Great Tragedy: Winter Dance Party 1959 Part 2 (Various Artists)

• Track Listing

Our second release on commemoration of the tragic plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper on February 3, 1959. The second part of the 'Winter Dance Party' tour will be covered for the first time with this CD album. The promoters let the tour continue seamlessly! Dion & The Belmonts, Frankie Sardo and the Crickets (Buddy Hollys Band) from the original tour line-up stayed on board. Replacement for the casualties was quickly found: Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Fabian, Robert Velline and his Shadows, and Bill Parsons filled the gaps. The new tour members were successful young teen idols, hardly the typical heavy rock 'n' rollers. Two more songs dedicated to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper complete this CD. The ill-fated Winter Dance Party tour that tragically took the lives of the immortal Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper on February 3, 1959 has been documented extensively ever since then, and Bear Family's recent 'The Great Tragedy - Winter Dance Party 1959' (Bear Family BCD17585) expertly covers that part of the story. But what of the aftermath? The tour continued on despite that tragedy for another week-and-a-half without so much as a day off. New performers were brought in for added star power, and a career was launched when teenager Robert Velline and his Shadows filled in that first fateful night (you know him better as Bobby Vee). This set continues the story where our first CD left off, spotlighting the survivors (Dion and The Belmonts, The Crickets, and Frankie Sardo) and the replacement stars (Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Fabian, Vee, and Bill Parsons) along with two more tribute songs to the fallen triumvirate for good measure.

Credits