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

The third-annual heavy metal concert, scheduled for Sept. 6 at the Lonestar Amphitheater, had sparked controversy after members of Buddy Holly’s family raised objections to the festival’s name.

Nessman said it was a change in the concert’s lineup, however, not family complaints that led to the last-minute name change.

“Zakk Wilde (ex-guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne), who was in the co-headlining slot with Black Label Society, went to the hospital about a week ago. Nobody thought it was serious or anything, but it turns out he has a whole bunch of blood clots in his legs and lungs. With him out, we have to redo all of our materials anyway. With him out, we need to focus on the bands that are playing, and not this other stuff,” Nessman said.

This week’s news that Holly’s widow, Maria Elena Holly, is in negotiations with local promoter Gary Boren to revive Lubbock’s defunct Buddy Holly Festival also played a role in the decision, Nessman said.

“I may be wrong, but my belief is the reason they kicked up a fuss after three years is to promote and/or protect their event. That’s one of the reasons why I’m happily walking away from the name,” he said.

“I wasn’t looking to aggravate anybody,” Nessman said. “Thirty-year-old people, when they hear ‘Bloody Holly,’ they hear a play on words. They don’t picture Buddy Holly in any way, shape or form. He’s not on their radar.”

So, it’s not a cop-out or anything. With one of the co-headliners dropping out, we need to not be saying the name (of the festival); we need to be saying the name of the bands. So even if this hadn’t have cropped its ugly head, you wouldn’t have been hearing ‘Bloody Holly’ on the air right now. You’d be hearing ‘Mudvayne, Static-X’,” he said.

Other bands performing include metal acts Bury your Dead and Suicide Silence, Negative 263 from Abilene, and local bands Blood Red Summer, Darker Shade of Grey and Hail to Arms.

“There’s also a sideshow circus thing called Hellzapoppin that’s happening between some of the acts. It’s the kind of guys that stick needles in their faces and throw darts at each other. . You know, that kind of stuff,” Nessman said.

Promoters have no plans to add another band to replace Black Label Society on the tour.

“If you were going to the show just to see Zakk,” says a posting on KFMX.com, “you may return your tickets to the place you purchased them for a refund.”

Pedal To The Metal Tour

• Headliners: Mudvayne, Static-X, Bury your Dead and Suicide Silence.

• Texas Stage: Negative 263, Blood Red Summer, Darker Shade of Grey and Hail to Arms.

• When: Sept. 6, 4:30 p.m.

• Where: Lonestar Amphitheater, 602 E. 19th St.

• Tickets: $40.75, available at Ralph’s Records, 3322 82nd St.

“I have people calling me from the UK and other places, and they would like to see a Buddy Holly Festival,” Holly said. “I think it would be a great idea if we start again to do it with the right people in Lubbock.”

Lubbock hosted a Buddy Holly Music Festival several years ago, she explained, but arrangements fell apart when the city’s negotiations with the widow broke down.

“Unfortunately, the wrong people were involved,” Holly said, “and then there were a lot of problems – trying to get this, trying to get that, people trying to put feathers in their cap – when that’s not the idea. The idea was to bring revenue to the city, build whole new hotels, everybody’s happy. Unfortunately, the wrong people got involved. Or the right people that were there at the time were not willing to do it.

“They had a problem with me,” she said, laughing. “I have a middle name: Scapegoat. That’s my middle name.”

However, she thinks she may have found the right person this time.

Boren, head of Llano Estacado Music, has been in discussions with the widow about the possibility of reviving the festival for several months, though she admits that his credibility took a big jump with this summer’s successful execution of the Bob Dylan Show at Jones AT&T Stadium.

“He’s a wonderful individual, very nice,” Holly said. “And he’s responsible. I know he just finished a big concert there. I understand that it was perfect. The man knows his business because, and as far as I know, he did a great job.”

According to Boren, the feelings are mutual.

“She’s been a very delightful person for me to work with,” Boren said. “And I’ve always found her to be straightforward and honest. She’s always been very agreeable, trying to make things happen, and it’s just been a real delight in my life to get to know her.”

And they’ve had a little time to get to know each other. As it turns out, Boren and Holly tried once before to revive the Buddy Holly Festival, but fell a little short.

“We were working with the Bob Dylan concert, using that as a Buddy Holly overlay, and they were very open to it,” Boren said. “They were trying to work with us, but things happened so fast we couldn’t make it happen. Bob Dylan was very respectful of Buddy.”

No Bob Dylan, then. Anybody else on the performer wish list?

“Well, we would like it to be someone top notch, so I’ve asked her with help on Paul McCartney, and she’s offered to do anything she can,” Boren said.

“It’s just a matter now of working out details,” he said, “and Mrs. Holly and myself are on the same page as far as wanting something to be done.

“She wants it to be first class. She wants it to be a gift to Lubbock, to be something that’s special, and we’re not far apart on working something out. It’s just a matter of working out the format. She’s very complimentary of the city of Lubbock – the mayor and city council for the way they’ve worked with her.”

Boren also said that, if things go according to plan, Lubbock shouldn’t have to wait long for this new festival to come to fruition.

“We’re open for any date, anything we can put together, and she’s willing to do it,” Boren said. “Best case, I’d love to do something on the 50th year of the tragic death of Buddy Holly (2009) – Lord willing. I can’t say it will happen, but it just seems right to. But if we can’t make it, we’re certainly shooting for 2010.

“The main thing is we do it right in a manner that honors the name, honors the family that’s here in Lubbock and Mrs. Holly,” Boren said.

Tens of people attended the Buddy Holly tribute concert by John Mueller & The Reminiscing Band on Sept. 13 at the Fiestas del Llano celebration, then wondered aloud why the show flopped.

A better question is whether the Crossroads festival can survive. Because far too much money was spent on far too little entertainment this year, and a continued frustration with or fear of – take your pick – Buddy Holly’s widow, Maria Elena, will find the festival date moved so that it never again can be mistaken for a Holly tribute.

If renaming the event the Crossroads Music Festival was intended to kill the Buddy Holly Music Festival, moving it to a different month will remove all doubts, slam a stake in the Holly festival’s corpse and assure that it never can be reborn.

Only mourned.

Mind you, I owe an explanation for my published comments about Berry’s concert. I saw the beginning of the show, then walked down a side street for about 10 minutes so that I could call in a story revision for another edition of The Avalanche-Journal. Bad timing. I did not witness any of Berry’s sniping at the crowd about videotaping or photography, nor his threats to leave the stage.

Berry’s reputation preceded him

I returned, watched the rest of the show from the side of the stage and, well, it was pretty much what I’d expected from Berry at age 73. He’s always been cocky, demanding and often rude, although musicians here maintain that he was never insulting. He can play. Anyone who expected Berry to be Mr. Sunshine had not done his homework.

No, what is appalling is that Chuck Berry was paid $40,000. That’s eight times what he was paid in Lubbock by a different promoter in 1969. One agent booking nostalgia acts said that Berry still performs dates for $25,000. (Special routing can find salaries rise drastically.)

And those 40 gees all were given to Chuck, according to Don Caldwell, who booked festival talent for Market Lubbock Inc. The fee did not include payment for Berry’s backup band or the cost of renting and shipping Berry’s vintage Fender amplifiers of choice.

The 1999 package show including The Coasters, The Big Bopper Jr., Charlie Thomas, Chris Montez and Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon cost $30,000.

Festival had $140,000 price tag

David Sharp, chief executive officer of Market Lubbock, told me that the budget for the 2000 Crossroads Music Festival was approximately $140,000.

Local acts, a cover band … and Berry. Not much bang for so many bucks.

Yes, a Berry concert could have been special – that always depends on the man’s mood – but does it constitute a festival? Perhaps organizers should have labeled this year’s event a Crossroads Music Concert and left it at that.

Allowing music fans to check out Depot District acts, provided they buy a football game ticket in advance, did not make this event any more festive.

Still, as Market Lubbock Inc. was the official financier of the annual event, utilizing hotel-motel tax funds, it has to accept the brunt of the blame for the event stagnating rather than growing.

And considering fumbles and uncorrected mistakes – an Everly Brothers concert advertised but never contracted last year, a free post-football game concert announced but never contracted this year – either Market Lubbock needs to consider getting out of the festival business or chairman Sharp must take a firm hands-on approach and also take the time to research firms and individuals with festival experience.

Next year finds Holly’s 65th birthday arriving on a Friday. What an opportunity! Yet it seems destined to be ignored. The 13th annual National Cowboy Symposium & Celebration already has dibs on that weekend.

The Crossroads Music Festival now is gearing for Memorial Day weekend in 2001 and a probable move to October in 2002. Without the Buddy Holly Music Festival name value, tourism already has been minimized in early September.

Color those dollars lost.

Mueller smiled and said backstage, “I saw they booked Chuck Berry. Man, they could have booked us four times for what he got.”

Then again, Caldwell mentioned that organizers of the Crossroads fest cannot book Mueller without expecting Maria Elena Holly to raise a stink and demand her cut because her late husband’s likeness again is being used.” I tend to believe him.

By WILLIAM KERNS
A-J Entertainment Editor

The Buddy Holly Statue in Lubbock | Charlie Stout

It was about 30 minutes into John Mueller’s first set of Buddy Holly tunes Wednesday when the entertainer briefly paused and said, ”OK, dinner time’s over. So the rest of Lubbock is gonna show up now, right?”

Sorry. Evidently not.

Nevertheless, close to 100 rock ‘n’ roll fans seated in front of the stage on the opening night of Fiestas del Llano still had a terrific time as Mueller, his aptly named Reminiscing Band and a few special guests brought the ’50s back to musical life.

And unlike recent festival headliner Chuck Berry, Mueller wasn’t about to shortchange even a small audience, mentioning before the concert that he and his band planned to explore most of Holly’s repertoire.

”We know about 50 Holly songs,” said the headliner who starred in the touring musical ”Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” six years ago. ”And I expect we’ll do about 40 of his songs tonight. Each of the three sets we perform will be different.”

The physical setup for Fiestas del Llano has improved, with the concert stage now elevated so that entertainers face an audience located in the northwest lower parking area of the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.

Wednesday’s show kicked off 30 minutes late because the area had not been cleared soon enough for stage construction, according to Tom Prather, owner of The Electric Ear. ”We’re basically doing a two-day set-up in one day,” he explained.

To his credit, the stage was prepared sooner than expected and the sound quality was just right for an open air concert.

Mueller greeted the crowd at 7:35 p.m. and led his animated four-piece band into ”Looking for Someone to Love,” the small turnout soon smiling and clapping along to the opening percussion of ”Not Fade Away.”

Whether playing Holly originals or Little Richard tunes that Holly recorded, Mueller and his band played with enthusiasm.

The Big Bopper Jr., who was so good at the 1999 Crossroads Music Festival, made another fabulous guest appearance. Backed by the Reminiscing Band, he opened with a fun rendition of ”White Lightning.”

When Holly historian Bill Griggs walked on stage with a telephone, every fan knew the next words from the Bopper would be ”Hello, baby” as he launched into ”Chantilly Lace.”

The evening’s other guests included Fernando Vega with a tribute to the late Richie Valens, and Holly’s niece, Sherry.

By WILLIAM KERNS
A-J Entertainment Editor

Holly was born on Sept. 7, 1936, and died at age 22 in a plane crash Feb. 3, 1959.

Had he lived, Holly would have been 64 today.

A visit to the Buddy Holly Center might be in order; the first 300 people to make a stop at the center today will receive a pair of commemorative Buddy Holly glasses.

The center, at 19th Street and Avenue G, will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today.

The building’s Buddy Holly Gallery features a permanent exhibition on the life and music of Holly. Artifacts owned by the city of Lubbock, as well as other items on loan, are on display. Included in the exhibit is Holly’s Fender Stratocaster guitar, a song book used by Holly and The Crickets, and Holly’s famous horned rimmed glasses.

Call 767-2686 for more details.

Music historian Bill Griggs also will host a Holly tribute from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. today on KRFE (580-AM); the show will include music, interviews and a tape of Snuff Garrett telling Lubbock listeners on Feb. 3, 1959, about the plane crash that claimed Holly’s life.

Need a Buddy Holly music fix? Try the free concert by Colorado-based band Runaway Express at 3 p.m. today at the Buddy Holly Center’s Meadow Courtyard, 19th Street and Avenue G. After all, the show also will serve as a CD-release celebration for the band’s latest recording, titled ”Yeah Buddy.”

Holly’s birthday is Thursday, and there’s not a ton of entertainment planned that day in Lubbock. Mind you, another visit to the Buddy Holly Center might be in order; the first 300 people to make a stop at the center Thursday will receive a pair of commemorative Buddy Holly glasses. (Can’t make it? Not to worry. They’re also sold in the gift shop.)

Not enough?

Bill Griggs to the rescue. The music historian will host a Holly tribute from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on KRFE (580-AM); the show will include music, interviews and a tape of Snuff Garrett telling Lubbock listeners on Feb. 3, 1959, about the plane crash that claimed Holly’s life.

Thursday also will find Mike Pritchard’s Blue Thunder & The Lightning Horns performing a free show from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Buddy Holly Center’s Meadow Courtyard. And guitarist extraordinaire Ian Moore will headline a concert of blues-rock music at 9:30 p.m. Thursday at Liquid 2000. General admission tickets are priced at $13 in advance and $15 at the door.

That’s about it.

WWF returns to Lubbock

But hey, we’ve got rasslin’ news.

Just confirmed is an appearance by the World Wrestling Federation at 2 p.m. Nov. 5 at the United Spirit Arena. Reserved-seat tickets will be priced at $43, $33, $28 and $21.

That’s right, The Rock and the boys will make a Sunday afternoon appearance for those looking for something to do after church.

No doubt the question you’d like to ask first is, ”Why?” Allow me…

The WWF had hoped to rumble at the arena on Saturday night. However, there’s the matter of a Texas Tech vs. University of Texas football game on Nov. 4. Presently, kickoff is set for 1 p.m., but there’s a chance that the game time could be shifted to evening for television purposes.

Thus, a Sunday rasslin’ matinee.

Closer at hand, World Championship Wrestling matches will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Lubbock Coliseum.

Weekends crowded with entertainment events are not limited to September, by the way. Glancing ahead, choices must be made in mid-October.

More entertainment conflicts

The Oct. 13-14 weekend includes ’70s Nostalgia Nite concerts at the Cactus Theater and the opening of (count ‘em) four plays: ”Dracula” at the Garza Theater in Post, the musical ”Monky Business” at the CATS Playhouse, the musical ”A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at the Charles E. Maedgen Jr. on the Texas Tech campus, and ”The Glass Menagerie” at Lubbock Community Theatre.

Oh, there’s also the little matter of a Texas Tech vs. University of Nebraska football game at 6 p.m. Oct. 14 in Lubbock. That may attract a few folks, too.

Expand the window to Oct. 12-17 and even more big events pad the calendar.

Shifting topics, is it just me or is anyone else peeved at being forced to watch commercials at movie theaters? Kick things off with four commercials for everything from fast food chains to soft drinks, follow them with four or five trailers for upcoming attractions, and now we sit in the dark for 20 minutes before the actual movie begins.

Think you can skip the commercials? Arrive late at the theater and the odds of finding a good seat on a busy night decrease. A cinematic Catch-22.

Looking on the bright side, there’s now plenty of time to claim a seat and then go back to the lobby for popcorn.

By the way, Cinemark’s Movies 16 must have landed very late bookings for ”Highlander: Endgame” and ”Saving Grace,” because The A-J entertainment desk never was notified in advance.

They won’t be here long. But I’ve looked forward to seeing the latter only because it earned one of the funniest opening one-liners I’ve seen in a review. Film critic Chris Hewitt wrote in the Saint Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press: ”’Saving Grace’ is so fake that I didn’t even believe the actors when they were breathing.”

Ouch.

William Kerns
Entertainment Editor

What’s wrong with this picture? Didn’t this shindig used to be called the Buddy Holly Music Festival?

Mind you, Gibbons, who did stay in the loop by making calls to festival organizers on her own, chose her words carefully, saying, “I want to work more closely with the festival people in the future. I’d like to start work on next year’s planning right now.”

As I understand it, Depot District night spots also are being subsidized for their live entertainment bookings on Saturday night. The Buddy Holly Center is not, probably because the music festival joined hands with Texas Tech’s athletic department this year and the center’s live entertainment conflicts with Saturday’s Tech football game.

Still, the clubs used only a fraction of a $5,000 per venue subsidy offer.

Holly gallery celebrates birthday

No matter. The coming weekend remains a hugely important one at the Buddy Holly Center, located at 19th Street and Avenue G, if only because Friday marks its first birthday.

The city of Lubbock opened the first Buddy Holly Center on Sept. 1, 1999.

Attendance at the center in its infant year has totaled 28,000 to date. Gibbons, working with a staff of four full-time assistants and four who work part time, said that no specific demographics were charted on every visitor. However, she added, “I’d say that, of those who signed our registration book, 75 percent of visitors have been either from out of state or another country.

“There has not been one day go by in the past year that we have not been visited by people from other countries.”

The center also receives at least 50,000 hits per month at its Web site www.buddyhollycenter.org.

The fact that the Buddy Holly Center also includes a Texas Music Gallery and an extremely active visual arts gallery, said Gibbons, forces visitors “to adjust their thinking when they walk in the door.” In many ways, the center houses much more than patrons expect.

Gibbons explained, “I think Buddy Holly and the music aspect of the center brings in a lot of tourists and travelers. But our art gallery and education programs help us keep the overall Lubbock community involved on a regular basis.”

Center confirms many events

That said, there will always be some crossover. Exhibits, after all, have been booked through 2004, a couple of them being “State of Blues” in 2001 and a photography exhibit of 1960s rock life by the late Linda McCartney in 2004.

(No doubt a new slate of rumors about a Paul McCartney visit was just born.)

Anniversary events at the center include an opening reception for the art exhibit “Mid-Century Reliquary” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, a courtyard concert by Joe Carr & Alan Munde at 7 p.m. Wednesday and a concert by the Alan Shinn Jazz Quartet at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Look for recognized Holly historian Bill Griggs to lead tours of the Buddy Holly Gallery from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. Educational programs continue as Joe Nick Patoski, senior editor at Texas Monthly, and local music historian Rob Weiner discuss the work and connection of “Texas music families” from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.

Friday’s concert features Ingrid Kaiter, the late Holly’s niece, and The Groobees from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the courtyard. Those attending still can catch Chuck Berry’s 10:30 p.m. appearance at the Crossroads fest.

Children and families will be lured Saturday, with the Dallas Puppet Theater performing a marionette show at both 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.; a workshop follows each show. Mi Tierra del Llano will play mariachi music from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Talented local acoustic rock ‘n’ roll singer-songwriter D.G. Flewellyn will be featured from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by an anything-but-acoustic concert by Mike Pritchard’s Blue Thunder.

The Buddy Holly Center then will remain open on Sunday, Sept. 3 to host a free concert from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. by Colorado-based band Runaway Express – which, fittingly, promises to play a lot of music from its new Buddy Holly tribute CD called “Hey Buddy.”

Come to think of it, the budget may be smaller, but the Buddy Holly Center also is offering a pretty attractive festival/extended birthday party.

William Kerns
Entertainment Editor

In fact, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, made a special point of visiting the grave of the late Lubbock rocker.

”The last time I was in Lubbock, which was a little over six months ago, we got in early enough to go out and visit Buddy Holly’s grave. I put a couple guitar picks on it,” he said.

In fact, McTeer took the visit one step further.

As part of the Dallas Fed’s 1999 annual report, McTeer said he dedicated a special paragraph at the end of the report involving his personal activities.

McTeer paid homage to three people at Tuesday’s luncheon, all of whom he included in the report.

He credited Adam Smith, considered the founding father of economics, since the world’s free enterprise system works so well today and the reason the economy, in general, is ”so wonderful.”

”Sam Houston has Texas tradition covered … and Buddy Holly has all of the rest of it covered,” McTeer said.

Mr. Holly and Mr. Berry were contemporaries. The rockers toured together in 1957 and 1958. When Mr. Holly died in a plane crash while touring in 1959, many said it was the day the music died. But Mr. Berry has kept the rock ‘n’ roll style of music alive for more than 40 years.

The 73-year-old musician, who was inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame on Jan. 23, 1986, has had many hit songs through the years, including “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man.” Mr. Holly later re-recorded Mr. Berry’s early hit and took it to the charts a second time.

It is fitting that Mr. Berry would return to Mr. Holly’s hometown to celebrate the rock ‘n’ roll style of music they both loved. He is scheduled to headline an evening concert on Sept. 1 on an outdoor stage on Buddy Holly Avenue near 17th Street in the historic Depot District. Admission is free.

It is sad that the festival cannot use Buddy Holly’s name, but we are pleased that Lubbock continues to honor the memory of this pioneer musician by bringing top-quality rockers like Mr. Berry to the Crossroads Music Festival.