Buddy Holly and The Day the Music Died
William
McKeen
Boston University
William McKeen is the Chair of the Department of Journalism at Boston University, where he also teaches media history, literary journalism, and rock ‘n’ roll history. He is the author or editor of 13 books, including Everybody Had an Ocean, Too Old to Die Young and Rock and Roll is Here to Stay.
Overview
In 1959, three young musicians came together for a tour of the upper Midwest. Each night, teenagers turned up at warm, cocoon-like ballrooms to greet the stars who’d made the 400-mile trips between venues on a bus with no heater.
Two weeks into the tour, Buddy Holly got fed up with shivering on the road and hatched a plan to charter a plane to take him from frigid Iowa to even-colder North Dakota. Two other artists – Ritchie Valens and JP “Big Bopper” Richardson – joined him.
When the plane crashed just after takeoff, a generation that felt itself invincible was shaken by these deaths of talents so young, and was left to wonder: If the best and the brightest are susceptible, then aren’t we all? Later immortalized by singer Don McLean as “The Day the Music Died,” this course will look at the life and works of artists who died too soon.
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Anonymous
Being there
I was dancing the lindy to the music of Buddy Holly on American Bandstand. This was a terrific presentation that captured the spirit of the performers and the music that lives on. Thank you.
3 months ago
This was just an excellent presentation. William McKeen is one of the best on 1DU. Love everything he does. And no, I’m not related to him. LOL