Buddy Holly has been an obsession of mine for some time. So much so that when I was bored during a visit to my folks’ house a number of years ago, I sat at the kitchen table and wrote this. And one of my best memories happened right around that time, when I took part in the first Buddy Holly Symposium in Lubbock. There I had a chance to meet his wife, Maria Elena Holly (who still lives in Dallas), and stay up late smoking cigarettes with Joe Ely, listening to him tell stories about the Clash and doing coke with Keith Richards.
Anyway, clearly today is an important day for me and everyone else who was a fan of the man who inspired everyone from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to younger acts like the Black Keys and Albert Hammond, Jr. There’s plenty of new releases to commemorate the anniversary of his death; can’t wait to get my hands on Down the Line, since I just have bootlegs. And I’ll probably be pouring one out later today in tribute.
