Lubbock.. and Not Beyond

Not far from the windmill museum was a museum commemorating Buddy Holly.

Unfortunately this is one of those museums that doesn't allow pictures in the main gallery, so there will be few photos.

We can speak a bit about the building itself first. The structure was originally known as the Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway Depot. It was a stop along the Lubbock-Estelline branch of the Burlington Railroad's Fort Worth and Denver City line. With Lubbock growing quite rapidly in the early 1900's, and the railroad, Lubbock was a strong presence in the South Plains.

With times a changin', and the growth of the automobile, rail service was discontinued around 1950. After service was discontinued, the State Highway Department opened up 19th street through the depot yard. With continuing automobile growth the depot was abandoned by the Fort Worth and Denver Company in 1953. The deteriorating building was used as a salvage yard until a gentleman bought it in 1973.

The new owner turned the structure into a restaurant and bar, with a few minor changes that did not affect most of the outer structure; the only big change was around the back of the building. He owned and operated the Depot Restaurant and Bar for over two decades, and in 1990 the building was added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

In 1997 the restaurant and bar closed its doors, and the Lubbock City Council agreed to purchase the building. The council did some major renovations to the building to accommodate the Buddy Holly Center and the Lubbock Fine Arts Center.

Buddy Holley didn't start out as Buddy Holley, rather his real name was Charles Hardin Holley. His mother decided to call him Buddy, because "Charles Hardin was too big of a name for a small boy." Charles and Hardin were the first names of his two grandfathers.

A lot of us folks remember him for rock and roll, but his roots were much deeper. At an early age he developed an interest in music that ranged from country, to gospel, to blue grass, to rhythm and blues. Putting all these genres together created the "rockabilly" sound in the songs he wrote and performed with The Crickets. How many of you have really looked at how old Buddy was when he died, I didn't; he was 22 years old. During his short career he had twenty-five hit records, and influenced the direction of modern music.

Lets look at his career in the beginning. He and a couple of his friends played at dealership openings and clubs in Lubbock. They also had a radio show called the "Buddy and Bob" show, on Sunday afternoons, playing requested songs from local residents. When Elvis came through town a second time, they had the opportunity to open for him. Buddy was offered a contract with Decca Records; this created a going of separate ways, and the end of the "Buddy and Bob" show.

When Decca Records listed him, they misspelled his name as Buddy Holly. Fearing he might miss a big opportunity, Buddy did not do anything about it, and signed the contract as Buddy Holly. The Decca era was not a success, in any way, shape, or form.

After the failure of the Decca era, Buddy began recording with a man named Norman Petty, in Clovis, New Mexico. One of the first recordings was with Brunswick Records... and that song was "That'll Be The Day" with The Crickets. The credits for this song go to Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty. The reality is that Jerry Allison and Buddy Holly were the only ones that collaborated on writing this song. The reasoning that Norman Petty offered for adding his name was to ensure that it would receive play-time on the radio.

The bands popularity was growing, they toured the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom in 1958. Its been said that the English bands drove rock and roll, here's the truth, Buddy Holly and The Crickets actually influenced many of the British rockers. The list included people like John Lennon, Paul McCarthy, the Rolling Stones, and Elton John. Elton John was so impressed that at his young age he began unnecessarily wearing glasses just like Buddy; eventually his eyes were ruined to the point that he had to wear glasses. The first hit song for the Rolling Stones was the Buddy Holly song "Not Fade Away".

Buddy went to New York, and he met a young lady named Maria. The first day he met her, August 15, 1958, he proposed to her, and two months later they were married in Lubbock, TX. Late in 1958 Buddy and his wife decided to move to New York so that he could learn more about the music scene. Maria toured with him, and was a big influence on him; this later caused some tension with the band.

 Also during this time he had plans drawn up for a home in Lubbock for his parents. The house would include a recording studio. Unfortunately, the house never was built, Buddy died in 1959 in that tragic plane crash.

How did that fateful night come about. Money was tight, so he agreed to play the Winter Dance Party. This tour would take him throughout the Midwest. Now the original Crickets were back in Lubbock, so he assembled a different group to tour. This group would include Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch. Other performers on this tour were Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper"), and Dion and the Belmonts. With ground transportation problems, many of the performers were getting sick, and some even suffered from frostbite. Buddy took it upon himself to rent a plane, and offered rides to other performers. Unfortunately the plane crashed shortly after take-off... that was February 2, 1959.

The museum contained many photos and stories about Buddy, his early bands, and The Crickets. O)n display are his guitars, the dinette set he and his wife owned while living in New York, and his childhood bedroom set. The story behind the bedroom set goes like this: when he graduated high school he wanted a new bedroom set, his parents scraped money together and bought him a three piece set, bed frame, dresser, and adjustable mirror that attached to the dresser. Remember, this is the 1950's... and here it comes... the mattress set cost $79.00 (the tag is still on the mattress). 

The museum didn't just receive the set from the Holley family, it took time. His mom kept the set in his original room until the day she died. The estate was sold off, and went into storage for about 50 years. While in storage the set saw several owners. The last owner and the museum agreed on a price, and now it is in the museum.

Something I could take a picture of...

This was the home of Jerry Allison's parents. The home was moved from its original location a few blocks away. This is where Jerry and Buddy penned the song "That'll Be The Day". Has anyone ever wondered how they arrived at this title... it was inspired by a John Wayne movie, "The Searchers". The song was written in 1956, and neared the top of the charts in 1957.

If you have been following our posts, we enjoy history museums, so off we go to... The Silent Wings Museum.