Crickets are first band in center’s Hall of Fame
The first act being honored in the gallery called the Texas Musicians Hall of Fame at the Buddy Holly Center is, quite fittingly, Holly’s band The Crickets.
(Keep in mind Holly himself was a Cricket before taking a leadership/front man role.)
Crickets percussionist Jerry Allison has discovered that being a pack rat has, after more than four decades, paid off. “Man, I have saved everything over the years. We’ve lived out on the farm here (in Tennessee) for 23 years now, and I don’t think we ever could move because of all my junk.”
Of late, he has either given or loaned a great deal of his personal memorabilia to the Buddy Holly Center.
“I found out I still had my first snare drum from when I started playing drums in the fifth grade. There’s several of my Gold Records here, like the one we got for ‘Peggy Sue.’ I even discovered stuff I forgot I had: filing cabinets filled with concert itineraries and a lot of stuff my mom saved.
“I also found the drum stick I broke on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ in 1958. I thought I’d bring that down to Lubbock. I’m pretty sure they have a replica of my drum kit, so I thought it might be pretty cool to bring down the actual drum stick.”
Allison said more than once that, while he’s yet to visit the Buddy Holly Center, “I’m really looking forward a lot to the whole weekend, and especially visiting that place.
“I just can’t tell you how appreciative I am of people remembering us there in Lubbock.”
By WILLIAM KERNS
A-J Entertainment Editor
