50 WINTERS LATER

by ed bruce edbrucevegas@yahoo.com

WE WERE THERE ! ! !

This the 50th reunion of the last concert for Buddy Holly....Richie Valens...and J P Richardson (The big Booper) at the historic Surf Ballroom....Clear Lake Iowa. !

This just random thoughts and observations of the experience !

What a slice of heaven this was and altho it was not all roses it was among the trips of my life !

Perfect full week of events, 4 concerts (5 hours a pop) the Surf Ballroom and museum (National Historic site) 4 symposiums a day (all inclusive with musicians, song writers, singers, hosts, authors, historical families, fans and a great grasp of England's introduction of Rock and Roll) downtown art museum, sock hop, kids programs and classes, memorablia show and the play in Mason City (8 miles down the road). We did it all. Clear Lake embraces this story with old posters in the store windows, the music (this the real music...it was everywhere).... theme restuarants and the Surf which is located on Buddy Holly Place two blocks off Highway 18 and two blocks from the lake....yes there is a lake. The original Surf Ballroom, 1938, had a rooftop floor for dancing.....it burned in 1948 and was replaced by a piece of heaven !

When we arrived on Friday morning and entered the Surf.....a class program for kids was going on and the sound at that time was Las Vegas showroom quality..... plus....I was overwhelmed with that and the museum itself with the dance floor and historic multi booth seating. Needless to say we were not able to hear that sound again as it turned to mostly noise for crowds of beer drinkers wondering aimlessly thru the aisles.....obviously not a sit down concert plan. They had two miniscreens for some help but the concerts pretty much missed the big picture here the sound of the music ! It was with the exception of the Crickets, Booper Jr. and Chris Montez....advanced or more likely digressed interpretations of this 1959 music.

I was born in Omaha, lived in northeast Nebraska and went to college at the University of South Dakota, so this pretty much home.....just 300 miles to the east in north centralIowa......Clear Lake made famous by the Surf and this historic event, the movie, the play and this annual renewel of the events. THEY DO A HELL OF A JOB ! This year the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame out of Cleveland came in to help juice up the celebration....they sure did !

Rock & Roll: (noun) African American slang dating back to the early 20th Century. In the early 1950's, the term came to be used to describe a new form of music, steeped in the blues, rhythm & blues, country and gospel. Today, it refers to a wide variety of popular music-frequently music with an edge and attitude, music with a good beat and ---often---loud guitars. c 2005 rock and roll Hallo of Fame and Museum. (This from Margaret Thresher Director of Communications Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Musuem.) Thank you Margaret, I was going to ask......No shit on some of that loud guitar stuff.....pretty much in the noise category for me ! Anyway this gives you a great premise for the clebration 50 Winters later !

Pretty much non stop events from Wednesday thru Monday.....Monday the second of February ironically the same day as the 2 February 1959 concert......the tour filled an open date and Clear Lake, Iowa forever history......after returning to Las Vegas this remains a mystry to the general populace but not to the thousands who renew their memories every year.

The Hall of Fame conducted a dozen symposiums for historical purposes and my personal education......they were great and the fans and panelists all terrific.....everyone acting like they care and I am sure they did.

All motels in Clear Lake and Mason City sell out a year in advance and this with circulating rumors that Sir Paul (who owns the Holly songbook) would attend.....sorry....Sir Paul always said it would detract from the event.....altho his presence anywhere anytime only enriches all our lives !

There were concerts every night..... like from 7 to midnight plus in a constantly sold out arena....never in my life have I stood on the dance floor 3 rows from the stage for 5 hours at a rock concert and never will I again but I am glad I did for this 50th reunion. Pretty impressive lineup on stage at the finale....Sir Tim Rice, Graham Nash, Peter Asher, Gordon Waller, Bobby Vee, Chris Montez, Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, Maria Elena Holly, Big Bopper Jr, Richie Valens family, Cousin Brucie (whoever the hell he is) Bob Hale the annoucer from 1959 and the orinigal Crickets.

This what America and the American Experience is all about. 100 A+ A+ A+