A field about five miles north of Clear Lake has long featured a memorial to the three musicians, but until Wednesday little was said about pilot Roger Peterson.

The 21-year-old Peterson, of Clear Lake, was blamed for the crash.

The new metal marker is shaped like a pair of wings and includes Peterson’s name and the date of the crash.

The musicians had played at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. They had intended to fly from the airport in nearby Mason City to Moorhead, Minn.

—–

Information from: KIMT-TV, http://www.kimt.com

Source: http://home.online.no/~smpeders/ind-bud2.htm

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Do you have memories of growing up with Buddy or watching him perform?

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Sept. 7 – “Buddy Holly” is born Charles Hardin Holley to Ella and Lawrence Odell “L.O.” Holley on Labor Day at the family’s Sixth Street home in Lubbock.

1941

Five-year-old Buddy enters a talent contest along with his older brothers Larry and Travis. Though his brothers grease his toy violin to keep him from interrupting their performance, he won the $5 first-place prize singing “Down the River Of Memories.”

1949

Buddy’s first recording is “My Two-Timin’ Woman,” a Hank Snow song, which he sings into a wire recorder.

1952

Holley and Bob Montgomery make a home recording of “Take These Shackles From My Heart and I’ll Just Pretend.” The following year they make a home recording of Bill Monroe’s “Footprints In The Snow.”

1953

September – radio station KDAV in Lubbock begins broadcasting what is considered the first all-country music format in the United States. The Sunday Party aired by Hipockets Duncan, a disc jockey and talent scout, gives local musicians an opportunity to perform live. Buddy teams with Jack Neal to form the duo Buddy and Jack, and their show is broadcast live from KDAV during The Sunday Party.

1954

Feb. 19 – Holley, Montgomery, and Larry Welborn perform “Flower Of My Heart,” a song written by Bob, for a contest at Lubbock High School. The song wins the competition and is chosen as the 1954 Senior Class Song.

Jack Neal marries, and Holley teams up with Montgomery to form Buddy and Bob, who advertise themselves as Western and Bop performers. The Buddy and Jack Show is replaced by the Buddy and Bob Show on The Sunday Party.

1955

Feb. 13 – Holley and Montgomery open for Elvis Presley at the Fair Park Coliseum in Lubbock.

May 27 – Holley graduates from Lubbock High School.

Oct. 14 – At the Fair Park Coliseum, Holley, Bob Montgomery, and Larry Welborn perform in a show featuring Bill Haley and The Comets and Jimmy Rodgers Snow. Eddie Crandall, a Nashville agent for country singer Marty Robbins, watches their performance.

Oct. 28 – Holley, Bob Montgomery, and Larry Welborn open for headliner Marty Robbins at the Fair Park Coliseum. Eddie Crandall again watches Holley’s performance.

Dec. 2-3 – Eddie Crandall writes to “Pappy” Dave Stone, radio station KDAV station manager, asking for exclusive rights to help Holley obtain a recording contract. Crandall sends Stone a telegram asking that Holley and his group send him a recording of four original songs.

Dec. 7 – At Nesman Recording Studio in Wichita Falls, Holley, Don Guess and J.I. Allison record “Love Me”, “Don’t Come Back Knockin’”, “Moonlight Baby”, and “I Guess I Was Just A Fool” which are submitted on acetate to Decca.

1956

Jan. 23-25 – Holley negotiated a recording contract with Decca and a three-year songwriter’s contract with Cedarwood Publishing Co.

Jan. 26 – Holley, Sonny Curtis, and Guess begin their first recording sessions for Decca at Owen Bradley’s Barn in Nashville under the name Buddy and The Two Tones.

Feb. 8 – Holley receives Decca’s contract from Jim Denny of Cedarwood Publishing. Holley’s name has been misspelled, inadvertently dropping the ‘e’ in Holley. As a result, Holley adopts the Holly spelling for his last name.

May 6-10 – Holly joins Faron Young’s Grand Ole Opry Show on its Oklahoma tour. Other performers included Ray Price, Carl Perkins, Tommy Collins, Jimmy & Johnny, Tom Pritchard, Red Sovine, and Joe Vincent.

July 22 – Holly, Curtis, Guess, and J.I. Allison are in Nashville for the second Decca recording session at Bradley’s Barn. The song list from the session includes “I’m Changing All Those Changes,” “Girl On My Mind,” “Rock Around With Ollie Vee,” “Ting-A-Ling” and “That’ll Be The Day.”

Nov. 15 – Holly is in Nashville for the third and final recording session with Decca at Bradley’s Barn. “Rock Around With Ollie Vee,” “Modern Don Juan,” and “You Are My One Desire” are recorded.

1957

Jan. 22 – Decca sends Holly a letter informing him that his renewal option is not being exercised and his contract will expire on Jan. 26, 1957.

Feb. 24-25 – Holly travels to the Norman Petty Studio in Clovis, N.M., and records “I’m Looking For Someone To Love” and the hit version of “That’ll Be The Day.” Holly sings and plays lead guitar; Larry Welborn plays bass; Allison plays drums; and Niki Sullivan, Gary Tollett and Ramona Tollett sing background vocals on “That’ll Be The Day.”

February-March – Holly is restricted from recording any of the songs that were done under his contract with Decca. A name is needed in order to release the new version of “That’ll Be The Day.” Allison searches through an encyclopedia under “Insects” in order to find a name for the band. They consider briefly, then discard “The Beetles” before selecting “The Crickets.” Over the next month, the band members of The Crickets come together: Holly, vocals and lead guitar; Allison, drums; Mauldin, bass; and Sullivan, rhythm guitar.

March 19 – The Crickets sign a contract with Bob Thiele in which Coral, a subsidiary of Decca, agrees to purchase masters for “That’ll Be The Day” and “I’m Looking For Someone To Love.” This will be the working contract for The Crickets, and their songs will be released under the Brunswick label.

May 29 – “Not Fade Away” and “Everyday” are recorded in Clovis. Instrumentation includes use of a cardboard box, knee slaps and a celeste.

July 1 – “Peggy Sue,” “Oh Boy,” “Listen To Me,” and “I’m Gonna Love You Too” are recorded in Clovis.

July 16 – From Bob Thiele, Holly learns “That’ll Be The Day” has sold 50,000 records, and an additional 28,000 have been pressed. That evening, Holly goes to see Little Richard perform at Lubbock’s Cotton Club.

July 23 – Bob Thiele sends a registered letter to inform The Crickets that Coral will renew their recording contract.

July 30 – Holly signs a contract for a 67-day tour package beginning in September. Aug. 2-8 – Buddy Holly and The Crickets begin their first major tour at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., where “That’ll Be The Day” is No. 2 on the charts. Other acts featured on the tour include Clyde McPhatter, The Cadillacs, Edna McGriff, Otis Rush, Lee Andrews and The Hearts, and Oscar and Oscar. Aug. 9-16 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets perform at the Royal Theater in Baltimore, Md.

Aug. 16-22 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets perform at the Apollo Theater in New York City.

Aug. 26 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets perform “That’ll Be The Day” on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in Philadelphia.

Aug. 30-Sept. 8 – The Alan Freed Holiday Show at the Paramount Theater in New York features Buddy Holly & The Crickets. Other performers included Little Richard, The Del Vikings, The Diamonds, Mickey & Sylvia, The Moonglows, The Five Keys, Larry Williams, and King Curtis.

Sept. 21 – “Cash Box” features a cover photograph of Buddy Holly & The Crickets pointing to a circled date of Oct. 1, 1957. “That’ll Be The Day” is expected to pass the 1 million mark in sales on this date. Two days later Billboard lists “That’ll Be The Day” as the No. 1 Best Seller in stores.

Oct. 11 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets are featured in the British magazine “New Musical Express,” which states: “If someone asks you where the hit records come from these days, you won’t be far wrong if you reply Deep In The Heart Of Texas.”

Nov. 24 – The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal carries an article under the headline “Lubbock Combo on Network Show Next Sunday.” This article refers to a scheduled appearance by Buddy Holly & The Crickets on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Nov. 29 – Sid Varnes, “Cash Box”‘s editor-in-chief, sends a telegram to The Crickets informing them that the Juke Box Operators of America have voted them “Most Promising Vocal Group of 1957.”

Dec. 1 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets perform “That’ll be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan calls Buddy back on stage after the second song for an impromptu interview and to solicit another “very nice hand for these Texas youngsters.”

Dec. 4-5 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets return to Lubbock. Niki Sullivan leaves the group, citing the harsh tour schedule as his reason. Norman Petty signs contracts for Buddy Holly & The Crickets to participate in three tours, including the Paramount Theater in New York, the America’s Greatest Teenage Recording Stars, and a short Florida tour.

Dec. 17 and 19 – “Little Baby,” “Look At Me,” and (You’re So Square) “Baby I Don’t Care” are recorded in Clovis.

1958

Jan. 2 – Norman Petty signs a contract for Buddy Holly & The Crickets to perform on tour and in radio promotions in Australia, beginning Jan. 30.

Jan. 25 – Bob Thiele of Coral presents Holly and Petty with the gold record for “Peggy Sue.” “Rave On” and “That’s My Desire” are recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York.

Jan. 26 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets perform “Oh Boy” on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York City.

Jan. 27 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets and Petty fly from New York to Honolulu. The same evening, they perform two shows with Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka and Jodie Sands.

Jan. 28-29 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets travel from Hawaii to Sydney, Australia, for a six-day tour. Others on the tour include Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka and Jodie Sands. Variety runs an article about the Honolulu show under the headline: “Rock ‘n’ Roll Reaches Hawaii & Makes Good,” and describes “turn-away crowds.”

Jan. 31 – In Newcastle, Australia, Pat Barton, a local deejay, interviews Buddy. During the interview, Buddy denies that The Crickets, or any group, will fill Elvis Presley’s shoes while he is in the Army.

Feb. 1 – A review of the Newcastle performance appears in the local newspaper under the headline, “Rock Show Quiet,” an apparent comparative reference to the wild audience behavior at the Little Richard concert the year before.

Feb. 20-25 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets join The Big Gold Records Stars tour (informally known as The Florida Tour). The tour also stars the Everly Brothers, Bill Haley and The Comets, Jerry Lee Lewis, and The Royalteens.

March 11 – Following a performance in Birmingham, England, a review reads: “Buddy Holly, leader of the group, is a studious-looking young man who totes his electric guitar like a sawn-off shot-gun and carries around a giant-sized amplifier which even made the Town Hall organ pipes flinch. Mr. Holly is 70 per cent of the act. He plays and sings with brash exuberance, and adds a few Presley-like wiggles which had the teenage audience squealing with delight. The rest of the group consists of a bass player whose ability was lost in the noise and a drummer who plays with sledge-hammer precision.”

March 25 – Before the second show scheduled in Hammersmith, London, the last performance of the English tour, Mauldin knocks the caps off of Holly’s two front teeth during a scuffle. Buddy repairs the damage with chewing gum and performs the second show with the gum spread over his front teeth.

May 3 – During shows for the Big Beat tour at the Boston Arena, a Navy sailor is stabbed, others are injured, and arrests are made outside of the concert hall. Alan Freed, the tour’s promoter, is charged with inciting a riot, but the charges are later dropped. The incident, which becomes know as the “Boston riot,” results in the cancellation of scheduled shows in Troy, N.Y.; Providence, R.I.; New Haven, Conn.; and Newark, N.J.

May 27 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets record “It’s So Easy” and “Lonesome Tears” in Clovis. They are joined by Allsup on lead guitar. The next day, “Heartbeat” is recorded, and Allsup again plays lead guitar while another session musician, George Atwood, plays bass. Brunswick releases the single “Think It Over” and “Fool’s Paradise.”

June 9-18 – Holly, Mauldin and Petty fly to Los Angeles for a promotional tour, and are photographed at Southern Music Publishing in Hollywood. In San Francisco, Holly is interviewed on the Ted Randal Show at KPIX-TV. As Mauldin and Petty return to Lubbock, Holly flies to New York where he meets Maria Elena Santiago at Peer Southern Music. He proposes marriage the first day they meet, and they are wed within two months.

July 8 – During a performance at Electric Park in Waterloo, Iowa, a photographer asks Holly to remove his glasses for a picture. Holly replies: “I never have pictures made without my glasses.”

July 21-22 – Allison and Peggy Sue Gerron apply for a marriage license from the county courthouse in Lubbock. They are married the next day in Honey Grove.

Aug. 11 – Lubbock property records list “Charles Buddy Holley” in an agreement with his father, L.O. Holley, for a six-room, four-bath, brick-veneer house to be built on Buddy’s property in Bobalet Heights.

Aug. 15 – Buddy Holly and Maria Elena Santiago are married at the Holley home in Lubbock. Parents L.O. and Ella Holley, brothers Larry and Travis, sister Patricia and the spouses of his brothers and sister are in attendance along with J.I. and Peggy Sue Allison and Mauldin. Holly’s record, “Now We’re One,” is played at the ceremony. The Hollys and the Allisons honeymoon for two weeks in Acapulco, Mexico.

Sept. 10 – A session for Waylon Jennings is produced by Buddy for his newly founded company, Prism Records. The recording session in Clovis produces Jole Blon and When Sin Stops, with Buddy on rhythm guitar, Atwood on bass, Bo Clark on drums, and King Curtis on saxophone.

Oct. 28 – Buddy Holly & The Crickets appear on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia. Introducing Holly, Clark calls him, “…a man who creates songs, performs them, and has a great deal to do with the activities of our music world, and he’s still a very young man and a successful one at that.” Buddy lip-syncs “Heartbeat” and “It’s So Easy.”

Dec. 11 – In a letter to his parents, Holly relates: “I’ve been writing a few songs. Some of them are fairly good. The best one to date is a ‘top secret’ one titled “Peggy Sue Got Married.” Please don’t mention it to anyone either. I want it to be a complete surprise.”

Dec. 27 – While at KLLL radio station in Lubbock, Holly is prompted by a bet to write a song in less than 30 minutes. Holly composes “You’re The One,” which is recorded on the station’s acetate machine. Buddy sings and plays guitar, while Waylon Jennings and Ray “Slim” Corbin, the station’s deejays, provide percussion with hand-claps.

1959

Jan. 20-22 – Holly, Tommy Allsup, Waylon Jennings and Carl Bunch leave New York and travel by train to Chicago to rendezvous with the other artists on the Winter Dance Party tour. From Chicago, the artists are scheduled to travel by bus on the tour route. Other performers include: Ritchie Valens, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, Dion and The Belmonts, and Frankie Sardo.

Jan. 23 – The Winter Dance Party starts the tour with performances in Milwaukee. The tour will continue through Feb. 15 with scheduled stops in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio.

Feb. 1 – The Winter Dance Party is stranded en route to Appleton, Wis., when the bus breaks down. With temperatures at 30 degrees below zero and no source of heat, the passengers burn newspapers in the aisles to keep warm. Sheriffs’ cars pick up the freezing entertainers and Carl Bunch is admitted to the hospital suffering from frostbite. With one performance cancelled, the Winter Dance Party continues and performs at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wis.

Feb. 2 – Holly, Jennings and Allsup perform and serve as back-up musicians during the performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

Feb. 3 – Shortly after the performance in Clear Lake, Holly, J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens board a small aircraft chartered to take them to their next performance. Soon after take-off, the plane crashes, killing all aboard.

Source: The Buddy Holly Center, 1801 Crickets Ave., Lubbock.

“Blue Days, Black Nights”/”Love Me” (Decca, released April 1956)

Modern Don Juan”/”You Are My One Desire” (Decca, released December 1956)

“That’ll Be The Day”/”I’m Looking For Someone To Love (Brunswick, May 1957)

“Words Of Love”/”Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues” (Coral, June 1957)

“Rock Around With Ollie Vee”/”That’ll Be The Day” (Decca, September 1957)

“Peggy Sue”/”Everyday” (Coral, September 1957)

“Oh Boy”/”Not Fade Away” (Brunswick, October 1957)

“Love Me”/”You Are My One Desire” (Decca, January 1958)

“I’m Gonna Love You Too”/”Listen To Me” (Coral, February 1958)

“Maybe Baby”/”Tell Me How” (Brunswick, February 1958)

“Rave On”/”Take Your Time” (Coral, April 1958)

“Think It Over”/”Fool’s Paradise” (Brunswick, May 1958)

“Girl On My Mind”/”Ting-A-Ling” (Decca, June 1958)

“Early In The Morning”/”Now We’re One” (Coral, July 1958)

“It’s So Easy”/”Lonesome Tears” (Brunswick, September 1958)

“Real Wild Child/”Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (Coral, September 1958)

“Heartbeat”/”Well … All Right” (Coral, November 1958)

“It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”/”Raining In My Heart” (Coral, January 1959)

“Peggy Sue Got Married”/”Crying, Waiting, Hoping” (Coral, July 1959)

“True Love Ways”/”That Makes It Tough” (Coral, June 1960)

“Reminiscing”/”Wait ‘Til The Sun Shines, Nellie” (Coral, August 1962)

“Bo Diddley”/”True Love Ways” (Coral, April 1963)

“Brown-Eyed Handsome Man”/”Wishing” (Coral, July, 1963)

“What To Do”/”Slippin’ And Slidin’” (Coral, March 1965)

“Love Is Strange”/”You’re The One” (Coral, March 1969)

ALBUMS RELEASED IN THE UNITED STATES

The Chirping Crickets (Brunswick, released November 1957)

1. “Oh Boy”

2. “Not Fade Away”

3. “You’ve Got Love”

4. “Maybe Baby”

5. “It’s Too Late”

6. “Tell Me How”

7. “That’ll Be the Day”

8. “I’m Looking For Someone To Love”

9. “An Empty Cup”

10. “Send Me Some Lovin’”

11. “Rock Me, My Baby”

Buddy Holly (Coral, released March 1958)

1. “I’m Gonna Love You, Too”

2. “Peggy Sue”

3. “Look At Me”

4. “Listen To Me”

5. “Valley of Tears”

6. “Reddy Teddy”

7. “Everyday”

8. “Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues”

9. “Words of Love”

10. “You’re So Square”

11. “Rave On”

12. “Little Baby”

That’ll Be the Day (Decca, released April 1958)

1. “You Are My One Desire”

2. “Blue Days, Black Nights”

3. “Modern Don Juan”

4. “Rock Around With Ollie Vee”

5. “Ting-A-Ling”

6. “Girl on My Mind”

7. “That’ll Be The Day”

8. “Love Me”

9. “I’m Changin’ All Those Changes”

10. “Don’t Come Back Knockin’”

11. “Midnight Shift”

The Buddy Holly Story (Coral, released March 1959)

1. “Raining In My Heart”

2. “Early In The Morning”

3. “Peggy Sue” 4. “Maybe Baby”

5. “Everyday”

6. “Rave On”

7. “That’ll Be The Day”

8. “Heartbeat”

9. “Think it Over”

10. “Oh Boy”

11. “It’s So Easy”

12. “It Doesn’t Matter Any More”

The Buddy Holly Story, Volume 2 (Coral, released March 1960)

1. “Peggy Sue Got Married”

2. “Well … All Right”

3. “What To Do”

4. “That Makes It Tough”

5. “Now We’re One”

6. “Take Your Time”

7. “Crying, Waiting, Hoping”

8. “True Love Ways”

9. “Learning The Game”

10. “Little Baby”

11. “Moondreams”

12. “That’s What They Say”

Reminiscing (Coral, released February 1963)

1. “Reminiscing”

2. “Slippin’ And Slidin’”

3. “Bo Diddley”

4. “Wait ‘Til The Sun Shines, Nellie”

5. “Baby, Won’t You Come Out Tonight”

6. “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man”

7. “Because I Love You”

8. “It’s Not My Fault”

9. “I’m Gonna Set My Foot Down”

10. “Changin’ All Those Changes”

11. “Rock-A-Bye Rock”

Showcase (Coral, released May 1964)

1. “Shake, Rattle and Roll”

2. “Rock Around with Ollie Vee”

3. “Honky Tonk”

4. “I Guess I Was Just A Fool”

5. “Ummm, Oh Yeah (Dearest)”

6. “You’re The One”

7. “Blue Suede Shoes”

8. “Come Back, Baby”

9. “Rip It Up”

10. “Love’s Made A Fool Of You”

11. “Gone”

12. “Girl On My Mind”

Holly In The Hills (Coral, released January 1965)

1. “I Wanna Play House With You”

2. “Door To My Heart”

3. “Fool’s Paradise”

4. “Gambled My Heart”

5. “What To Do”

6. “Wishing”

7. “Down The Line”

8. “Soft Place In My Heart”

9. “Lonesome Tears”

10. “Gotta Get You Near Me Blues”

11. “Flower Of My Heart”

12. “You And I Are Through”

Giant (Coral, released January 1969)

1. “Love Is Strange”

2. “Good Rockin’ Tonight”

3. “Blue Monday”

4. “Have You Ever Been Lonely”

5. “Slippin’ And Slidin’”

6. “You’re The One”

7. “Dearest”

8. “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”

9. “Ain’t Got No Home”

10. “Holly Hop”

Lubbock's Buddy Holly and the Crickets, helped turn rock 'n' roll toward a rhythm-and-blues muscial style.

1959 The body of Buddy Holly, popular 22-year old singing star from Lubbock who was killed in an airplane crash near Mason City, Iowa, Tuesday, is scheduled to be returned here by chartered plane today for funeral services and burial.

Holly, two other rock ‘n roll singing idols, and the pilot of their chartered plane all were killed early Tuesday when the craft plunged into a snow-swept Iowa field. The four-place plane crashed within minutes after taking off in light snow from the Mason City airport.

The two singers with Holly were Ritchie Valens, 17, Los Angeles, and J.P. (Big Bopper) Richardson, 28, Beaumont. Roger Peterson, 21, of Clear Lake, Iowa, was the pilot.

Holly was the son of Mr. and Mrs. L.O. Holley, 1606 39th St. An error in the spelling of his name in the singer’s first contract – the dropping of the “e” – resulted in a difference between his professional name and that of his parents. His father said the youth never bothered to correct the mistake.

The three singers, members of a rock ‘n roll troupe touring Midwest cities, died because they wanted to make a fast hop between dates so they could get their shirts laundered. Fate took a hand in the crash in one other way and the flight narrowly missed cancellation.

Rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly was killed in an airplance crash in 1959, along with stars Ritchie Valens and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson.

The troupe with which Valens, Holly and Richardson had appeared had entertained an estimated 1,100 teen-agers and their parents at a ballroom in Clear Lake, near Mason City, Monday night. The chartered plane was to take the three singers to Fargo, N.D., in advance of the troupe’s engagement there. The others went by chartered bus. All were scheduled for an appearance in nearby Moorhead, Minn.

Waylon Jennings, bass player with the troupe whose wife and two daughters live in Littlefield, originally was scheduled to accompany Holly and Valens on the flight.

But before takeoff, Richardson, complaining that his large size did not permit comfortable sleeping on the bus, asked to replace Jennings. The request was granted.

Ironically, Rod Lucier, promoter of the tour, had tried to cancel the Moorhead appearance because of a gathering Midwest snow storm. He telephoned the group’s agency Monday night trying to call off the next appearance. Meanwhile, the plane carrying the singers took off.

Each of the three singers had soared to popularity among the teenage rock ‘n roll set in recent years. Hollywood trade sources said the combined record sales of the three rock ‘n rollers was in the millions.

Holly was the star of the Crickets, a recording group which he organized and which was accompanying him on the tour. The Lubbock youth hit the rock ‘n roll pinnacle with his recordings of “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be The Day” and “Early In The Morning.”

A new recording, “It Doesn’t Matter Any More,” recently was listed among the top sellers. Holly listed about 44 recordings to his credit, including three albums.

When the four-seat, single-engine plane carrying the three singers crashed, it skidded across the snow for 558 feet. The body of Valens was thrown 40 feet. Richardson and Holly were found 20 feet from the plane.

The bodies of the singers were so badly mangled they were barely recognizable.

Deputy Coroner Ralph E. Smiley said the plane did not burn. However, Peterson’s body was wedged so tightly in the wreckage it had to be cut loose with torches.

The wreckage and bodies were not discovered until long after dawn. The other members of the troupe did not learn of their companions’ fate until they reached Fargo.

Authorities tentatively blamed weather conditions for the crash. Along with the light snow, the temperature was 18 degrees and a southerly wind was gusting at 35 miles an hour.

The left wingtip of the plane apparently struck the ground first and flew off. Pieces of wreckage ripped off as the plane plowed across the field and piled up against a wire fence.

Holly leaves a bride of less than six months. He was married last Aug. 15 to Maria Elena Santiago, a receptionist at Southern Music Publishing Co. in New York.

Rock 'n' roll legend Buddy Holly, whose last name Holley was misspelled in his first contract, was laid to rest in Lubbock in 1959 after he died in a plane crash.

Mrs. Holly is scheduled to arrive here by plane today.

Holly’s father said Tuesday night the singer’s brother, Larry, 4803 17th St. and brother-in-law, J.E. Weir, 2307 49th St., were to fly to Mason City to make arrangements for return of the body.

A plane from West Texas Aircraft here will go to Mason City early today. A company spokesman said the plane would return, weather permitting, about 8 or 10 p.m. today.

Holly’s survivors include the wife; parents; two brothers, Larry and Travis D. Holley, 5621 44th St., a sister, Mrs. Weir; the maternal grandmother, Mrs. Eva P. Drake, 1606 39th St.; and the paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Holley, Commerce.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Sanders Funeral Home.

Holly was described by friends as “probably one of the biggest entertainment celebrities ever to hail from Lubbock.”

The young singer broke into the “big time” two years ago this summer when he organized The Crickets, a rock ‘n roll quartet which made several appearances on national television.

The Crickets’ rendition of “That’ll Be The Day,” their first record, sold over a million copies. “Peggy Sue” was another of their best sellers.

Holly had composed a number of songs including “Love Me,” “Don’t Come Back Knocking,” “Words of Love,” “Look at Me,” and “Little Baby.”

He started with music at the age of 8 on violin. When he was 15 he switched to guitar and accompanied himself on his songs.

Holly broke with the Crickets about three months ago in a harmonious move.

Since the break he had recorded “It Doesn’t Matter Any More,” and “Raining In My Heart,” with a full orchestra in the background.

Holly’s parents said that though he broke with the original Crickets, the young singer organized a second group under the same name early last month. The new group was accompanying him on the cross-country tour at his death.

The record had been gaining in popularity, according to nationwide polls.