Rave On

Wow! Blog #2. Who thought we'd make it this far? Just think about all we've seen since yesterday... well, uhm, Heroes? Yeah, that was okay...

Today is Feb. 3, 2009 - or 3 Feb. 2009 for our friends "from a different land" as Robert Klein used to say. So what's special about today? Well, I'm sure it's someone's birthday or someone's anniversary somewhere. And, of course, it's that special day of the year that Tom Cruise checks the mark on the doorway to see if he's any taller. But it's actually an anniversary of sorts for everyone. It's, as Don McLean so kindly inflicted on us years and years ago, the day the music died. Today is the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and JP Richardson (even I think that it's criminal for someone to have to be remembered forever as the Big Bopper...). Mostly I'm here to talk about Buddy.

First, and foremost, Buddy Holly was not the stammering amphetamined buffoon that Gary Busey made him into. And don't get me started on the technical/equipment mistakes in that movie. From what I know of him, Buddy Holly was, in addition to being a certifiable musical genius, a fairly shy, retiring guy who lived for that few minutes on stage when people would hear his music and hopefully like it, the time he could be in the studio recording that music and the time he got to spend with his wife.

Of course, these days, Buddy is all but forgotten except by old codgers like myself. His name and songs are owned by Paul McCartney - or maybe Heather Mills. If the children (and by the way, I use the term children to refer to anyone who hit puberty after 1984)... anyway... if the children these days know Buddy at all, they know him as the title of a Weezer song. I'd bet half of them, upon seeing his picture, think Elvis Costello is Buddy Holly and vice-versa. And while I think Elvis is also a musical genius (which is NOT a term I throw around lightly), Buddy was one of the first of the rock era. Along with Chuck Berry, Buddy was the most influential musician to come out of the Eisehhower years. Buddy inspired everyone to come after him, from the Beatles and the Stones and the Grateful Dead (and I've said it before - Jerry's dead and I'm grateful) to the aforementioned Costello and his fellow "new wavers" who colored my own musical coming-of-age.

Buddy was an innovator as well. One of the first rock musicians to arrange strings on a track - not as a wash to fill space - but as a textural element, pizzicato approximating falling drops in Raining in my Heart. And he certainly predated the Beatles use of "foreign" instruments in rock tracks with the celeste on Everyday. And then there were the rockers - That'll be the Day, Peggy Sue, Not Fade Away and my personal favorite, Rave On. As a guitarist, Buddy had one of the best rhythm hands in rock, possibly only topped by Pete Townshend. For the guitarist's out there - just give it a try - play Peggy Sue only with downstrokes as Buddy did. If your arm isn't killing you by the time you're done, you're a better man than I.

And try this on for size. People often talk about "what would (insert favorite dead rock star) have done if they'd lived longer?" Always a valid question, but just think what Buddy would have done had he lived longer. Hendrix's career was about 3 years. Janis' and Morrison's too. Brian Jones' about 5. Brian Wilson's was about 6 before the breakdown. Buddy Holly did what he did in one and a half years. 1.5 YEARS!!! Hell, his star rose so fast and was extinguished before the general public even had an inkling of who he was. Imagine if other careers had stopped after 1.5 years. There'd be no Sgt. Pepper, no Exile on Main Street, no Pet Sounds, no Village Green, no Blonde on Blonde, no Armed Forces, no Sound Affects etc. etc. I'd personally like to see what another year and a half would have produced from Buddy. I think it would have been marvelous.

Okay, so not so much vitriol in today's blog - sorry bout that. I'll try to be madder next time. But til then, pull out that dusty vinyl or that cracked CD case (and if you don't own any, you should just be ashamed) and give Buddy a spin. I think it'd be nice if we'd all just do a bit more raving on.

Postscript: Tom Cruise remains at his current height...