Thursday, October 26, 2000:

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From Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Saturday, June 19, 1999

Producer says city fumbled music festival

By WILLIAM KERNS
A-J Entertainment Editor

Randy Smith is furious that the Lubbock Convention & Visitors Bureau misrepresented a financial proposal made months ago to the city to produce a September music festival.

And Jeff Vee, son of popular 1960s pop star Bobby Vee, said Friday that Lubbock's ''city officials blew an opportunity'' to have both Bobby Vee and The Everly Brothers perform in Lubbock on Labor Day weekend.

''What's happened,'' said Jeff Vee, ''is a bummer for your city, such a bummer because you could have had a great festival there. And it's been really frustrating for us to watch this all fall apart because we put so much time and effort into it. This was basically a done deal. The (headliners) all had agreed six months out to be there; we were just waiting for budget approval and logistics.

''... As far as what happened with Maria (Elena Holly), well, I don't even want to get into that except to say that Maria appears out of control. Yes, I believe she is entitled to something, but then, she was offered a lot.''

Lubbock no longer will stage a Buddy Holly Music Festival, as it has the past three years in September. Instead the event has been labeled the first Music Crossroads of Texas Ð West Texas Rock 'n' Roll Festival.

Maria Elena Holly, the Lubbock-born rock star's widow, rejected an offer from the city of $50,000 in cash and 15 percent of the gate from any concerts and events connected with the festival in exchange for rights to use the late rock star's name, likeness and image.

She explained, ''The city does not know how merchandising contracts work. I already have a contract with CMG Merchandising. The money (Market Lubbock Inc.) offered would not be enough to even cover my expenses if CMG decided to sue me.''

Linda Fort, executive director of the Lubbock Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Wednesday that an unnamed promoter (Smith) proposed an Everly Brothers concert with a price tag of $35,000 for the band and $15,000 for his services.

Smith claimed Thursday that Fort neglected to mention his entire proposal Ð namely that he had offered his services as a full festival producer, not a concert promoter, and had in fact delivered a ''confidential proposal'' requesting a tentative budget of $91,200 to stage a three-day festival on Sept. 3-5.

That proposal, also obtained by The Avalanche-Journal, included itemized projections for outdoor stages with roofs, sound, lights, security and medical personnel. It indicated that expenses for airfare, hotels and local transportation for musicians were not yet known.

''They paid me $200 'for my trouble' so they could say they didn't steal my idea to book the Everly Brothers,'' said Smith, ''then turned around and stole my idea anyway. They just waited too long, didn't have the contacts and couldn't pull it off.''

He continued, ''Yes, I asked for $15,000 Ð but to produce a three-day event, not just one concert, and that was damn cheap. I was going to call it Lubbock Rocks & Rolls and include music and also unite the car clubs for a huge '50s car show.

''Convention & Visitors telling the newspaper and radio (KDAV-AM) that I charged them 35 grand for a concert and asked for a $15,000 fee has about ruined my reputation.''

Fort was out of town Thursday. When informed Friday afternoon of Smith's complaints, she said, ''He's right. He proposed a package. It was my error to not explain that in detail. We meant no harm to him (Smith).

''He did offer us a full package for a three-day festival; I should have explained that.''

Jeff Vee first worked with Randy Smith at the Budfest Concert, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's birth, at the now defunct Lindsey Theater in Lubbock in 1986.

''We had a good experience working with Randy,'' he said, ''and during the last couple of years we worked with him when we (Bobby Vee) came to Lubbock during Buddy Holly Weekend for one of the car clubs.

''It takes a lot of responsibility to put a music festival together and, frankly, I was happy to be working with someone who had at least some experience producing shows rather than city officials who may not know how all the pieces fit together.''

He noted, ''We also had The Everly Brothers on hand. Even then we knew there would be a 10-day gap between the end of their tour and the festival. But they were willing to commit and fill in those dates if Lubbock made a firm offer in time.''

Vee indicated that his father wanted very much to perform in Lubbock in 1999, not only the 40th anniversary of Holly's death but the 40th anniversary of the beginning of Bobby Vee's career.

Bobby Vee also recorded a new album of Holly songs.

''The timing couldn't have been better,'' said Jeff Vee.

He concluded, ''I don't know what happened, why the city decided not to go with Randy's proposal after asking him to make one. But we put in a lot of work on our end. I about fell over in shock when I learned the city was listing Bobby Vee in preliminary print information. Just a few days ago, after all this fell apart, was the first time city officials tried to book us.

''But it was ridiculous. They contacted one agent, who contacted another agent, who contacted another agent, and by the time a concert offer was pitched to us, we would have had to pay three agents' commissions. So we just doubled our normal price (from $7,500 to $15,000) to get rid of them and we blew off the whole thing (festival).''

William Kerns can be contacted at 766-8712 or wkerns@lubbockonline.com