Robert Ellis, "Texas Piano Man" (New West)
Texans play guitar. Stevie Ray Vaughan? Willie Nelson? Buddy Holly? Johnny "Guitar" Watson? Guitarists. Elton John is not a Texan, but when he recorded "Texas Love Song" (a deep-cut gem), the tune featured not piano, but guitar.
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Ten days before the music died, rock 'n' roll was alive and well in Kenosha.
Teen heartthrob Buddy Holly joined rising stars Dion and the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson for the second stop of the infamous Winter Dance Party tour on Jan. 24, 1959, at the Eagles Ballroom.
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — The Texas woman who inspired the 1958 Buddy Holly song "Peggy Sue" has died at a Lubbock hospital.
Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham of Lubbock died Monday at University Medical Center, according to UMC spokesman Eric Finley. She was 78. The family gave the hospital permission to confirm the death, but asked that no additional information be released, Finley said Tuesday.
Today in History for September 7th
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Elvis Presley's Rolls Royce, the suits the Beatles wore on their first tour of America, Bruce Springsteen's sleeveless faded denim jacket and colorful headband, and Michael Jackson's famous glove are among the items of music memorabilia on display at Atlantic City's new Hard Rock casino.
Today in History for September 7th
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — Pop singer Bobby Vee was given a musical farewell at his funeral with an instrumental version of his No. 1 hit "Take Good Care of My Baby."
Vee was remembered as an "ambassador of joy" Wednesday as hundreds of mourners gathered at St. John's Abbey Church in Collegeville. Vee was 73 when he died last week of advanced Alzheimer's disease.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Pop idol Bobby Vee, the boyish, grinning 1960s singer whose career was born when he took a Midwestern stage as a teenager to fill in after the 1959 plane crash that killed rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, has died. He was 73.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gary Busey will make his New York stage debut next month in the off-Broadway show "Perfect Crime," playing a serial killer in the cast of the longest-running play in city history.
Busey, who received an Oscar nomination for 1978's "The Buddy Holly Story," will play charismatic serial killer Lionel McAuley starting Nov. 21 at The Theater Center near Times Square.