The Legacy And The Impact Of The Midwest Winter Dance Party Tragedy
That is the word that comes to mind whenever anyone hears the names Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens or J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper). A plane crash that cut three brilliant careers too short, at the end of a tour that was truly insensitive and cruel in its organization and lack of compassion for those it was expecting to make a profit from. The tragedy of the Midwest Winter Dance Party has forever impacted the American music industry in its culture, and resulted in much needed reform to communications and organizing. The impact and influence of the three artists, the “tour from hell,” the tragedy that resulted, as well as its impact on legalities, communications, and music will forever leave an indelible mark on musical history.
The Midwest Winter Dance Party was organized with the intention of maximizing economic output from three up-and-coming rock n roll singers of the late 50’s: Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and J. P. Richardson. Ritchie Valens was born in a suburb of Los Angeles in 1941, and grew up surrounded by both Mexican music as well as R & B. He learned how to play guitar and was eventually discovered by Bob Keane, who helped him hone his talent for both rock and roll and Latin music. He gets credit for being one of the most notable artists in popularizing Latin music in the US. Valens’ breakthrough moment was when he appeared on the show American Bandstand in December 1958. His career only lasted a few short months, ending when he was only seventeen years old (Lehmer 48). Buddy Holly was born in Texas in 1936, and began playing country music on the guitar in the seventh grade, and eventually desired to play other genres such as rock and roll and blues. In 1955, Holly became the first person in his family to graduate from high school and started to think seriously about pursuing music. Holly and his group The Crickets eventually achieved breakout success with their hit song “That’ll Be The Day” in August 1957 (Lehmer 6, 16). J. P. Richardson was born in 1930 in Texas and grew up in a mobile home, where he eventually learned to play the guitar and wrote his first song at thirteen years old. He discovered a love for radio broadcasting in college and eventually quit school so he could do it full time, known for his entertaining sound effects. He eventually adopted a character on his KTRM show dubbed “The Bopper” who played rhythm and blues records and was a smooth talker. He eventually began branching out to his own music, first with country and then later transitioning to rock n’roll and eventually found a hit with the song “Chantilly Lace” in 1958 (Lehmer 28-36).
The Midwest Winter Dance Party tour was the opportunity of a lifetime for Valens and Richardson. It was supposed to be the solution for getting Holly out of debt. The tour was to take place from January 23 to February 2, 1959, hitting concert venues within Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, where temperatures were below zero (Lehmer 61). The tour ended up being so horrible for the artists that it became known as the “tour from hell. ” None of the west coast stars were prepared for how cold it was going to be; Valens had not even packed a winter coat. The tour, organized by General Artists Corporation, had no geographical logic to it, with the bus travelling from Wisconsin to Minnesota to Wisconsin to Minnesota to Iowa to Minnesota to Wisconsin to Iowa in the span of eleven days (Huey 1). It is estimated that the buses were so bad that they ended up using five different reconditioned school buses throughout the span of the tour, and no one was there to help with set up and packing: the artists had to do it all themselves in the brutally cold weather.
On January 31st, the bus completely broke down on their way to the next tour stop on a blizzarding highway. They were lighting newspapers for warmth and Crickets member Tommy Allsup got frostbite. It took hours for help to arrive. The stars were given no time or ability to do laundry while on the tour and unsuccessfully attempted to hang their dirty clothes inside the bus (Huey 1). By the end of the tour, all patience and stamina had drained. Buddy Holly was already chartering a flight to the final tour stop. J. P. Richardson was ill, so Waylon Jennings, Holly’s bass player, let Richardson take his seat on the plane. Tommy Allsup, Holly’s drummer, did a coin flip with Ritchie Valens for a seat on the plane, and Valens won (Lehmer 96, 97). The flight was scheduled to take off at 1: 00 am, and the pilot had not yet filed a flight plan, which he promised to do once in the air, which is not normally procedure for pilots (Lehmer 103). The pilot was also never warned of the two blizzard advisories of that night (Suddath 1). So there were no precautions set for those back at the air tower to track the flight in case there were any issues. And not only was it dark and late at night, it was also snowing and winding, making both visibility and control of the plane nearly impossible. After attempts to try and radio the pilot were unsuccessful, an alert notice was sent (Lehmer 104, 105).
The Civil Aeronautics Board investigation later found that pilot Roger Peterson was completely unqualified to be a pilot; he was disoriented, distracted, and didn’t know how to use the flight tools properly (Lehmer 151, 152). At 9: 30 am, the wreckage was discovered, with the bodies of everyone inside thrown across the snow. Ambulances were immediately called, but it was too late (Lehmer 106). This was huge news, and no time was wasted to get this out to the public. Loved ones of the victims were not notified of their passing before the names were released to the press. Waylon Jennings’ family assumed he had died in the crash because the reports stated that the Crickets had been on that plane, and it wasn’t until Jennings called his family several hours later that they knew he was alive. Holly’s family found out about his death on the radio, as well as Ritchie Valens’ (Lehmer 108, 109). Buddy Holly’s pregnant wife also heard the news on the radio and reportedly miscarried the next day due to psychological trauma.
A few months later a federal policy would be released making it mandatory for loved ones of victims to be notified of their deaths before names could get released to the press (Suddath 1). Record companies capitalized on this tragedy and scrambled to put together EP’s and LP’s of the artists. Coral records obtained tapes of unreleased Holly recordings that they overdubbed and added vocal backing to, releasing the singles “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” in 1959 (Lehmer 129, 130). This brings up the ethical question of exactly who has rights to art when the artist dies, of whether or not releasing these songs without the artist there to consent is actually a morally right action to take. None of the stars that died had written wills, which resulted in huge, complicated disputes about royalties and publishing rights among the families of the victims (Lehmer 131). A lawsuit was filed in 1959 by the Valen’s family for negligence due to the allowance of the plane to take off, and was settled out of court and dismissed with prejudice. This was also the largest lawsuit to be filed within this particular county at this time (Lehmer 131, 132).
The tour from hell and its tragic result, both of which were widely preventable, is often cited as to why it is so important for artists to be well taken care of and for these travelling tours to be well organized. The largest impact that this terrible tragedy has sustained has been on the music world itself. Speaking from an economic standpoint, this was the first time that record companies saw the profits that arise when tragedy strikes. Holly’s single “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” had not been selling well at all before his death, but after his death, the song suddenly went to number 13 on the charts (Suddath 1). Culturally, this event became a sort of “legend,” a marking for when music lost its innocence and transformed into what it is today. Teen idols began to rule rock n roll, and Dick Clark replaced Alan Freed in influence. After the crash, Payola happened, Elvis was in the army, record sales dropped, Chuck Berry went to prison, and tours were not really around anymore (Lehmer 167, 168). Don Mclean sends this message in his song about the crash “American Pie,” in which his line “the day the music died” became a way to memorialize the tragic events of that night. The Midwest Winter Dance Party will always be remembered for the pain that it has caused. It may seem far in the past but the lives that it affected were very, very real and it continues to impact musical culture and the media. It is important to remember this tragedy so that the music industry can never allow it to happen again.
