A Visit to Buddy Holly/Ritchie Valens/Big Bopper's Crash Site

You know the story of "The Day the Music Died." In the American Pie song it is the date that Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, the Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson died in a plane crash following their concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. Today's trip was to see the crash site and a few of the places tied to the story.

Several people were present while I visited the crash site for the first time. The young and old hailed from California, Minnesota, Georgia, Nebraska and Iowa. A memorial has been put together over the years consisting of laser cut plaques, money, candles, flowers, toys, photos, clothing, a windmill, many eye glasses and printed material placed in Ziplock bags. A man in a white shirt brought three people. He is somehow connected to the Surf Ballroom and showed where Big Bopper's son had visited the site about a decade or so ago. Bopper Jr. crossed the wire fence, lit a Marlborough cigarette and said, "this is where my daddy died."

The memorial also consists of three 45 record replicas of the songs made famous by the trio. Access to the crash site is just a few miles north of Clear Lake, Iowa. Once you park along a gravel road, a giant pair of iconic Buddy Holly glasses mark the trail's entrance. Be prepared to walk along the fence line about a half mile into a working cornfield. 

Several miles away is the Mason City airport where the music legends rented a plane and took off after their show at the Surf. 

Today the Surf Ballroom still packs crowds in to see national acts along the shore of Clear Lake. Each February 3rd there are well attended Rock and Roll shows recalling the Winter Dance Tour that Buddy and company were a part of in 1959.

Looks like on Tuesday, July 24th the Surf will host Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson to its famous stage. White shirt guy says they try annually to get Paul McCartney to perform at the Surf. The famous ex-Beatle owns the publishing rights to Holly's music and often talks about getting to Clear Lake. White shirt guy thinks that Paul may show up privately someday, sing a few Buddy songs and leave without drawing  thousands of people. That'll be the day!

A Tale of the 1959 Winter Dance Party from Tipton, Iowa

Every town, large or small has stories to tell. This one comes from 42N’s Tipton, Iowa and connects the town to the early giants of the Rock’n’Roll era – fifty two years ago today!

Many people know the tragic story of the airplane crash on February 3, 1959 that ended the lives of musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson (the Big Bopper) and their pilot, Roger Peterson. A couple of movies have been produced about it (The Buddy Holly Story and La Bamba) and the song, American Pie by Don McLean speaks to the event about the day the music died. Annually, Clear Lake, Iowa’s Surf Ballroom, the site of the last Holly-Valens-Richardson concert, remembers the stars with music and dance.

In the days prior to the Surf Ballroom performance, the stars (Holly, Valens, Richardson, Dion, future star, Waylon Jennings and others) made their way to several concert locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa by bus. In these latitudes at this time of year winter conditions can be very cold. 1959 was no exception.

On Friday, January 30th after performing at the Capitol Ballroom in Davenport, Iowa the night before, the stars travel by bus for their next gig in Fort Dodge, Iowa some 250 miles away. Complicating the long road trip is the fact that the bus’ heating element is not working. The riders are miserable and the driver decides to stop in nearby Tipton for repairs.

While the heater issue is diagnosed and repairs made at the Gaul Motor Company for four hours, the Winter Dance Party band members go for a bite to eat at Al’s Meet and Eat Restaurant on the 300 block of Cedar Street. The band interacted with the town’s folks who didn’t appear to know who they are.

Some of the band members looked for warmer clothes at the T & M Clothes Store. In 1992 store owner George Tevis recalls that the band members were underdressed with lightweight coats and pants. They paid for new winter gear with lots of $100 bills, he said.

But at the Meet and Eat there was something a bit more interesting going on. Ritchie Valens and maybe others chatted up the wait staff at the tiny diner. Ritchie Valens asked waitress Ester Wenck if she wanted to hear the song he made famous. Wenck said yes and Valens went over to the diner’s juke box and played his hit, Donna. Wenck said that Valens then sang along with his record to her.

Al's Meet and Eat photos are courtesy of the Cedar County Genealogical Society in Tipton, Iowa. These photos represent the time period of the 1959 Winter Dance Party but do not show any of the band members.

A repair of the heater is completed and the band leaves for their Laramar Ballroom performance in Fort Dodge. There is speculation that the band may have discussed renting a plane while in Tipton to avoid the cold and long traveling times afforded by bus travel. The next day, Saturday, January 31st as they enter Duluth, Minnesota the bus breaks down again. A chartered plane is now in the works as something that Valens wants, but a replacement bus is found. On Sunday, February 1st the bus again breaks down again while traveling to Appleton, Wisconsin for a matinee, which is subsequently canceled. The band takes the train to Green Bay and plays at Riverside Ballroom that evening.

On Monday, February 2 the repaired bus picks the band up after the show and travels to their next stop – the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. After the performance at the Surf, shortly after midnight on February 3rd a chartered plane takes off from the Mason City, Iowa airport and crashes within minutes.

News reaches Tipton on Tuesday and those who had seen the band members were quite taken back since the stars had just around a few days prior. “All we know was they were very nice guys – just a bunch of nice boys,” said Bob McGregor, a Tipton Shell Station owner who later recounted the story in 1992.

J.P. Richardson’s son visited Tipton in the early 1990s. Many people who had firsthand accounts of the band’s brief stay in town met JP jr. and retold their stories. Ritchie Valens’ relatives have also visited the town. Today, a museum on Cedar Street downtown (Cedar County Genealogical Society) at a place called, Ms Molly’s is where you can find the Tipton version of the Winter Dance Party story and talk to people who remember. Know that.