The ballroom that held Buddy Holly's last concert becomes a historic landmark

[turbinetree]

But the Surf is historic for more than that fateful concert on a frigid night in 1959.
By Jon Bream Star Tribune FEBRUARY 5, 2021 — 12:07PM

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It's always cold and windy in February in Clear Lake, Iowa. Don't let the notion of the town's famous Surf Ballroom give you any delusions of sun and sea. Come winter, wide open spaces in Iowa are more numbing than even a hardy Minnesotan wants to experience.

Every February, we think of the Surf Ballroom because rock hero Buddy Holly played his last concert there in 1959. Shortly after exiting the stage, in the early morning hours of Feb. 3, the 22-year-old bespectacled Texan and fellow stars Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper boarded a small private plane to the next night's concert in Moorhead, Minn. It was a cold and windy night and — well, you know the rest of the story from Don McLean's "American Pie" — the chartered Beechcraft Bonanza crashed in an Iowa field, killing all on board.

It was "the day the music died," as McLean sang, but the Surf Ballroom has become immortalized. On Jan. 13, it was officially declared a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

https://www.startribune.com/the-ballroom-that-held-buddy-holly-s-last-concert-becomes-a-historic-landmark/600019477/

[elleng]

1. Thanks.

[turbinetree]

2. Your welcome....................

I was thinking of this song, that I remember when my mom was showing me how to do the jitterbug dance..........to this day I can't do the jitterbug............

[abqtommy]

3. I remember hearing about that on the radio when I was 10 years old and that I was very sad to hear

it.

[kskiska]

4. It's about time.

I was a teenager then and was devastated when Buddy died. Of the three who died, he was the one most likely to have staying power in the music business.

[Docreed2003]

5. I went there as a teenager

It was kind of a pilgrimage. I was visiting family in Iowa and they agree to drive me out there to see the Surf and the monument they have their to Holly, Valens, and Richardson. I was a huge fan of Buddy Holly and it was a super cool experience for me. I'm glad it's being preserved

[Dagstead Bumwood]

6. I always wondered what his career might have evolved into.

The British invasion kinda swamped everybody five years later, but what would he have done with those five years, and beyond? How many more hits would he have had? Would he have lived to today, well into his 80's, and still being regarded as rock royalty? Such a loss.