In early 1959 BUDDY HOLLY, J.P. "THE BIG BOPPER" RICHARDSON and RITCHIE VALENS were traveling the midwest on a mulit-act tour called "Winter Dance Party". Following the February 2nd show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake Iowa, Buddy Holly chartered a small plane to take him and his band Tommy Allsup and Waylon Jennings to Fargo North Dakota for the next show. Richardson had come down with the flu and didn't feel comfortable on the bus, so Waylon gave up his seat to him. Valens had never flown on a small plane and requested Allsup's seat. They flipped a coin, and Valens called heads and won the toss. The four seat plane took off into a blinding snow storm and crashed into a cornfield several miles after takeoff in the early morning of February 3rd. The crash killed Holly, Valens and Richardson and pilot Roger Peterson. This even inspired singer Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad "American Pie" and immortalized February 3rd as "The Day the Music Died"..........60 years ago today, Rest in Peace, Buddy, Bopper and Ritchie....
