Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

50 Winters Later: A Tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper

Inside the tribute concert for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper

50 Winters Later: A Tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper
Joe Coffey
By Joe CoffeyMar 17, 2009
Joe Coffey
Joe Coffey is a former contributor to Premier Guitar.
See Full Bio


Click here to listen to Joe's podcast live from the event.
On February 2, 2009, the families, friends and fans of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “the Big Bopper” Richardson celebrated the music and legacies of the performers who played the same stage 50 years ago before boarding a plane that would not reach its destination. The 50 Winters Later Commemorative Concert, was a star-studded event at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, IA. The television crew that produces Austin City Limits recorded the event for eventual broadcast on PBS.

Editorial Director Joe Coffey was at the event. This is his photo essay chronicling the tribute...
They can make those people dance: Ritchie Valens’ brother, Mario
Ramirez (Left); J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardon’s son, J.P. Richardson, Jr.
(Center); and original Cricket Joe B. Mauldin (Right)


Bobby Vee with his Telecoustic-inspired guitar built by Richard Leach. At the age of 15, Vee formed a band that literally kept the music alive, filling in for Buddy Holly and his band at a scheduled show in Moorhead, MN, following
the crash. Vee would go on to sell 28 million records and score six Top 10 hits.


Guitar Legend Tommy Allsup lost the coin toss for a seat on the plane that crashed. Allsup has 10,000 session credits to his name, going clear back to Bob Wills, and was called “one of the finest guitarists in the world” by Paul McCartney. Here Allsup plays his maple Tradition MTA 700 set-neck hollowbody.”


Graham Nash’s admiration for Buddy Holly runs deep—and even inspired the name of his British Invasion-era band, the Hollies, which continues to perform today. He was also born on February 2 (1942), which would later become known as the “Day the Music Died.” Here Nash plays a vintage J-160E, one of Gibson’s first acoustic electric guitars.


Graham Nash, Joe Ely, original Cricket Sonny Curtis, Sir Timothy Rice,
Bobby Vee and original Cricket Joe B. Mauldin. Curtis is playing a
recent production Strat strung with flatwound 13s (!) and Mauldin
is playing a sticker-festooned ‘38 Kay upright with a String Charger
pickup owned by Tommy Vee, who plays for his dad, Bobby.


Smithereen Pat Dinizio was primed for covering Holly, having just recorded a tribute album called Pat DiNizio/Buddy Holly for Koch Records. Here DiNizio plays a Taylor 110.


Dave Mason’s version of “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” was a big hit with the crowd. Mason’s rock resume includes co-founding Traffic, writing “Feeling Alright” and “We Just Disagree,” and playing acoustic on Jimi Hendrix’s version of “All Along the Watchtower.” Here Mason is playing a relic’d Fender Custom Shop ’51 Nocaster.


The night’s audience included many people who were at the show 50 years ago.



Joe Ely performing “Are You Listening Lucky?” with Los Lobos. Ely learned to play guitar in the house that Buddy Holly grew up in. From left to right: Rolling Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys, Cesar Rosas, Joe Ely, (bassist Conrad Lozano is behind Ely), drummer Louie Perez and David Hidalgo. Rosas is playing a recent production Strat, and Ely is playing Hidalgo’s Custom Shop Nocaster.


David Hidalgo of Los Lobos rocks the Ritchie Valens hit, “Ooh! My Head.” Here he plays the Dakota Red Custom Shop Nocaster that Dave Mason also played.


Delbert McClinton knew Buddy Holly back from their days growing up in Lubbock, TX.


The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum dedicated the Surf Ballroom as a historic rock and roll landmark as part of the Museum’s ongoing Landmark Series, which identifies locations in America that are significant to the origins and development of rock and roll.


One of the stars of the show was this handwired Tweed Twin that was shipped to the event directly from the Fender Custom Shop. According to Nate Westgor of Willie’s American Guitars in St. Paul, MN, who provided guitars and backline for the show, after soundcheck the guitarists were wrangling with each other to play one of the two Tweed Twins Fender had sent. This, despite the fact that Nate had a ’58 Tweed Super and two ’59 Bassmans on the stage.


Kevin Montgomery kicked the night off with his version of Buddy Holly’s “Wishing.” His father, Bob Montgomery, was close friends and teenage band mates with Buddy Holly. Here Montgomery plays a Gibson J-185.


Los Lonely Boys’ Henry Garza brought his customized MIM Strat, but also paid tribute to Valens by playing a few songs on this reissue Harmony Ritchie Valens Stratotone, given to him at the event by Harmony president Charlie Subecz. The company brought several and also gave one to Los Lobos, the Surf Ballroom and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


Los Lonely Boys kicked the night into overdrive with their Texican blues that owes much to the road Ritchie Valens paved and Los Lobos widened. Here JoJo Garza plays his Hohner B Bass 6-string that allows him to play three and four note chords high on the neck to fill out the trio’s sound.



ritchie-valens buddy-holly whats-new april-2009 day-the-music-died-buddy-holly-big-bopper-ritchie-valens-plane-crash-surf-ballroom-graham-nash-bobby big-bopper

The Latest

EarthQuaker Devices HalfLife Review
Pedals

EarthQuaker Devices HalfLife Review

Mics, Preamps, and Impedance
Recording Dojo

Mics, Preamps, and Impedance

The Pitch Pedal Nashville Guitar Pros Didn't Know They Needed
PG Plays

The Pitch Pedal Nashville Guitar Pros Didn't Know They Needed

Bad Cat Introduces the Cub 15 Mod Shop Edition
News

Bad Cat Introduces the Cub 15 Mod Shop Edition

News

Solar Guitars Announces New 27 Fret ACS-Type Carved Guitars

More for you

State of the Stomp: They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

Close-up of a circuit board with components, mounted inside a black casing.

“They don't make 'em like they used to!” We've all heard it—usually from a parent watching some flimsy plastic toy break in their kid’s hands, thinking back to their own childhood version made of metal and wood and thick rubber, painted or powder coated, maybe with screen-printed graphics. Those were the days. But in the world of effects pedals, they don’t make ’em like they used to—they make ’em better!

Keep Reading Show less

Most Popular

Totally Wycked Audio Source Code
Effects

Totally Wycked Audio Source Code Review

PRS Guitars Introduces Custom 24 “Birds of a Feather” Limited Edition
News

PRS Guitars Introduces Custom 24 “Birds of a Feather” Limited Edition

Keeley Oaxa
Pedals

Keeley Oaxa Review

Four electric guitars in red, green, black, and brown finishes, displayed side by side.
News

Chapman Guitars Launches New Electric Models

Seward Park Electric Introduces Maravilla Germanium Overdrive
News

Seward Park Electric Introduces Maravilla Germanium Overdrive

Epiphone Launches the Limited-Edition Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior in Radiant Red
News

Epiphone Launches the Limited-Edition Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Junior in Radiant Red

Orange Amps Introduces Baby Terror Amp

Orange Amps Introduces Baby Terror Amp

Orange Amps has released the “Baby Terror", an analog micro-lunchbox addition amplifier to its Baby series. It delivers 20 Watts of quality Orange sound, in a head built for backpacks, desktops, rehearsal rooms and small stages.

Keep Reading Show less

Tony Iommi Announces Solo Album Coming October 23rd

Tony Iommi Announces Solo Album Coming October 23rd

BMG Records has announced the October 23 worldwide release of the brand-new album from legendary guitarist Tony Iommi, entitled From The Dark. Heralded by the first single ‘World Alone’ which received its premiere today at a special global streaming event hosted in Iommi’s hometown of Birmingham, England, a stone’s throw from the famous Black Sabbath Bridge across the canal, which was opened as a civic tribute to the iconic band in 2019.

‘World Alone’ is a thunderous rock song that speeds along on a barrage of flying guitar riffs and solos, backed by a driving rhythm section and topped off with the powerful rock operatics of acclaimed Norwegian vocalist Jorn Lande. The video is based around a retrofuture, dystopian universe where the lead protagonist, The Believer, is pitched into a twisted video game to save his life and ultimately find salvation.

Keep Reading Show less

Rig Rundown: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol

Rig Rundown: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol

Back in May, Austin, Texas’ very own “doom wop” trio, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, rattled into Nashville to play at Third Man Records’ Blue Room. Ahead of the chaos, PG’s Chris Kies slipped in to meet up with guitarist Leo Lydon and bassist Aaron Metzdorf for this new Rig Rundown. Tune in now to get the scoop. Brought to you by D’Addario.

Keep Reading Show less

MXR Introduces Textures Granular Synth Engine

MXR textures pedal with adjustable controls for time, pitch, and mix settings.

MXR has launched the Textures Granular Synth Engine, an adventurous pedal designed to pull your sound apart and weave it into new forms. With the power of granular synthesis and dynamics processing, this pedal records what you play and reshapes it into a shifting blend of tones and timbres: shimmering pads, glitched-out rhythms, lush reverberations drifting back through themselves, and much more. It's a sandbox in pedal form, and every grain is yours to shape.

Keep Reading Show less