Arts program, had its grand opening during the same weekend. Though because of the legal harassment, they couldn't advertise the festival and the Center opening together.
ME wasn't there... I believe the citizens of Lubbock might have come out and pelted her with rotten tomatoes had she shown her face. But her absence made more people come out for the big event, which had the Lubbock High School Marching Band, school choirs, and all kinds of officialdom. Peggy Sue was able to be there, too, this year. In past years, she was not allowed to be a part of the festival because of an edict by ME that the City could not work with her in any way lest ME pull their license for the festival.
Yes, Lubbock had to get a license from her for the Buddy Holly Center, too, but thank goodness that license was signed, sealed, and delivered through September, 2009, when Buddy's name and image finally and thankfully become public domain, and there will, no doubt, be dancing in the streets of Lubbock.
Sorry for the rant, but I'm sorely put out by this ordeal of 4 long years, since we got the first festival off the ground in 1996. We really wanted to honor Buddy by being able to use his name with it. But everyone who knew him agrees that he wouldn't want Lubbock to do it at the price they were having to pay... not just the monetary price, but the price of dignity.
That said, the Festival was great. The Coasters, Danny and the Juniors, the Diamonds, Virgil Johnson of the Velvets (and a KDAV DJ from 9-noon every morning at http://www.kdav.com ), the Rankins, and many others played the street festival... braving the heat and a West Texas thunderstorm. Lubbock musicians played the street stage and the clubs. Peggy Sue was asked to take a busload of British fans who had come to the opening and the festival around Lubbock. Buddy's old 1958 Impala (which was in his daddy's name, thus thwarting yet another law suit to gain control of it), was restored by a local body shop and displayed at the Caprock Classic Car Club Cruise and at the street festival. Misty, who plays all the good old big band, jazz, and easy listening sounds of the 40s and 50s on KDAV (from 9-midnight... go listen!) was a dynamo all weekend. A good time was had by all.
The Buddy Holly Center opening was great, as well. Lubbock musicians Ingried Kaiter (Buddy's niece who is one of the best blues singers I've ever heard, bar none), folk musician D.G. Flewellyn, and Kent Mings of the Texas BelAirs (whose new CD, "Sons of Preachers" just came out) performed at the gala opening, which was one of the social events of the year in Lubbock.
As part of the celebration, the Crickets and Nanci Griffith performed with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, and that was a wonderful, heartwarming experience. J.I. Allison, Joe B. Mauldin, Sonny Curtis, and Glen D. Hardin performed the songs made popular by Buddy and the Crickets as well as others made popular by Sonny and Glen D. Nanci's family, who are all from Lockney, were there at the Civic Center auditorium, and she paid them a moving tribute. At the close of the performance, they were all given replicas of Buddy Holly Avenue street signs, which has become the symbol of honor for Lubbock. We can't use his name or image to honor people, but we *can* use the street sign that bears his name. The street, if not Buddy, is still ours.
But the Buddy Holly Center was the star this Labor Day weekend. It is a gorgeous facility, and it was put together as a labor of love by citizens of Lubbock, who worked on committees to plan every aspect of it. See what we can do when we are given the chance to do it ourselves? The edge of the roof is framed with shiny brass fenders... I'm proud to say that my second cousin, Steve Teeters, sculpted the guitars. :)
It is a magnificent structure, in the old Ft. Worth, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Depot. The people of Lubbock raised the money for it, brick by brick. People from all over the world donated to the cause, but it was largely Lubbockites who made this happen... through their tax dollars and their donations. For anybody who ever thought that Buddy wasn't loved here in Lubbock, come look at the Buddy Holly Center and know that WE are the ones who made it happen. And as Peggy Sue said poignantly about the Center, "Buddy finally has a home."
On a final note, during the festival, calendars commemorating Buddy's life, which had been designed by Barry Tooley of Canada, were given away to fans in return for a contribution to the Buddy Holley Flower Fund. We raised enough money to buy 4 dozen long-stemmed red roses and 2 dozen white daisies. Peggy Sue added a dozen long-stemmed white roses, and she and I took them out at sunset on Tuesday, September 7, which would have been Buddy's 63rd birthday, and blanketed his grave with them. They looked good, Barry. Thank you.
Peggy Sue will be interviewing George Tomsco, lead guitarist and owner of The Fireballs on "Rave On! with Peggy Sue" this Saturday morning, March 13, at 10am on KZZN 1490-AM out of Littlefield, Texas. This talk-show format program is part of R.A.D.A.R. Tower's (a non-profit organization) drug and alcohol prevention efforts. The Fireballs' 1969 hit, "Bottle of Wine," was recorded with Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, as was their 1963 #1 Song of the Year, "Sugar Shack."
DIXIE CHICKS win two Grammys. Natalie Maines of Lubbock, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, was ecstatic tonight, February 24, 1999 when they won Grammy Awards for COUNTRY ALBUM (Wide Open Spaces) and COUNTRY PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCAL ("There's Your Trouble"). Wide Open Spaces won out over Garth Brooks' Sevens and albums by Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and Trisha Yearwood. Natalie, who grew up in Lubbock as part of the musical Maines family, is a graduate of the South Plains College Commercial Music Department, along with Lee Ann Womack, who was also nominated for a Grammy this year for Country Female Vocalist (for her "A Little Past Little Rock").
BUDDY WAYNE KNOX dies at age 65 on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1999. The rock and roller from Happy who wrote and sang the first gold rock and roll record, "Party Doll," died in Washington. Buddy had several gold records and was beloved as a rockabilly star and friend of Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison, all of whom recorded with producer Norman Petty at his recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, in the mid-fifties.
Stay tuned for tributes from some of his contemporaries. The three West Texas early rock and roll greats are all gone now: Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and now, Buddy Knox. As someone said when they heard the news, "This is 'The Day The Music Cried.'"
In January, Peggy Sue, was showcased on a VH1 "Where Are They Now" segment in a documentary that featured heavy metal rock groups from the '70s and '80s, showing wild antics and a lot of guitar smashing. It was an interesting juxtaposition when Peggy Sue's segment featured her work to start a radio show with the non-profit program, RADAR Tower. At her desk in the Lubbock Magazine offices and sitting at the radio show console, she explained their drug-free support program for teens... and then it was back to smashing guitars on-stage. You had to smile.
Peggy Sue, Buddy's brother Travis Holley, and Bill Griggs (rock 'n' roll historian) also appeared on a VH1 documentary on February 3rd, the 40th anniversary of "The Day The Music Died".
Lubbock's new Buddy Holly Center is scheduled to open September, 1999. A small army of Lubbockites are serving on committees to try to get it going. To help, please contact center director, Connie Gibbons, at (806) 797-2686. See Lubbock Magazine article in the January, 1999 issue. The Buddy Holly Center's website is http://www.BuddyHollyCenter.org/
Garrison Keilor featured a segment about the Buddy Holly Center on his Prarie Home Companion radio program the week of the anniversary of Buddy's death. A Buddy fan, he gave Peggy Sue permission to transcribe a program he did once on "The Day The Music Died" for publication in her "Streets of Lubbock" column for Lubbock Magazine. It is the only time he has ever allowed one of his programs to be transcribed and printed. Such is his fondness for Buddy's music.
Jimmie and Butch join other Lubbock and West Texas artists who have made significant contributions to the arts: Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox, Bob Wills, Sonny Curtis, Glen D. Hardin, Waylon Jennings, Virgil Johnson of The Velvets, Tanya Tucker, Joe Ely, the Maines Brothers Band, and many others.
Stay tuned for more information on Jimmie (who has been nominated for major Grammy awards in folk music the last two out of three years) and Butch (who has written many of the songs Jimmie and Joe Ely have recorded over the years). Both of these singer/songwriters have wowed 'em in the U.S., Europe, and even Australia. I'll try to write bios on them ASAP so you can be impressed, too. (Jimmie was the cover story in Lubbock Magazine this September--subscribe now and say you want to start with that issue.)
Later that night, there was a special showing of "The Buddy Play" at the Cactus Theatre, kicking off the City of Lubbock's official "Buddy Holly Festival". For information about those festivities, please see the schedule available at Paula's House of Music.
What I can tell you is that you don't want to miss it. There will be the largest chuckwagon cookoff in the world, hundreds of performances by musicians, singers, dancers, cowboy poets, historical seminars, lots of stuff to buy, gala events like The American Cowboy Awards, and much, much more. Details soon.