Buddy Holly: Biography (75 page)

third most-played song of 1958: Hill, “BB,” p. 4.

“because there wasn’t a mean: Thomas, “Gordon Baxter,” p. 5.

“I dug Holly’s lean: TW, p. 87.

He was addicted:
Ibid.,
p. 85.

“silent partner in everything:
Ibid.

“hippest, handsomest:
Ibid.,
p. 52.

“secret lover,”:
Ibid.,
p. 53.

“instant courage.”:
Ibid.,
p. 51.

He joined the Fordham Daggers:
Ibid.,
p. 46.

the Baldies:
Ibid.,
p. 48.

“converted school bus:
Ibid.,
p. 87.

“It snowed on us: BG, “TA,” RM 15, 6/80, p. 13.

arranged in Chicago:
Ibid.

lowest bidder: Author interview with Hans Goeppinger.

“Usually the heater wouldn’t work,”: BG, “TA,” p. 13.

“third-class operation,”: TW, p. 87.

The booker, General Artists Corporation: Ward, “Fifties,” ROA, pp. 193–94; Clark,
Big Bopper,
p. 24; MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 23; J. Dodge,
Not Fade Away,
pp. 160–61.

abandoning them to abominable: “Barsalona: Agents,” in Spitz,
Making of Superstars,
p. 125; Ward, “Fifties,” ROA, pp. 193–94; J. Dodge,
Not Fade Away,
pp. 160–61; Stallings,
Rock ’n’ Roll Confidential,
p. 191; G&B, RB, p. 141.

engine frequently stalled: TW, p. 87; G&B, RB, p. 141.

“dueling guitars: TW, pp. 88–89.

“Mama Long,” which he’d: BM, RV, p. 24.

“played the meanest rhythm: TW, p. 88.

luggage racks:
Ibid,
p. 87.

300 miles long, 118 miles: Hatcher and Walter,
Pictorial History of the Great Lakes,
p. 177.

their Milwaukee hotel: Denisoff,
Waylon,
p. 65.

took a cab:
Ibid.

Tommy had difficulty:
Ibid.

Would anyone come out:
Ibid.

in twenty-five-below-zero: MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 23.

“There’s a very different: p. 104.

“I’m going onstage: Author interview with MEH.

“a
great
reception,”: BHTLL, p. 108.

“
Turn that Goddamn:
WJEN quoted in
ibid.

“probably the world’s: Quoted in Denisoff,
Waylon,
p. 243.

“hanging over the bandstand.”: “TA,” p. 13.

decided to go out and:
Ibid.

the city’s 1,650 bars: Pierce and Hagstrom,
Book of America,
p. 279.

Buddy was homesick: BG, “TA,” p. 13.

Bunch’s feet seemed to be freezing: CB quoted in BG, “CB,” p. 8.

Buddy and Dion huddled: TW, p. 123.

“I got to know Holly:
Ibid.,
p. 88.

“bent notes”:
Ibid.,
p. 40.

local American Motors: Pierce and Hagstrom, p. 279.

posed for … Szikil: Sterelczyk photo in AC,
Big Bopper,
p. 22.

nicknamed “Melvin.”: “Tribute to Big Bopper,”
Rock ’n’ Roll Songs,
7/59, cited in AC,
BB,
p. 41.

Buddy cleared about $500: Denisoff,
Waylon,
p. 71.

Tommy gave him a gun: BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 9.

.22-caliber “Vest Pocket” revolver: “Investigator Offers Theory on Fatal Crash,” MCGG, E6, on file at Mason City Municipal Airport, courtesy Jerome J. Thiele, director of aviation, Mason City Airport Commission.

serial number 6K5315: BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59, p. 9.

existence of Buddy’s gun: “Pistol in Plane Wreck Not Fired,” MCGG, 4/10/59, p. 14.

Larry Lehmer of the: JP, “1959 Winter Dance Party, Fatal Crash Are Fodder for Aspiring Author,” MCGG, 2/9/92.

bottom of his toilet kit: BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 9.

her in “Ooh My Head,”: Cott, “BH,”
Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock ’n’ Roll,
p. 80.

“I want to do: Author interview with MEH.

“jungle food”: Tillis,
Stutterin’ Boy,
p. 146.

she’d used the $65: Hoffman, “We Belong Together,” p. 35.

Valenzuela died in 1951 from diabetes: “Life and Death of RV,”
Modern Screen,
5/59, reprinted in AC,
RV,
No. 2, p. 38.

$140-a-month pension: Hoffman, “We Belong Together,” p. 35.

She remarried, then:
Ibid.

went to work:
Ibid.

troubles with the law:
Ibid.

“I tell him to be:
Ibid.

few months of rigorous: Sherlock, “We’ll Remember Ritchie,”
Teen,
5/59.

tape record a greeting: BG, “Trivial Trivia, RM 21, 12/81, p. 28.

“all talked on the tapes: WJ, “Fred Milano,” RM 8, 9/78, p. 4.

“wasn’t very religious:
Photoplay,
5/59, p. 35.

Fournier’s dance hall [temperature, performance, Sammy’s Pizza]: Author interview with Don Larson.

Bunch discovered that he’d lost: Denisoff,
Waylon,
p. 65.

“Come here,” Buddy said: WJRBH, p. 74.

Charlie “Papa” Jackson, “Salty Dog Blues”: Malone,
Country Music U.S.A.,
pp. 105, 124, 330.

“We did country songs: Quoted in G&B, RB, p. 143.

“Man, that ‘Salty Dog Blues’:
Ibid.

photo of Buddy, Waylon: cover photo (Jane Ellefson), RM 27, Summer/83; BG, “New Photos,”
Ibid.,
p. 24.

“awful”: Quoted in RB, p. 144.

“every day, maybe twice: Author interview with MEH.

propose a reconciliation: G&B, RB, p. 140.

“Jerry called me at home: Author interview with MEH.

“I think that was: Author interview with LH.

“wanted to go to: NP quoted in Brooks and Malcolm, “NP (Part 3),” p. 6.

drizzly weather: LL, “How Icy Bus Woe Led to Plane, Rock Immortality,”
Des Moines Sunday Register,
“Entertainment Travel,” 1-F/4-F, 2/3/89.

passing bottles: BM,
RV,
p. 106.

“Silver Satin wine,”: Freddie Aguilera quoted in BM, RV, p. 36.

which he called “whites,”:
Ibid.

a small town situated: Davenport has a population of 10,000, but was smaller in 1959.

Buffalo Bill’s birthplace: Winckler,
Plains States.

rain turned to sleet: LL, “How Icy Bus Woe.”

the heater completely conked: CB quoted in BG, “CB,” p. 7.

Carl Bunch complained:
Ibid.,
p. 8.

“Holly and I used: TW, p. 87.

designing for George Jones: Denisoff,
Waylon,
pp. 65–66.

“I don’t know if it:
Ibid.,
p. 66

pulling into Mac’s Shell Station: LL, “How Icy Bus Woe.”

“famous” recording:
Ibid.

wanted a blue one: Quoted in BM, RV, p. 104.

“If you’re going to: Quoted in WJ, “Fred Milano,” RM 8, 9/78, p. 4.

GAC disapproved of charter: unidentified clipping dated 2/9/59 in AC,
BB,
p. 24.

“I took J.P. up: “Gordon Baxter,” RM 19, 6/81, p. 6.

buy a radio station: Gales, “‘Bopper’ Died Just as Career Was Climbing,” MCGG, 2/9/89, E4.

“Tommy Allsup wasn’t making: Quoted in WJ, “Fred Milano,” p. 4.

But Ritchie was afraid of: Quoted in BM, RV, p. 104.

He’d never been in a small plane: TA in RBHS.

“massive rebirth”: “CB,” p. 8.

“to kill, to steal:
Ibid.

“a place to come from: Quoted in Peirce and Hagstrom,
Book of America,
p. 581.

stupefying provincialism: Benet,
Benet’s Third Edition Reader’s Encyclopedia,
p. 566.

“icy breath of death: “Ice Palace,”
Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald,
p. 67.

experimentation with cosmetic surgery: Author interview with Jerry Coleman.

“tall, powerful: BG, “Duane Eddy and BH,” RM 19, 1986, p. 11.

black Levi’s suit: BM, RV, p. 66.

“Dion had his groupies:
Take Another Little Piece of My Heart,
p. 198.

Sue Butterfield: TW, p. 121.

“where cars skid:
Duluth,
p. 4.

bear smashed through: Bree,
In the Teeth of the Northeaster,
p. 103.

“nine months of winter: Hatcher and Walter,
Pictorial History of the Great Lakes,
p. 157.

Edmund Fitzgerald:
Shanley, “Winds of November,”
Cayo,
Vol. 1, No. 7, 1993, pp. 4–5.

“white blob,”: Bree,
In Teeth of Northeaster,
p. 122;
U.S. Department of Transportation, Coast Guard, Marine Casualty Report: S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald: Sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975 With Loss of Life,
U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation Report and Commandant’s Action, Report No. USCG 16732/64216, Washington, D.C., 1977.

slammed her onto a reef: Shanley, “Winds of November.”

“I saw Buddy Holly in Duluth: “Bob Dylan,” TRSI, p. 98.

known as Bobby Zimmerman: Spitz,
Dylan,
p. 67.

a middle-class Jewish boy:
Ibid.,
pp. 14–15.

He wore Hush Puppies:
Ibid.,
p. 70.

high-school garage band: Thompson,
Positively Main Street,
p. 60.

Echo Helstrom:
Ibid.,
pp. 68, 82: Spitz,
Dylan,
p. 57.

would one day enshrine: Spitz,
Dylan,
p. 68, 388: Spitz maintains “Girl of the North Country” was “reportedly” written about Bonnie Beecher, “Bob’s old college flame.”

“Buddy was great.”: KL, “Bob Dylan,” TRSI, p. 98.

“one of the biggest: BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 6.

“nice little rap,”: Bowen quoted in BG, “Jimmy Bowen,” RM 20, 9/81, p. 14.

“Tell everybody I’m flying,”: BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 6. In the same article, Frankie Sardo mentions that some of the singers were going to charter a plane.

Ritchie called his manager: “Life and Death of RV,”
Modern Screen,
5/59, reprinted in AC,
RV,
No. 2, p. 39.

Jack’s on the Pier: BM,
RV,
p. 108.

“It’s thirty-five degrees below: “Life and Death of RV,” p. 39.

“finish that evening and: BM,
RV,
p. 108.

engine froze and stopped: TA quoted in MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 18; TA quoted in BG, “TA,” p. 13.

“The bus finally broke: Quoted in BG, “CB,” p. 7.

“It was cold: Quoted in RBHS.

The piston had gone: BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” pp. 6–7, writes that the Iron County Garage was owned by Calvetti’s father and uncle; MS, “Night Music Died,” p. 18, writes that the wrecker operator who retrieved the bus was Frank Leoni.

February 1 was 25 below: Ralph Ansami of
Ironwood Daily Globe,
told BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 7, that the low on 2/1/59 was “officially” minus twenty-five degrees, although out on the highway it was much colder.

more like 40 below:
Ibid.:
The estimate of the temperature on the road was made by Calvetti. Wisconsin’s
Voyageur
magazine also reported minus forty degree F temperature (in MS’s “Night Before Music Died,” p. 18).

trees snap in the wind: Calvetti quoted in BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 7.

limbs crashing onto the highway: MS, “Night Before Music Died,”
Voyageur,
p. 18.

piles up six feet deep: TA quoted in BG, “TA,” p. 13.

The bus driver was no: Calvetti: quoted in BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 7.

“feel” bears out there: MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 18.

“newspapers in the aisle:
Ibid.

hoping to hail down: Calvette quoted in BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 7.

They stood in the middle:
Ibid.,
p. 6.

French explorers,… who’d discovered: Bree,
In Teeth of Northeaster,
p. 20.

“We didn’t know enough: TW, p. 87.

It was an hour: BG, “TA,” p. 13.

started waving frantically: Calvetti quoted in BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 6.

“and tried to get: BG, “TA,” p. 13.

bone cancer: CB quoted in BG, “CB,” p. 7.

It took two hours:
Ibid.

alerted the Iron County: Quoted in BG, “TA,” p. 13.

A posse came out: MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 18; BG, “TA,” p. 13.

refused to serve the black: Calvetti quoted in BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 7:

Unable to walk, Carl: CB quoted in BG, “CB,” p. 8.

Grand View Hospital: MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 18; BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 6.

between Ironwood and Bessemer: When I called the hospital in 1995, the operator explained, “Our mailing address is Ironwood. The hospital is located halfway between Ironwood and Bessemer.”

frostbite in both feet: G&B, RB, p. 141; “TA,” p. 13; BG, “CB,” p. 8.

Chicago-Northwestern train: BG, “Spotlight on 2/3/59,” p. 7. According to Albert Salonen, formerly of Ironwood, train service once linked Hurley to Green Bay and Chicago but was subsequently discontinued. BG bases his conviction that BH took the train on statements from Calvetti, TA, and Salonen.

purchase a sleeping bag: BG, “TA,” p. 13.

case of the flu: WJEN quoted in BG, “18 Interviews (all at once),” p. 3; “TA,” p. 13.

Ritchie substituted: “Chicago Scene,” CT, 6/24/88.

One of the Belmonts played: TA quoted in BG, “TA,” p. 12.

Buddy was the drummer:
Ibid.,
according to MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 24; BH also enlisted Bob Oestreich, who played drums with the Runabouts from Wausau, Wisconsin, to play in Bunch’s absence in Green Bay.

“jump out there and: Quoted in RBHS.

“held my hand and sang: Quoted in MS, “Night Before Music Died,” p. 17.

Valens was coming to Lubbock: Cited in BG, “Bits and Pieces,” RM 20, 9/81, p. 5; EH quoted in BM, RV, p. 109.

supposed to have the following day off: G&B, RB, p. 141.

thirty-nine-year-old manager: Oestreicher and Kennedy, “CA,”
Rave On!,
4/80, p. 10.