Tuesday, October 24, 2000:

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From Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Morning Edition
Friday, September 4, 1998

Larry Thompson, above poses with some of the more than 400 pieces of Buddy Holly memoriblia.

That'll be the day
For a true collector, Buddy Holly left a vast legacy in albums and memorabilia

By WILLIAM KERNS
A-J Entertainment Editor

''I think Buddy Holly released two albums before his death,'' said local record and memorabilia collector/dealer Larry Thompson. ''I have found 196 Buddy Holly albums and I still don't have every pressing.

''I was astonished to learn how many different foreign pressings were made of Holly albums. He's huge in Australia; they've released multiple different covers and re-packaged albums. (Friend and record store owner) Ralph DeWitt traded for two nice Bulgarian releases of Holly albums, and those immediately went into his personal collection.''

Most of Thompson's Holly memorabilia is on display through the weekend and available for sale at the Ralph's Records & Tapes outlet located at 3322 82nd St.

His impressive collection is not limited to albums. Rather, he's also located Buddy Holly 45s, commemorative plates, rare 78s, books, posters and even picture discs.

''The picture discs started coming out in the 1970s,'' said Thompson. ''Generally, they don't have the same sound quality. But they're really neat collectors' items because the picture is pressed right into the vinyl.''

Thompson, 41, is the senior district manager for Foremost Insurance Co. He is married, with a 15-year-old son and daughter, and works most Saturdays at a record store to support his collecting habit.

He bought album racks when U.V. Blake Records went out of business, then built a set of floor-to-ceiling racks to house the rest of his collection of 15,000 albums.

He schedules annual vacations around his children's gymnastic meets - and also the twice yearly Austin Record Convention, where even foreign buyers congregate to purchase stock for their stores.

Three years ago he began actively seeking Buddy Holly material to display during Lubbock's annual Buddy Holly Music Festival.

He explained, ''I can't say that I really got into Buddy until the Brits (British visitors) arrived wanting Buddy Holly anything. They even wanted their post cards stamped with Ralph's Records & Tapes because of Lubbock in the address. I raced home to get my albums. Since Buddy was from Texas, I had maybe eight to 10 different albums, some of them originals and some imports.

''They were gobbled up in a heartbeat. ''

The demand hasn't stopped. Last year someone left a Buddy Holly pocketknife at the store and I think even it sold rather quickly on consignment for around $200.''

Thompson describes record collecting as ''a self-supporting hobby and job. I find and sell stuff all the time, and I use the money to find and buy more stuff. I have a good time buying and trading records, and dickering is just part of the fun of the game. For example, one guy in San Angelo is heavy into country (music). I found a Stanley Brothers album he wanted and traded it to him for a Buddy Holly.''

He also does a lot of hunting on line.

''I wouldn't have nearly the same amount of items if I didn't have a computer,'' said Thompson. His computer's search engine is programmed to let him know whenever the name Buddy Holly pops up in an E-bay auction or another news group.

He's located a number of Holly bargains and, when unable to obtain items, keeps track of who made the winning bid.

''I've made a habit of scouring pawn shops and flea markets, and buying whole record collections when I could find them. Record collectors are a pretty strange bunch and we tend to keep track of each other and retain information from price guides.

"My theory has always been: If I don't sell something, that's fine. And if I do sell it, it means I can go out and get more records.''

One of his more valuable possessions is a Decca 78 with ''You Are My One Desire'' on one side and ''Love Me'' on the other.

''Decca was the label that tried to make Buddy Holly a country singer,'' said Thompson. ''There aren't a lot of Decca 78s out there. For that matter, there aren't a lot of 78s, period, because they were being phased out.

''I didn't have any Decca 45s for display last year, but I've found a number of them. And I also like the promotional items sent to radio stations. They weren't stamped as promos back then, but they had different colored labels. For example, Decca releases always had a black label in stores, but the promos might have a green or pink label.''

How did Thompson learn this?

''I studied a lot of books about records,'' he said. Evidently even collectors must do their homework before diving into the marketplace.

Mind you, Thompson prefers collecting and listening to music by such Texas artists as Guy Clark, Gary P. Nunn, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen and Bruce Robison or as he put it, ''the unknown, non-Nashville, Texas country-folkie acts.''

His son is a Buddy Holly fan. His wife and daughter prefer country radio stations.

They tolerate his hobby, his Austin sojourns and the thousands of albums secured at home, he said. ''My family doesn't mind because they know we get to go out to eat a lot more than we used to. I have fun, but they also understand the income potential.''