![debra song buddy holly debra song buddy holly](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61rwmevA54L._SL1200_.jpg)
The bus chartered for the tour would break down, often in the middle of nowhere. Temperatures would fall to well below zero.
![debra song buddy holly debra song buddy holly](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61KFeRS17uL._SL1200_.jpg)
January 1959 was bitterly cold in the mid-west where the Winter Dance Party was touring. So for the upcoming 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour he hired Waylon Jennings, who was playing bass guitar for the first time, drummer Carl Bunch, and 27 year old guitarist, Tommy Allsup who had sat in with the Crickets as lead guitarist in the past. Holly and the Crickets had parted ways in late 1958. Joining Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper on the Winter Dance Party Tour were Dion and the Belmonts, and Frankie Sardo.
![debra song buddy holly debra song buddy holly](https://chorus.stimg.co/20168729/2maria0202.jpg)
But on Februhe was suffering from the flu and needed to see a doctor. JP planned to invest in a radio station and recording studio after the tour. He also wrote “ White Lightning” and “ Running Bear” - both of which would become hits for George Jones and Johnny Preston respectively. “ Chantilly Lace ,” one of his creations, had been a huge hit. JP was a disc jockey and songwriter as well as a performer. A second child would be born two-months later. His wife, Adrienne Joy, and four-year-old daughter, Debra, waited for him back home in Beaumont, Texas. Better known professionally as The Big Bopper. was the third and final passenger aboard the plane. She went to school on the morning of February 3, 1959, perhaps counting the days until the 3-week tour would end. Singles were released on 45 RPM vinyl records in those days and on the flip side was a tune called “ La Bamba ,” which would also become a hit.Īs Ritchie’s music career was taking off in 1958 he and Donna were seeing less of each other but she was still Ritchie’s girl. The song he wrote for her, “ Donna ,” soon became a hit. Donna’s father would have nothing to with Ritchie because he was Hispanic. The two had met in 1957 and soon would start dating. Donna Ludwig was a 16-year-old student at Pacoima High School in Pacoima, California. Ritchie Valens, the second passenger aboard the chartered plan, also had written a song for a girl he had been dating. ” It was a song he wrote especially for her. Buddy called Maria at least twice a day and when a phone was available Ritchie Valens would hold it up so she could her him sing “ True Love Ways. It was better for her to stay at home in New York and rest. He believed the rigors of a three-week, winter tour by bus would be too much for her, especially as she was sick during the early weeks of pregnancy. But when they learned Maria was pregnant, he insisted she stay at home. The plan was for her to accompany Buddy on this tour. She had traveled with him before, expertly managing the financial and promotional duties of touring.
![debra song buddy holly debra song buddy holly](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/da/16/48/da164839c04a167bd409eaef46335cd8.jpg)
Back home in New York was his wife, Maria Elena Sanitago-Holly. He was the main headliner on the Winter Dance Party tour. They wanted to rest, get some laundry done, and one needed to see a doctor for relief from the flu.īuddy Holly was one of the passengers on board the aircraft. Traveling by bus had been grueling at best and they needed a break. They had just finished a performance at the Surf Ballroom, one of many stops on the 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour. The passengers for the chartered flight had arrived from Cedar Lake, Iowa not long before. The temperature was in the low teens and a strong wind was blowing, a portent that deteriorating conditions were on the way. On Februat 12:55 a.m., a four-seat Beech Bonanza took off from the Mason City Municipal Airport in Mason City, Iowa.