Died On This Date (February 3, 1959) Roger Peterson / Pilot of Flight Carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper

Roger Peterson
May 24, 1937 – February 3, 1959

roger-peterson

Roger Peterson was a young pilot who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when the small aircraft he was piloting during a cold wintry morning in 1959 crashed, killing three of pop music’s biggest stars in a tragedy that has been called “the day the music died.”  On board the Beachcraft plane on that tragic day were Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, and Ritchie Valens – all, including Peterson, were killed when the plane crashed into an Iowa cornfield.  In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Peterson was the target of blame by family and fans of the performers, but he would later be vindicated.  One theory is that the plane was equipped with an unusual gyroscope that read upside down from what most pilots were accustomed to.  Peterson may have thought he was gaining altitude when he was actually descending.  Another theory is that he was not informed of the treacherous weather conditions as he should have.  Either way, Roger Peterson, a well-trained and experienced pilot went down with his plane at the age of 21.



Died On This Date (February 3, 1967) Joe Meek / Successful Producer and Songwriter

Robert “Joe” Meek
April 5, 1929 – February 3, 1967

Joe Meek was a legendary English record producer who played a key role in the development of British rock ‘n roll during the early ’60s.  Many of his records are considered the foundation of the punk and garage movements of later years.   His earliest claim to fame was 1962’s “Telstar” by the Tornados.  It was the first record by a British group to top the U.S. singles chart.   The seemingly endless list of artists that Meek produced during those early years includes Screaming Lord Sutch, Gene Vincent, Billy Fury, Tom Jones, the Honeycombs and Shirley Bassey.  Perhaps more famous than the bands he worked with, were those on whom he passed.  That list includes the Beatles, Rod Stewart and David Bowie.  During the final years of Meek’s life, he suffered from severe depression and paranoia.  Perhaps because of that, he was not getting much work and his finances were drying up because of it.  He was also the victim of at least one blackmail plot and had been accused of plagiarism.  On February 3, 1967, Joe Meek unexplicably shot and killed his landlady and then turned the shotgun on himself.  He was dead at 37 years old.  It should be noted that he died on the eighth anniversary of  the death of Buddy Holly, Meek’s biggest hero.

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Joe Meek

Died On This Date (December 23, 2008) Don Randall / Co-Founder of Fender Guitars; Coined “Stratocaster”

Don Randall
October 30, 1917 – December 23, 2008

Photo by Robert Perine
Photo by Robert Perine

Don Randall was one of the driving forces behind the success of Fender Guitars.  It was Randall’s marketing savvy that helped secure such loyalists as Ritchie Valens, Jimi Hendrix and Dick Dale.  Randall also had to responsibility of naming the guitars that the company created.  In that capacity, he coined the name Stratocaster, given to the 1954 model that would help revolutionize the way musicians approached the instrument.  It was popularized by Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Holly and countless others.  In 1965, Randall helped negotiate the sale of the company to CBS and stayed on as Vice President and General Manager until is retirement from the company in 1969.  He later launched the successful Randall Instruments that built amplifiers and PA systems.   Don Randall passed away on December 23, 2008 at the age of 81.



Died On This Date (November 28, 2009) Bob Keane / Founder of Del-Fi Records

Bob Keane (Born Robert Kuhn)
January 5, 1922 – November 28, 2009

At right with Ritchie Valens

Bob Keane was the founder of Del-Fi Records, the first label to give a young Ritchie Valens a recording contract.   Keane began his music career as a clarinetist who, after a 1938 concert by his jazz band was broadcast on Los Angeles radio station, KFWB, was offered a record deal by MCA Records.  A couple of years later, he was dropped by the label so he enlisted in the army.  Upon his return home from duty, Keane picked up where he left off, playing in local clubs around Los Angeles.  In 1955, Keane and a partner formed the label, Keen Records, and released a single by then unknown soul singer, Sam Cooke.  The song was “Summertime,” but it was the b-side “You Send Me” that started to get attention at radio, quickly sending it to #1 on the Billboard pop chart.  Unfortunately for Keane, he made an oral agreement with his partner, and before he could collect any of the “You Send Me” earnings, he was out the door.  He soon formed his own label, Del-Fi Records and discovered Valens, a young Latino rock ‘n roller from Pacoima, CA.  Over the next several months, Keane released hit after hit records by Valens but sadly, the musician was killed the following year in the plane crash that also took the lives of Buddy Holly and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson.  The label continued on, eventually signing a stable of artists that were just as important to the legacy of popular music as Valens had been.  That list included the Surfaris, Frank Zappa, Brenda Holloway, and the Bobby Fuller Four.  In 1967, Keane shuttered the label and went on to manage his sons’ band.  He sold the Del-Fi catalog to the Warner Music Group in 2003.  On November 28, 2009, Bob Keane, 87, died of renal failure.

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Died On This Date (October 13, 1974) Ed Sullivan / Popular Television Host

Ed Sullivan
September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974

With the Beatles
With the Beatles

Ed Sullivan was most famously, the host of a variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show, that was immensely popular during the ’50s and ’60s.  It was one of those television programs that brought families together on Sunday evenings for their weekly entertainment.  It was a show that was part vaudeville, part Gong Show and part American Idol in that it featured a cross section of entertainment that included established acts alongside virtual unknowns.  A typical episode might include a balancing bear, a ventriloquist act, a seasoned comic and the Beatles.   Ed Sullivan’s contribution to popular music has never been disputed.  It was on his show that most Americans first saw and heard the likes of Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, the Doors, the Jackson Five, the Rolling Stones, and of course, the Beatles.  We’ve all heard countless stories by such greats as Bruce Springsteen who have said it was either the Beatles or Elvis Ed Sullivan that sent them down their own paths of rock ‘n roll.  The show ran from 1948 until its cancellation in 1971.  Ed Sullivan was 73 when he died of esophageal cancer on October 13, 1974.

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