The days the music died ...

Inspired by, but not wanting to steer a veer from, John Lennon's birthday, I thought I'd post this about another day that the music died. This poster is hanging in a friend's basement.



The Mankato show was the third of the scheduled 12 shows on the Winter Dance Party tour of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota that ended with the infamous plane crash on Feb. 2, 1959. We did a story with photos and graphics on the 50th anniversary of the crash.

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/38282249.html

In a follow up story about "Gotta Travel On: The Winter Dance Party Odyssey" documentary that is supposed to be released this year, there is an exerpt about the Kato Ballroom in Mankato.

The old ballrooms
Eight of the 12 concert venues are still standing, including ballrooms in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Mankato, Fort Dodge and Green Bay. The one that really thrilled [film producer Sevan] Garabedian was the Kato Ballroom in Mankato, where the tour stopped on Jan. 25, 1959.

"The Kato Ballroom looks exactly the same as it did that night," he said. In 2008, a woman gave them photos taken of Valens and Sardo at the Kato, showing an ashtray in the background. When Garabedian and McCool visited Mankato, there was the same ashtray in the same place. "The exact same spot, can you believe that? How amazing is that?"

Another venue still standing is the old armory in Duluth, where a young Robert Zimmerman -- soon to be Bob Dylan -- saw Holly and was mesmerized. A group in Duluth is working to save the dilapidated armory, and Garabedian and McCool were unable to film there. But they found people to interview who had been at the show.

If you're a Buddy Holly fan and you've never been to the Annual Winter Dance Party at the Surf Ballroom in Clearlake, IA (where the rock legends played their last gig), you're really missing out! It's a fabulous event every year, always held near the weekend anniversary of the crash just north of town (there is a small memorial at the crash site you can visit).

Sir Paul McCartney attends this event every 3 yrs or so (Buddy is his guitar hero) and the acts are always top notch that perform over the multi day celebration. You'll be amazed to see that at least 1/3 of the attendees are Brits who come over every year. As big as Buddy was here, he was even bigger in the UK.

The Surf Ballroom has been fully restored and is simply spectacular.

Make your reservations at least one year in advance because hotel rooms in Clear Lake and nearby Mason City fill up quickly.

Bill

http://www.surfballroom.com/wdp-schedule.html