The band is in NYC for two shows this weekend, and young hipsters there have the chance to get their minds and hearts filled with soaring anthemic rock and roll of the best kind. DO it!
I interviewed Jason and Conrad from the band back in 2002 in NYC as part of a Popmatters assignment. I never got around to actually writing up the interview, but perhaps one day I'll pop the recording up on YouTube - the cassette's around somewhere in the collection. But here's the ToD concert review I wrote back then.
Here's the band performing "Fields of Coal" at Waterloo Records in-store appearance recently. Ace track from the CD.
The Sex Pistols are immortalized in a wild comic-like ebook from author Alex Poray. I skimmed through the pages today and it's a wild ride through the short life of Britain's most infamous punk band (apart from Crass???).
Twitter friends like BZKicks keep rockin' new music out my way. And for that I am thankful!
Here's one by a band heretofore unknown to me called Pistol Youth with their song When I Go Out. Sounds just like something off Pinkerton! And that's cool by me!
I've dug Tab the Band over the past few years. Since I last blogged about them (a whhhiiillleee ago), they've popped up their game and are playing big shows in NYC, Boston, and other East Coast places.
Tab plays rock with pop, pop with rock, garage rock with flair, guitar cool stuff with fun and more. They humorously describe themselves on their MySpace page as sounding like "Don Henley if he sounded nothing like himself, but instead sounded like the Rolling Stones and the Who." That works for me. It's no nonsense rock it out music. I like that.
Check out them kicking their early song Secretary's Day here.
PAUL: "Well, you know, if I was to say where I got it from, you know, I mean... it's illegal and everything... it's silly to say that, you know. So I'd rather not say that."
Q: "Don't you believe that this is a matter which you should have kept private?"
PAUL: "Mmm, but the thing is-- I was asked a question by a newspaper, and the decision was whether to tell a lie or tell him the truth. I decided to tell him the truth... but I really didn't want to say anything, you know, because if I had my way I wouldn't have told anyone. I'm not trying to spread the word about this. But the man from the newspaper is the man from the mass medium. I'll keep it a personal thing if he does too you know... if he keeps it quiet. But he wanted to spread it so it's his responsibility, you know, for spreading it not mine."
Q: "But you're a public figure and you said it in the first place and you must have known it would make the newspaper."
PAUL: "Yeah, but to say it is only to tell the truth. I'm telling the truth, you know. I don't know what everyone's so angry about."
Q: "Do you think that you have now encouraged your fans to take drugs?"
PAUL: (clearly and calmly) "I don't think it'll make any difference. I don't think my fans are going to take drugs just because I did, you know. But the thing is-- that's not the point anyway. I was asked whether I had or not. And from then on, the whole bit about how far it's gonna go and how many people it's going to encourage is up to the newspapers, and up to you on television. I mean, you're spreading this now, at this moment. This is going into all the homes in Britain. And I'd rather it didn't. But you're asking me the question-- You want me to be honest-- I'll be honest."
Q: "But as a public figure, surely you've got the responsibility to..."
PAUL: "...No, it's you who've got the responsibility. You've got the responsibility not to spread this NOW. You know, I'm quite prepared to keep it as a very personal thing if you will too. If you'll shut up about it, I will."
Whew, have you heard Black Lips' track 'Starting Over' from its new 200 Million Thousand release? Cool stuff - mid-60s arpeggio California picking, drunk Replacements-sounding lead vocals, great sustained backup vocals and backbeat.... love it.
Read the fine Milk Carton review of this new release. And the Boston Globe writes: "Of course, Black Lips aren't kids anymore; they made this album in a converted art gallery. And the screw-everything aesthetics barely disguise the fact that Black Lips have grown up into top-shelf songwriters. The bittersweet elegy "Starting Over"; the savage, cutting guitar work on the Doors-ian "Take My Heart"; the sheer surprise of "The Drop I Hold"; a woozy swerve into atmospherics - this is the work of a band deftly straddling wasted youth and serious craft."
It's been a few weeks since I threw up a new Imeem Mix in the right column, so let's do one today. I picked Britain's great 60s band (and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers) Dave Clark Five. A lot of their big hits are here (my faves "Anyway You Want It" and "Come Home"), along with a few west of left field picks. Enjoy.
"The Dave Clark Five had 17 records in Billboard's Top 40, with 12 Top 40 United Kingdom hits between 1964 and 1967. Their song "Over And Over" went to number one in the U.S. on the Billboard Charts Hot 100 at the end of December 1965, despite less than impressive sales in the UK, and they played to sell-out crowds on their tours of the U.S. Heavily promoted as having a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five made 18 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, more than any other UK group.
In spite of their huge success for a period, bolstered by the movie and a television special, the major hits dried up after 1967's "You Got What It Takes". The DC5's efforts to embrace the prevailing trend of psychedelia were not successful. They disbanded in 1970, having placed a further three singles on the UK chart that year."
After 25 years, Spinal Tap is coming back with new material. The news dropped a few weeks ago, but I'm finding it today. All Apologies.
Read fresh new insights from Tap band members bassist Derek Smalls, guitarist-singer David St. Hubbins and guitarist Nigel Tufnel from a recent Vanity Fair piece.
How do you stay relevant after all these years? Smalls: We never were relevant. That’s the key. St. Hubbins: We never had the pain of seeing relevance slip away from us. Tufnel: You can’t chase relevance. You can’t be wed to it. You can’t look at it like a religion. If you look in the mirror and see it, you’ve made a mistake. That’s your first mistake. What about groupies? What would you say is the average age of a Spinal Tap groupie in the year 2008? Smalls: It’s not the age, it’s the circumference that’s worrying. St. Hubbins: For some reason, because of a certain song, we do attract the larger south end. Tufnel: Once in awhile there’s a granddaughter of someone from the original days, and that’s always interesting. The typical age: I would say between 50 and 70. St. Hubbins: But we’re talking a young 70 and an old 50. Tufnel: We have a code when we’re doing a show—backstage, if some women come back. We’ll look at each other, with a sly look, and David will say, “Six.” And that’s the number of teeth they might have.…
MOJO Blog writes..."1967 was not looking like Pete Townshend's year. Already bored of psychedelic drugs, and scared to death by fellow Track Records recording star Jimi Hendrix, he fretted about the way forward. January saw music press reports that Townshend was planning an opera set in 1999 about China invading the world, while March saw the release of Pictures Of Lily, an elephantine single narrated by a wanking sexual cripple.
"I suppose what I wanted was to rescue the pop song," he later recalled, "which seemed to me to be in serious trouble in the late '60s, partly because of the post-psychedelic wetness that seemed to be everywhere. You could write a song that went, Weee love you, weeeee love you, and it would get to Number 4 in the charts. I was outraged and desolate because I knew I was too much of a cynic to ever be able to do that."
Between May and November, amid punishing touring commitments and Who-ish mishaps (Entwistle broke a finger punching a picture of a "a well-known pop star" backstage at the Stevenage Locarno; Moon suffered a hernia recording Melancholia at Advision studios in London), an album's worth of moody, contemplative songs were recorded. While The Who Sell Out would make the odd concession to psychedelia (Armenia City In The Sky, written by Townshend's pal "Speedy" Keen, remains a bad-trip counterpoint to Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds), it countered that "wetness" in the air with lashings of sardonic humour and a defiantly unhippyish preoccupation with consumer culture."
Who's out there working for the Clampdown today? All of us? None of us?
Kick over the wall, cause governments to fall - how can you refuse it? Let fury have the hour, anger can be power, did you know that you can use it????
"What Are We Gonna Do Now????? Taking off his turban, they said, is this man a Jew? ’Cos working for the clampdown They put up a poster saying we earn more than you! When we're working for the clampdown We will teach our twisted speech To the young believers We will train our blue-eyed men To be young believers
The judge said five to ten but I say double that again I'm not working for the clampdown No man born with a living soul Can be working for the clampdown Kick over the wall 'cause government's to fall How can you refuse it? Let fury have the hour, anger can be power D'you know that you can use it?
The voices in your head are calling Stop wasting your time, there's nothing coming Only a fool would think someone could save you The men at the factory are old and cunning You don't owe nothing, so boy get runnin' It's the best years of your life they want to steal
But, you grow up and you calm down and You're working for the clampdown You start wearing the blue and brown and You're working for the clampdown So you got someone to boss around It makes you feel big now You drift until you brutalize You made your first kill now
In these days of evil presidentes Working for the clampdown But lately one or two has fully paid their dues For working for the clampdown Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong! Working for the clampdown Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong! Working for the clampdown
Yeah I’m working hard in Harrisburg Working hard in Petersburg Working for the clampdown Working for the clampdown Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong Begging to be melted down Gitalong, gitalong And I give away no secrets..."
Around the blogosphere today, I am tripped out on the following rock-a-toids:
- Singer-guitarist Dylan Connor, whose music sounds fresh, orchestral in parts and rockin' pop all around - Take a listen at his MySpace page or check out his snappin' video for Breakaway and Burn, featuring cool Burning Man footage. He also has a pretty cool wedding video, too! His press folks also wrote...
"Touring the Northeast throughout February and March, Connor is supporting both Breakaway Republic, and his ultimate tribute to Weezer, the Almost Green Album. A song-by-song cover of Weezer’s Pinkerton follow-up, the lighthearted release showcases Connor’s sugar-sweet vocals and the hooks only one of the best power pop bands of all time could muster. 02-17 New Haven, CT @ Café Nine – 10pm 02-18 Philadelphia, PA @ O.N.E. Rittenhouse Square – 8pm 02-19 Baltimore, MD @ Joe Squared - 10pm 02-20 New York, NY @ The Living Room – 12am 02-28 Cambridge, MA @ Lizard Lounge – 830pm 03-18 Brooklyn, NY @ Pete’s Candy Store – 10 pm 03-20 Bridgeport, CT @ Acoustic Café – 9pm
- The Music Slut shares with us the lovely Antony and the Johnsons singing 'Aeon' on Dave Letterman's show last night. FIne music, not for me, but maybe for you. :-)
- Eric Hutchinson is on tour, singing and playing his "own brand of funky pop music with smart, charming lyrics" with G. Love and Special Sauce - he hits my neck of the woods on March 5th, with a show in Tempe at the Marquee. The ASU Web Devil news interviewed Eric for the recent grab and take.
- Roky Erickson's partner in the 13th Floor Elevators was a guy named Tom Hall - that's him paying the mouth jug thingy in the video of their big hit "You're Gonna Miss Me". Read a swell SF Chronicle piece on him that describes his still-current LSD use and long historical anecdotes about it all. "An originator of acid rock in the '60s, Tommy Hall used LSD to expand his consciousness. He’s still psychedelic."
Stereogum alerts us to the official Bruce Springsteen video for "The Wrestler" (see it below).
But what about an impromptu Springsteen club appearance on the Jersey shore from 14 years ago, where he (gasp) SOLOS and JAMS?? Yes. See for yourself below. As one of the video commenters writes..."Bruce plays guitar? I mean like OTHER THAN CHORDS ??? WOW!" (tee hee)
One release is a collection of 1973 rock and roll recordings by a Detroit band called Death, whose recordings were eventually refused release by Columbia Records' Clive Davis because of their band name. Read the whole story at their MySpace page - and here's where you can pick up this rockin' early '70s punk rock collection called For the Whole World to See. Cool shit.
Whew! Fun rock show last night. Myself and three full-on Tempe/Phoenix bands, kickin' out varying shades of the pop, the rock, the dance, the shake. I loved The Loveblisters (who are headed to NYC this week for a Wednesday show and video taping as part of a Digital Cafe Tour contest they won), whose epic classic pop-rock songs were refreshing and catchy. Milo the Mayor has a good thing goin' on, I think, - I'm not sure I got it last night, as the synthy synths and the chorus-y guitar sounds collided a lot to block out the melodies. Terrible People, a poptastic duo who are very friendly (not at all terrible) played very catchy, hooky songs with loads of charm and minimal equipment. Just right. And I played a handful of new songs with my (pre-recorded) 'band', along with songs from last year's "Say Yeah" CD. Swell time, good sweat. Some pics below. More on my Flickr site.
crappy phone pics by Dfactor Got a chance to see one of Phoenix's better bands last night - Kinch - as they celebrated the release of their new (and aptly titled) EP The Economic Chastisement with a show at Modified Arts before heading out on a tour that will wind up with a SXSW appearance.
The band's songs are dynamic, melodic, guitar and piano driven, and singer-pianist-guitarist Andrew Junker is fantastic, switching effortlessly from a rockin' guitar song to a moody piano piece. I mentioned to him after the show that his vocals sounded similar to me like Julian Casablancas fronting the Strokes with a far wider musical palette (or something like that). He didn't disagree.
Tight show, solid chops and a bass player who's a dead ringer for Dave Grohl (see here) - a good combination, y'all. Watch for Kinch on tour - dates are on their MySpace page. I just hope they don't get into a naming battle with Leeds (UK) indie big band, also called Kinch.
I'm covering both sides of the Love equation for the Waved Rumor Rock Clip of the Week - offering up a song in favor of love and one against, from old school punk rockers The Damned and Public Image Ltd.
Joaquin Phoenix was on Dave Letterman's show last night. It was like watching a funeral or a car wreck. TMZ claims CBS & Dave was hoodwinked, for the presumed documentary that's in the works for the rap career Joaquin's going on about lately. MTV says Phoenix is unraveling.Gawker thinks Joaquin is just a substance-abusing mess.
Morrissey's new CD "Years of Refusal" comes out next Tuesday. Here's a clip of Morrissey from a year ago on Jonathan Ross's BBC show singing "That's How People Grow Up" which will be included on the Deluxe edition as seen in the notes below. Morrissey appears on Jonathan Ross again this Friday night, you UK dwellers.
From the press notes: "Morrissey’s new studio album “Years of Refusal” will be released on February 17th on Attack/Lost Highway and is preceded by the single “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris”.
The Deluxe edition of the album will feature a DVD with exclusive content including “Wrestle with Russell”, a revealing 20 minute filmed interview with Russell Brand recorded at the comedian’s home in LA in November ’08. The friends talk candidly about music, lyrics, image, fame and hair in a piece that is both serious and highly entertaining. Morrissey’s performances of “That’s How People Grow Up” from Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and “All You Need Is Me” from Later With Jools Holland will also feature, as will the video promo for the single “All You Need Is Me”. iTunes have an exclusive digital booklet for those who purchase the standard album version via their site.
“Years of Refusal” was completed in 2008 at Conway Studios in LA with the late Jerry Finn, producer of Morrissey’s acclaimed 2004 UK No.2/Billboard Top 20 album “You Are The Quarry”. Morrissey describes the new album, the follow up to 2006’s “Ringleader of The Tormentors” (a UK No.1 & Billboard Top 20), as his strongest work to date. The 12-track album includes a clutch of new songs played live in recent months including “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris”, “Something Is Squeezing My Skull”, “Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed” and “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell”. Long time band members Boz Boorer, Jesse Tobias, Matt Walker, and Solomon Walker play on the album, which also features a contribution from Jeff Beck on the track “Black Cloud”.
TRACK LISTING: 1. Something Is Squeezing My Skull 2. Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed 3. Black Cloud 4. I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris 5. All You Need Is Me 6. When Last I Spoke To Carol 7. That’s How People Grow Up 8. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell 9. It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore 10. You Were Good In Your Time 11. Sorry Doesn’t Help 12. I’m OK By Myself
DELUXE EDITION BONUS DVD: 1. Wrestle with Russell interview with Russell Brand 2. That’s How People Grow Up performed on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross 3. All You Need is Me performed on Later with Jools Holland 4. All You Need is Me (Video)
Tour of Refusal US Leg: 2/28 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Park 3/1 Orlando, FL Hard Rock live 3/3 Jacksonville, FL Florida Theater 3/4 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Landing 3/6 Myrtle Beach. SC House of Blues 3/7 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse 3/9 Asheville, NC Orange Peel 3/11 Durham, NC Durham Performing Arts Center 3/13 Richmond, VA The National 3/14 Washington, DC Warner Theater 3/16 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theater 3/17 Pittsburgh, PA Carnegie Music Hall 3/19 Buffalo, NY U of Buffalo Center for the Arts 3/21 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom 3/22 Philadelphia, PA Academy of Music 3/25 New York, NY Webster Hall 3/26 New York, NY Carnegie Hall 3/28 Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods 3/29 Boston, MA House of Blues 3/31 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan Theater 4/1 Columbus, OH Palace Theater 4/3 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom 4/4 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom 4/6 Minneapolis, MN State Theater 4/7 Kansas City, MO Midland Theater 4/8 St. Louis, MO Pageant Theater 4/10 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom 4/11 Houston, TX Jesse H. Jones Hall 4/12 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall 4/14 El Paso, TX Chavez Theater 4/15 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
Stereogum has a fine weekly (semi-weekly?) series called "Quit Your Day Job" where musicians are interviewed about their day jobs and how it fits together with their demands on a band time needs. It's quite a good series, and this week's column kicks it up a notch to interview Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto, who pastors a church in Brooklyn, NY and leads (with his wife) the Brooklyn band The Welcome Wagon, which records for indie label Asthmatic Kitty. Listen to their song "But for You Who Fear My Name".
Do guitar solos still exist with new and upcoming indie/rock bands? I mean, does Fleet Foxes have a 2-3 minute section in their songs when the lead guitar player just goes...off? I didn't think so. What about Decemberists? What about MGMT? Is anyone soloing these days? Dungen? Radiohead? I'm sure the metal bands like Opeth and Mastodon are still soloing, but I don't listen to that shit anymore. Maybe punk just killed off solos in everything, who know? I dunno, clue me in below in the comments if I'm missing a rockin' new band that's heavy/dependent on guitar solos.
I think it's modern day attention deficit syndrome ...in everything! Who has time for guitar solos today? Even my own songwriting has changed - a few years ago, I'd leave room in my songs for 'big rock'(ha!) solo (even when we couldn't play them all too well.) But today? Well, sorry, mate, my attention span isn't that high for a 30 second guitar solo. The songs I've been writing for the past 6-12 months have been null on solos - songs just go from choruses into bridges or end parts. No more solos. The death of the Dfactor guitar solo. World Ends. Stop. Ha.
But.....in the old days, guitar solos ROCKED. And sometimes, the longer the better! Here's a sampling of some of the better ones from cool players. (hat tip to Jackson at Savage Distortion for the inspiration)
Micheal Schenker (UFO, MSG Group) The fun starts around 3:25.
Pete Townshend (The Who) - live at the Isle of Wight
"Art Brut has announced it will be releasing its third studio album, Art Brut vs Satan (COOKCD492) on Monday 20th April.
“We recorded the album in a punk-as-fuck two weeks in Salem, Oregon,” explains lead singer Eddie Argos. “I don't always enjoy the recording process - all that fiddling with guitars and drum sounds waiting for my turn to ‘sing’. This time though, we did it just right. We spent a day getting the sound of the instruments perfect, then with all of us in the same room at the same time, with the amazing Black Francis conducting us, we pressed record, jumped around and played our songs. This is how I always thought albums were made and it’s definitely how we're doing it from now on!”
"A rock festival is not something you program, but rather something with which you try to keep up." That's announcer Jack Lescouli describing his attempt to 'communicate an act of a new generation...a happening...an event...'"
Bands that played at the "Cincinnati Pop Festival",(Mid Summer Rock) Cincinnati, Ohio ~ The Stooges, Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, Alice Cooper, Traffic, Mighty Quick, Bob Seger, Mott The Hoople, Ten Years After, Bloodrock, Savage Grace, Brownsville Station, Zephyr, Damnation Of Adam Blessing, John Drake's Shakedown
In honor of another beautiful day in sunny PHX, this week's Rock Clip of the Week is for the local boys Meat Puppets stomper 'Look at the Rain' (done live 2007 below), originally on the 1987 Hueveos LP.
From the MySpace blog page of From the Jam "US TOUR 2009 POSTPONED It is with great regret that FTJ will have to postpone the forthcoming US tour. Due to illness of a close family member, the band have cancelled all dates until summer 2009. FTJ hope to reschedule the U.S. dates sometime in the fall."
Too bad - the band really brings the songs of The Jam back to life everytime they play. "Smithers-Jones" sounds great in the clip below from an earlier From the Jam tour:
Noise Pop '09 is ready to go - it starts in three weeks - its press notes read....
"Noise Pop, the West Coast’s premiere independent celebration of music, film and art, takes place February 24 through March 1, 2009 at venues throughout San Francisco, CA. In total, over 100 of the best and the brightest of the independent music world will take to the stage at more than 40 events.
Noise Pop 2009 also marks the debut of “Industry Noise,” a one-day conference that looks at independent music, technology, touring and the transforming industry. The event takes place Friday, February 27, 2009 at The Swedish American Hall in San Francisco.
Industry Noise will feature a very special keynote conversation between Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) and Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar). Confirmed panelists for the day include David Hyman, CEO, MOG; artist Penelope Houston; Jordan Kurland, Zeitgeist Artist Management; Kevin Arnold, CEO, IODA; David Katznelson, President, Birdman Recording Group; Corey Denis, VP Digital Marketing, reepandsow; Brian Archer, Railer Entertainment; Aaron Axelson, Music Director, Live 105; Nancy Miller, Wired Magazine; Owen Seitel, Idell & Seitel; Greg Werckman, Ipecac Recordings, Greg Saunier, Deerhoof, with more to be announced."
"Jones joined the ranks of the unemployed on Jan. 17, when Indie 103.1, the scruffy but revered L.A. rock station, became a victim of a vicious downturn in advertising revenue. For five years, the Sex Pistol had been the gloriously unpolished voice of "Jonesy's Jukebox," an eccentric and unpredictable two-hour lunchtime show on which he played any obscure record he wanted, chatted up famous guests or just, well, whistled.
"Indie, that was my radio station, so to speak," Jones said. "I think people are starting to really miss it and realize how special it was. And for me, taking the job, it got me out of a rut that I was always in. I'm pretty much an isolated person. I'd rather stay home and play video games. For me to go somewhere every day, it was the best thing for me as a human. It got me away from the madness in my head."
Though you shouldn't worry much about Jones - the article mentions that he's got a few opportunities percolating. Plus, who knows, maybe the Pistols will do another summer tour!
The 51st Grammy awards will be held next Sunday night on CBS-TV. And once again, we'll see the crazy-wide schism between rock, rap and pop. You're gonna get Radiohead, Coldplay, Grohl and others on the rock side. Then you got Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, Paul McCartney (always the pop Beatle), the Jonas Brothers and others on the pop side. Add in Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Tip on the hiphoprap side, and boy oh boy, is it gonna be a musically bewildering program!
Paul McCartney sings "That was me" below - he's up for a Grammy for best male vocal for this song, god knows why.
Below, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, up for five Grammys for last year's In Rainbows, reminisces about seeing David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes video.
I hope Daft Punk wins for "Harder Better Faster Stronger" just to hear that title spoken on air. :-)
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of 1950s rockers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper (aka J.P. Richardson) and Richie Valens. Their well-documented plane crash happened after a February 2, 1959 concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, IA.
The musicians (along with Dion and the Belmonts) were part of the Winter Dance Party tour, a 24-date tour. Enthusiasm for the tour was high early on, but it eventually turned sour as the bands and performers were playing to small audiences in frozen towns in the upper Midwest, with all the musicians crammed into a cold tour bus. Holly's drummer even came down with frostbite. When they arrived at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, they were cold and tired.
After the night's performance, Holly basically said 'F--- that bus" and chartered a small plane for himself and his remaining backup musicians -- Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup -- to fly them to the tour's next gig in Moorhead, Minnesota. But Jennings gave his seat up to the Big Bopper, who was running a fever and was tiring of fitting his bulky body into the bus seats. And Allsup lost his seat in the plane to Richie Valens in a coin toss.
The flight took off in a heavy snowstorm with a young pilot named Roger Peterson. According to his Wikipedia entry... "The plane, a 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza (registration number N3794N), took off in light snow from Mason City Airport around 1:00 on the morning of February 3, 1959. The plane banked 180 degrees to the left and aimed north, achieving an altitude of 2000 feet MSL, cleared the airport, turned towards the northwest and faded from view. Minutes later the Beechcraft crashed in a cornfield eight miles northwest of the airfield, killing Peterson and his three passengers. The Civil Aeronautics Board concluded the primary cause of the crash was pilot error, citing Peterson's inability to interpret the newly-installed Sperry altitude gyroscope he was forced to read due to the weather conditions with a secondary factor being that the pilot had not been informed of adverse flash weather forecasts. The theroy is that Peterson may have read the gyroscope backwards as a result of vertigo and thought that the plane was gaining altitude when it was actually descending."
Valens was only 17 years old, Holly was 22 and Big Bopper 29 years old. More details behind the events leading up to the tragic airplane crash are at the History of Rock site.
