FEBRUARY 14 = T.R.'s Tragic Day

"There is a curse on this house! Mother is dying and Alice is dying too."

These were the foreboding words with which Elliot Roosevelt greeted his sister Corrine as she reached the home on 57'th Street in New York City at 10:30 p.m. on February 13, 1884. Their brother, State Assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt would arrive an hour later to this heartbreaking scene - his mother and his young wife, Alice (above) who had just the day before given birth to their daughter Alice both on their deathbeds.

Alice and Mittie Both Were Dying

Only the previous day, Theodore's beautiful young wife, Alice Hathaway Lee had given birth to a girl whom they named Alice.  Telegrams had been sent announcing to all the birth and the good health of both the baby and the mother, leaving Theodore "full of life and happiness."  However an hour later, a more ominous telegram arrived which sent him on a hurried journey back to the home which he and Alice occupied.  He arrived to find her, age 22 dying of Bright's

Disease (a chronic inflammation of the kidneys) and barely sensible to his presence, and his mother (left), Martha Bulloch Roosevelt (known to the family as "Mittie") dying of typhoid fever. He held Alice in his arms until a little before 3:00 a.m. when he was told that his mother's end was near.  He went to her side to see her die at about 3:00 a.m.  He then returned to take his wife in his arms, wherein he remained until she too died eleven hours later at 2:00 that afternoon..........  February 14, Valentines Day, 1884.

Theodore Was Crushed....

In his superb book about the young Theodore Roosevelt, "Mornings on Horseback", author David McCullough writes of what happened the next at the State Capitol in Albany:

"The first man to rise when the Assembly convened the next day said that he had never in all his years in Albany stood in the presence of such sorrow.  Six others spoke, including three of Theodore's most hostile opponents, all visibly shaken.  In an unprecedented gesture of respect, The Assembly voted to adjourn until the following Monday."

"He does not know what he does or says." wrote one family friend of Theodore as he sat through the double funeral that Saturday. But with characteristic energy, he fought his sorrow by diving right back (Pictured above, T.R. and Alice, circa 1882) into his work at the State Assembly in Albany. He worked at a blistering pace, not wishing to discuss the tragedy with anyone. Later that year, leaving the baby in the care of his sister Bamie he traveled to the Badlands of the Dokatas, wherein he penned the following words about his lost young bride for a privately published memorial:

"She was beautiful in face and form, and lovelier still in spirit; as a flower she grew and as a fair young flower she died.  Her life had always been in the sunshine; and there had never come to her a single great sorrow; and none ever knew her who did not love her and revere her for her bright sunny temper and her saintly unselfishness. Fair, pure and joyous as a maiden; loving, tender and happy as a young wife; when she had just become a mother, when her life seemed to be but just begun, and when the years seemed so bright before her -- then, by a strange and terrible fate, death came to her.

"And when my heart's dearest died, the light went out from my life forever."

Theodore Roosevelt was then a young man, barely 23 years old. He would go on with his life, re-marry to Edith Carow with whom he would have a large and adoring family.  He would go on to command a brigade known as "the Rough Riders" during the Spanish American War. He would also tackle the offices of New York City Police Commissioner, Governor of New York, Vice President and ultimately President of the United States. His daughter Alice (right) would develop into quite a character, having inherited her mother's beauty, and her father's feisty temperament. Her headstrong ways - for example, she dared to smoke a cigarette in public - became the subject of much public comment.  When told that he must do something to bring his daughter under control, President Roosevelt replied "Sir, I can run the country, or I can control Alice.  I cannot do both."

But those sad words written by the grieving young State Assemblyman sitting alone at his table in a cabin in the Badlands of the Dakotas were the last that he would ever speak of his first wife.  He never mentioned her name again for the rest of his life to anyone.  Not even to their daughter.


Sources:

"Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1981

"The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt" by Stefan Lorant, Doubleday & Co. Inc.,
New York, 1959

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FEBRUARY 12 = "Rhapsody in Blue" Premieres

"This composition shows extraordinary talent, as it shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk, struggling with a form of which he is far from being master... In spite of all this, he has expressed himself in a significant and, on the whole, highly original form.... His first theme... is no mere dance-tune... it is an idea, or several ideas, correlated and combined in varying and contrasting rhythms that immediately intrigue the listener. The second theme is more after the manner of some of Mr. Gershwin's colleagues. Tuttis are too long, cadenzas are too long, the peroration at the end loses a large measure of the wildness and magnificence it could easily have had if it were more broadly prepared, and, for all that, the audience was stirred and many a hardened concertgoer excited with the sensation of a new talent finding its voice... There was tumultuous applause for Gershwin's composition."


Paul Whiteman Commissions "Rhapsody in Blue"

This was the review of Olin Downes in the New York Times for George Gershwin's work "Rhapsody in Blue" which premiered on this date, February 12, in 1924. The "young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk" was a theme that Gershwin had frequently to deal with. Jazz was still an up and coming art form back in the early 1920's, and it had yet to win broad acceptance within the world of the arts, particularly the rarefied world of the concert hall. To base what was effectively a symphonic concert piece on something as modern and free-wheeling as Jazz was a decidedly bold step on the part of the young composer. But band leader Paul Whiteman thought that the time was right for such a move. Whiteman had performed in a classical/jazz concert the previous November with the Canadian-French singer Eva Gauthier and it had been a success. Now he wanted to try something more ambitious. He convinced Gershwin with whom he had worked before to compose a Jazz Concerto for piano and orchestra.

Gershwin Composes "Rhapsody in Blue"

It was during a train trip to Boston that Gershwin came up with most of his ideas for the piece.

"It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer – I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise... And there I suddenly heard, and even saw on paper – the complete construction of the Rhapsody, from beginning to end. No new themes came to me, but I worked on the thematic material already in my mind and tried to conceive the composition as a whole. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston I had a definite plot of the piece."

"Rhapsody in Blue" is a Success

Gershwin's piece proved to be an immediate success. From the very start, with it's clarinet 16-note slide into the opening theme, the audience was electrified. Michael Tilson-Thomas has said of the work that it "expressed what it was to be alive at that moment as an American .... to let people know what it feels like to stand right here on this street corner and hear this elevated train go by and hear this building being built and hear this wail from a jazz club."  Author Peter Gammond has said that "It is only the fact that Gerhwin's music is tinged with the colours of Jazz that makes both his songs and his other music seem slightly to come from the other side of the tracks to the classical world. And strangely for the jazz world as well. Ever since it burst upon new York in 1924, Rhapsody in Blue has had a cool reception from purists on either side of the musical fence. This has never prevented it from being played and recorded incessantly."

READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!!  You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at:  krustybassist@gmail.com  I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_Blue

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/horizon/nov98/gershwin.htm

"Classical Composers" by Peter Gammond, Colour Library Books Limited Godalming, Surrey, 1994.

Image:

Rhapsody in Blue Cover at the top of this posting =
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rhapsody_in_Blue_cover.png

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FEBRUARY 8 = "The Birth of a Nation" Premieres

On February 8 in 1915, D.W. Griffith's film "Birth of a Nation" had it's premiere at Clyne's Auditorium in Los Angeles. This event is important for the history of the Cinema because the silent movie was America's first feature length film, lasting over three hours. It was also a huge box-office hit in which Griffith pioneered many film-making techniques which are central to the art today.

"The Birth of a Nation" Creates and Perpetuates Racial Stereotypes

It is also an important event for African American history, but for very negative reasons. While it was indeed cinematically ground-breaking, in terms of it's racist depiction of the post-Civil War era, it is also regarded as one of the offensive films ever made. Based on Thomas Dixon's novel "The Clansman", the film follows the 1860's history of two fictional families from the North and South. While it is meticulous in it's attention to detail in some scenes such as Civil War battles, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, it is thoroughly malicious in it's depiction of African Americans, who are uniformly portrayed as degenerate, lazy, and dangerous. For this reason, while it was seen by millions, and lauded by many - no less than President Woodrow Wilson called the film "History written with lightening"- it also caused a storm of controversy with the recently formed NAACP campaigning to have it banned. A sampling of some of the reaction:

The "Critical" Reaction:

"Griffith struck it right when he adapted the Dixon story for the film. He knew the South and he knew just what kind of picture would please all white classes. Some places the censors are going to find fault. That's a persistent way some censors have. The scene of the "black congress" and the negro removing his shoe may be censured, but it's drawn from reported facts. It's worth seeing anywhere. Many will see it twice, yea thrice and still obtain much satisfaction and entertainment." - Mark Vance, "Variety" issue of March 12, 1915.

"We do not, in any state of the Union, grant to the Negro economic and political economy. No white man of proper feeling can be proud of the record. The wonder is that the negro is as good as he is. The to the injury is added slander. To make a few dirty dollars men are willing to pander to depraved tastes and to foment a race antipathy that is the most sinister and dangerous feature of American life." - Editorial in "the New York Globe" issue of April 6, 1915.

"Your editorial is an insult to the intelligence and human kindness of nearly 100,000 of the best people in New York City who have viewed this picture from artistic interests and not through any depraved taste such as you indicate. Included in this list is your own able critic, Edwin Sherwin of the Globe." - D.W. Griffith replying in "the Globe" on April 10, 1915. (Right: D.W. Griffith)

"Whatever happened during Reconstruction, this film is aggressively vicious and defamatory. It is spiritual assassination. It degrades the censors that passed it and the white race that endures it." - Francis Hackett in "The New Republic", March 20, 1915.

"In view of the fact that the film play known as "Birth of a Nation" is creating strenuous objection to it's presentation by the citizens of Dayton, Ohio, and in view of the fact that it is considered and recognized as a hatred breeding film as opposed to amicable relations between the white and colored citizenship, be it resolved that out of deference to the well-being of all citizens, the Commissioners of Dayton, Ohio condemn the presentation of the film "Birth of a Nation" at this time, and lend their influence both severally and collectively, in an effort to prohibit it's exhibitions." - Resolution of Dayton, Ohio Commissioners, March 7, 1915.

READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!!  You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at:  krustybassist@gmail.com  I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!!
Sources:
D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time Illustrated Edition by Melvyn Stokes (Author)

SPECIAL: Stolen 1715 Stradivarius is Recovered

The following story was written by Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Peter Galloway and Cynthia Osterman of Reuters News Service.

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A rare Stradivarius violin worth millions of dollars that was stolen from a concert violinist in an armed robbery last week has been recovered from a Milwaukee residence, law enforcement officials said on Thursday.

Authorities discovered the prized string instrument inside a suitcase in the attic of a home on the city's south side late Wednesday night, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said during a news conference at police headquarters.

The recovery of the violin came after the arrest on Monday of three unidentified suspects, one of whom police said has a history of stealing art in Milwaukee. "At this point it appears we have a local criminal, who was very much interested in art theft and who was smart enough to identify this as a valuable instrument," Flynn said.

The violin (pictured above) -- which is valued at $5 million -- was taken from Milwaukee Symphony concertmaster Frank Almond during an armed robbery on Jan. 27. Robbers used a stun gun on the violinist after a concert at Wisconsin Lutheran College in

suburban Milwaukee, according to reports. Almond (pictured above playing the Strad. during a Milwaukee Symphony Concert) was not injured in the theft.  One of the three suspects arrested on Monday could be charged as soon as Friday, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said. Chisholm did not say whether the other two suspects would be charged.  Police traced the stun gun allegedly used in the robbery back to one of the trio of suspects, Flynn said.

The owner of the house where the instrument was found told authorities that one of the suspects had asked to leave the suitcase there and the homeowner agreed, unaware of what was inside, according to Flynn.  One of the suspects served time for stealing a $25,000 sculpture from an art gallery in 1995 and trying to sell it back to the owner four years later, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper. Almond said in a statement he looked forward to having it back in his hands as soon as possible.

"We have very strong confidence that the violin is fine," said Mark Niehaus, the president and executive director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.  The violin has a fair replacement value of $5 million for insurance purposes, according to Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins, the designated curator of the instrument when it was loaned to Almond in 2008 by its owner.

The full article can be found at:
http://news.yahoo.com/stolen-stradivarius-found-good-condition-milwaukee-report-145754190--sector.html;_ylt=A0LEVyhuLPRS7lEAI5BXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0dWMwNjFsBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA01BUDAwNV8x

What Is It That Makes a Stradivarius So Great?

The following is excerpted from an article by Emma Saunders of BBC News:

Over the years, various theories have been touted in a bid to find out why a Stradi- varius produces such brilliant sound quality. Antonio Stradivari is (pictured, above) considered to be the most distinguished craftsman of the instrument. Born in 1644, he established his workshop in Cremona, Italy, and remained there until his death in 1737.  He made over 1,000 violins, violas and violoncellos, and was commissioned by King James II and King Charles III of Spain. It is believed that around 650 of these instruments have survived. His best violins and instruments were made during what is considered his golden period from 1700-1725. His most famous violins include the 1715 Lipinski and the 1716 Messiah.

Opinions Differ As To the WHY???

But there is still considerable debate about why the violins made by Stradivari sound superior to modern-day instruments.  In 2003, scientists from Columbia and Tennessee universities in the US claimed reduced solar activity in the 17th Century may be the reason for the Stradivarius sound.

They said the colder winters and cooler summers at the time produced slower tree growth which in turn led to denser wood with superior acoustical properties - circumstances not repeated since. In 2006, other US researchers said they believed a Stradivarius owed its distinct sound to a chemical treatment designed to kill woodworm and fungi.  And it was once argued that Stradivari and others used wood from ancient churches, or that they added a mysterious ingredient to the wood, or used techniques that have since been lost.  Some have focused on the type of varnish used on the instruments. Pictured above are some of the labels found inside Stradivarius violins.

But many of today's violin-makers have been unimpressed by such theories, putting the quality down to pure genius on Stradivari's part.  The Cambridge Companion to the Violin states that the structure of a Stradivarius is key, noting the flatter shape and the shape of the plates (the panels that make up the front and back of the violin). Ariane Todes, editor of The Strad magazine, concurs:  "They don't all sound fantastic but a good one that's been set up properly - the thickening of the wooden plate, the movement of the sound post and bass bar - sounds fantastic," she says. Dr Jon Whiteley, a curator at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, which houses the famous Messiah Stradivarius agrees the quality "depends heavily on the shape of the instrument."  He explains that Stradivari's challenge was to produce both expressive sound and the volume needed for large concert halls.  Prior to the period when Stradivari was honing his craft, violin performances were usually confined to small venues such as private parties and were often used in quartets for chamber music, which did not require a huge sound. "Stradivari came through, he proved a match for the new music being made," says Dr Whiteley.  "All his life he was searching for the ideal shape."

The full  article by Ms. Saunders can be found at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13856203

The image of Mr. Almond can be found at:  http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-stradivarius-violin-theft-20140206,0,3879050.story#axzz2saRYnQRm 

The two images with the article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradivarius

FEBRUARY 6 = The U.S. & France Hitch Up!!

On today's date in 1778, the King of France, Louis XVI, signed a Treaty of Alliance with the rebellious colonies of the United States (pictured, right), thus recognizing their self declared independence, and committing his countries resources to their cause.  Try reading this if you can:

"The most Christian King and the United States of North America, to wit, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay.... having this Day concluded a Treaty of amity and Commerce, for the reciprocal advantage of their Subjects and Citizens have thought it necessary to take into consideration the means of strengthening those engagements and of rondring them useful to the safety and tranquility of the two parties, particularly in case Great Britain in Resentment of that connection and of the good correspondence which is the object of the said Treaty, should break the Peace with france, either by direct hostilities, or by hindring her commerce and navigation, in a manner contrary to the Rights of Nations, and the Peace subsisting between the two Crowns; and his Majesty and the said united States having resolved in that Case to join their Councils and efforts against the Enterprises of their common Enemy, the respective Plenipotentiaries, impower'd to concert the Clauses & conditions proper to fulfil the said Intentions, have, after the most mature Deliberation, concluded and determined on the following Articles."

WHEW!! Talk about a loooong sentence! But such are the vagaries of diplomatic-speak that such phrasing is or was quite normal in diplomatic documents. And the meaning of this treaty was quite clear indeed: the Kingdom of France was throwing her support behind the colonists in their rebellion against their mother country of Great Britain.

France -vs- England - the Mongoose and the Cobra!!

France had effectively been kicked out of North America by the Brits as a result of the French and Indian War of 1754 to 1763, and had been smarting from this unceremonious ejection ever since. The outbreak of war between Britain and her colonies provided just the sort of trouble that the French had been wishing upon her natural enemies in England. In fact the Comte de Vergennes, France's Foreign Minister wrote a letter to King Louis shortly before Franklin arrived stating:

"England is the natural enemy of France; and she is an avid enemy, ambitious, unjust, brimmimg with bad faith; the permenant and cherished object of her policy is the humiliation and ruin of France."
But France had a treasury which was limited, and taking on England again was an iffy proposition. Would France come out fully in favor of America?

Ben Franklin "Schmoozes" His Way Into the French Court.

It was with the hope of convincing the French to do just that that Benjamin Franklin was dispatched to France. Franklin was by this time 70 years old, so he was quite an elder statesman when he arrived in France in November of 1776. As a result of his experiments in science (the discovery of electricity with his kite) and also because of the international fame accorded to his "Poor Richards Almanac", he was the most famous American in the world. So his arrival in France caused an immediate sensation. Balls were given in his honor, and miniatures of his famous visage wearing the fur cap of the simple , but wise rustic philosopher (pictured below) were distributed everywhere. Franklin, the original "Spin Doctor" was in fact anything but rustic or simple, but he recognized the value of projecting this image, so he obligingly played the role.

And he used his considerable powers of persuasion upon the eminent members of France's government and society to get them to support the American cause. He would frequently relax with the French aristocrats in ways which made him seem like a frivolous ladies man. Now this was not entirely out of his character... the man did indeed have his randy side. Living with him in the village of Passy, his grandson would write:

"The air of Passy and the warm bath three time a week have made quite a young man out of him. His pleasing gaiety makes everybody in love with him, especially the ladies, who permit him always to kiss them."

Franklin Blends Realism With American Exceptionalism

But Franklin was devoted to securing French aid to his country and knew how to make it happen. He knew and very shrewdly understood where he could make France go for the American cause. He wrote a letter to the aforementioned Comte de Vergennes emphasizing the French interest in the outcome, that if France and Spain were to enter on the American side, the Brits would lose their colonies and her possessions in the West Indies, and "the commerce that has rendered her so opulent.." which would then relegate her to a "State of weakness and humiliation..." precisely what Vergennes had declared to be Britain's plan for France in his letter to King Louis. But as Franklin's biographer Walter Issacson has written:

"Frankin realized that appealing to the cold calculus of interests was only part of the equation. Better than most other diplomats in the nation's history, he understood that America's strength in world affairs would come from a unique mix that included idealism as well as realism. When woven together, they would later be in policies ranging from the Monore Doctrine to the Marshall Plan, they were the warp and woof of a resilient foreign policy. 'America's great historical moments ,' writes historian Bernard Bailyn, 'have occurred when realism and idealism have been combined, and no one knew this better than Franklin.' "
In effect, Franklin understood that it was by emphasizing America as a land of freedom and opportunity, who not only could be free of British domination, but should be, that he could ignite a real enthusiasm for the American cause that would be lacking for just another armed conflict.

The Alliance Comes to Life

So it was when the final obstacle to the French Alliance was overcome. France had indeed been ready to lend her full support to the Americans, but it was only the victory of the Americans in the battle of Saratoga (Sept. 19 & October 7, 1777) that convinced France to go ahead and sign on with us for good and all. It was because of the American victory over the forces of General Burgoyne in that battle that the French government, the Comte de Vergennes in particular

were at last convinced that the Americans had a chance of defeating a major British force in the field. With her need for realism thus satisfied, France went ahead and signed up to our side. This alliance would prove to be the decisive factor in securing American victory in the war. For it was during the Battle of Yorktown (September 28 – October 19, 1781) that a French fleet under Admiral Comte de Grasse defeated a Britsh fleet. This trapped the Army of Lord Cornwallis on the Yorktown Peninsula in Virginia and forced them to surrender (above) to the surrounding American forces under Goerge Washington and the French forces under the Comte de Rochembeau.


READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!!  You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at:  krustybassist@gmail.com  I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!!
Sources:

The American Heritage History of the American Revolution by Bruce Lancaster, Bruce Catton and Thomas Fleming; American Heritage Publ., New York, 2004.

"Benjamin Franklin; An American Life" by Walter Issacson, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003.

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FEBRUARY 3 = "The Day the Music Died..."

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

Don Mc Lean Writes of the Change in Rock and Roll...

On a cold morning in February of 1959… on the morning of this date during that year, a young man, a singer and an aspiring young rock and roll musician named Don Mc Lean was thinking about the music he wanted to play. Rock and Roll had, up to that point in time been played primarily to provide people – mostly young people -- music to dance by at social events, and Mc Lean had been looking forward to playing that kind of music; to providing the music that would for other young people bring the happiness and enjoyment that he had always gotten from it. But that morning he was tending his only job other than full-time writing of his music. That job was delivering papers. And on that morning the

news included accounts of the plane crash that had taken the lives of three of the brightest young stars of rock, J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson ("Chantilly Lace"), Ritchie Valens ("La Bamba"), and his idol, Buddy Holly ("That'll Be the Day").
Mc Lean thought of Holly and all he had meant to him as a young writer of his own tunes, just as Buddy Holly had been. He thought of Holly’s young wife, Maria Elena, now a widow. Maria had been carrying Holly’s child, but miscarried the next day, possibly as a result of the stress of losing her husband. Mc Lean was writing the famous song, the lyrics of which are quoted above, in 1971, and was thinking of all that had occurred since that crash. The crash had happened right at the end of what was thought by many to be a decade and a period of comparative innocence. The civil unrest which was to permeate so much of the decade of the 60’s and which came to infect that generation of America’s youth had not set in yet. But that decade did come and thereafter the music which Mac Lean had so loved became infected with the social disillusion, and political radicalism of that period. The Brits such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and Americans such as Bob Dylan had risen to prominence, and had changed the face of rock and roll forever. The era of sex, drugs, and free love had taken over, and now was the face of rock and roll. For Mac Lean, that wreck had indeed been the day that the music died.

The Final Concert for the Three, and Their Ill-Fated Flight

On February 2, 1959, Holly, Valens and Richardson were on the eleventh night of their Winter Dance Party tour through the a Mid-west that was as choked with snow as it could be. It was a Monday — a school night — but 1,100 teenagers had jammed Clear Lake, Iowa's Surf Ballroom for two shows which had been sold out. Between sets, Holly tried getting other people to join him on the airplane which he had chartered to fly to the next show in Moorehead, Minnesota. The musicians had been riding the bus on their tour for over a week, and were very weary. The plane ride to their next destination offered some relief to the monotony of the bus, and might get them to Minnesota early enough to allow them some rest before their next show.

Roger Peterson, a 21 year old pilot had agreed to fly the singer to Fargo, North Dakota — the closest airport to Moorehead. Peterson was himself at the end of a long work day – he had put in 17 hours of work already. But he was a fan, and wanted to fly Buddy Holly to his next job. Holly's bass player, Waylon Jennings, was scheduled to fly on the plane but gave his seat to the Big Bopper, who was running a fever and had trouble fitting his stocky frame comfortably into the bus seats. When Holly heard that Jennings wasn't taking the flight, he said, "Well, I hope your old bus freezes up." To which Jennings replied, "Well, I hope your plane crashes." This friendly banter of friends would haunt Jennings for years. Holly's guitarist Tommy Allsup flipped a coin with Richie Valens for the remaining seat. Valens “won”, and the three musicians boarded the red and white single-engine Beech Bonanza around 12:30 on Feb. 3. Fans crowded the tarmac, waving and clamoring for autographs. The plane taxied down the windswept, snowy runway and took off. The sky had been clear, and Peterson received clearance from the control tower to go. Regrettably, he had not been told of two weather advisories that warned of an oncoming blizzard.

After remaining airborne for only a few minutes, Peterson apparently flew directly into the blizzard, losing visual reference and accidentally flew the plane down instead of up. The four-passenger plane crashed headlong into a cornfield at over 170 mph, flipping over on itself and throwing all of it’s passengers into the air. Their bodies came to rest some yards away from the wreckage. All of them were killed. Their remains stayed there for over ten hours because in the blizzard conditions, nobody could reach the crash site until later that same morning. The Winter Dance Party tour went on, with Waylon Jennings singing Holly's songs and other well known singing phenoms, including 18-year-old Frankie Avalon, brought in to finish the tour. Holly's body was shipped back home to Lubbock, Texas, wherein his Baptist family, who had never approved of his music would not play any of his songs at his funeral.

Holly's Fame and Influence Rise Posthumously

Holly had indeed been enjoying some success at the time of his death at the far too young age of 22. But this was nothing compared to the way his music and his techniques skyrocketed into prominence after he died. The sale of his records continued to rise in the months following his death, with one of his singles, “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” rising to # 13 on the charts. His songs really went up in England where a young John Lennnon and George Harrison would learn about guitar playing in part by listening to his albums. Don McLean's 1971 single "American Pie" memorialized the plane crash as the moment Rock and Roll in America left it’s youth behind, and entered the world of psychadelia, and youth rebellion. As Claire Suddath wrore in "Time" Magazine in 2009:

"He wrote of teens wearing pink carnations and driving pick-up trucks, dancing and falling in love and dancing some more. The snow fell silently outside as the country teetered on the brink of the 1960s; no one in the ballroom had any idea what would happen next."


READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!!  You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at:  krustybassist@gmail.com  I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1876542,00.html

Images:

The Trio =
robbiedisme.blogspot.com

Buddy Holly Band =
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1876542,00.html

Newspaper =
jalopyjournal.com

Crash site =
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2443345/posts

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FEBRUARY 1 = The USMC Lands on Roi Namur

John P. Bolten Lands on Roi Namur

February 1 -
"As I approached the island, in fact immediately after I touched land, I noticed the queer atmosphere of the place. It wasn't the coconut palms which had been blasted by the terrific naval gunfire and hung broken down and lifeless. Nor was it the crumbling, smoking ruins of the Jap buildings. It was the Marines. They were everywhere, and even as I saw the first group I knew that they were not the same as those Marines which had left the ship talking and laughing. They were all scattered out with no organization whatsoever. They lay or sat in groups talking very low if at all. Mostly,they were silently grim. This was not what I had expected."

The 4'th Marines on Roi Namur

This was the scene as recorded by a young marine private, John P. Bolten, on February 1, 1944, the first time he took part in combat operations during his stint with the U.S. Marines in the South Pacific. Bolten was a part of the Fourth Marine Division, which saw it's first action as a part of American operations against Japanese positions on Roi-Namur, part of the Kwajalein atoll of the Marshall Islands. In order to set up forward air bases capable of supporting operations across the mid-Pacific, to the Philippines, and into Japan, the U.S. needed to take the Marshalls. The Fourth Marines had commenced their attack against the airfield on Roi, the eastern half of the island pair on January 31, and attacked and overtook the stronger defences on Namur on that first day of February. After the huge losses suffered in action against Tarawa the previous November, the operation against the Kwajalein atoll had seemed to come off fairly easily. The use of overwhelming force, and better cooperation between naval and ground forces, as well as better communication between the various components of those ground forces were all lessons that were paying off. Nevertheless, the cost of war was not lost on the young marine from Cincinnati, Ohio as he and his fellow artillerymen moved to set up their guns:

"The Smell of Crushed Jungle Vegitation...."

"The smell of crushed jungle vege- tation mixed with powdered concrete and gun- powder hung like a fog over the island in the gathering gloom. Scattered Marine equipment lay strewn all over the beach where it had fallen when the assault (team) had discarded it. This was a mere inkling of what I was to learn of the cost of war and the waste. My first glimpse of a Jap came.... as we rounded a clump of jungle vegetation. I saw a Marine dragging a dead Jap by the leg into the underbrush to be piled with the rest I supposed. It shouldn't have affected me since I was used to dealing with stiffs, even handling them. But it did. I stopped for a second and watched as the dead man - one leg dragging - made tracks in the wet coral sand. As I looked, I saw that we artillery men were the only ones staring at the disappearing Jap. The infantry men were sitting silently on the beach, cradling their rifles with dirty dungaree clothed arms. (They) were looking out at the water, and looking glassily at us as if to say "Hell, Mac you can go back now (that) all the dirty work is done!"

By February 4, American losses totalled 372 killed and 1,582 wounded out of the more than 42,000 men who took part in the operation. Out of 3,500 Japanese defenders of Roi-Namur, only 51 survived to be captured. After the war, John P. Bolten returned home to Cincinnati, where he married his High School sweetheart Norma Mc Dermott with whom he had six children of whom I, Brian T. Bolten was the youngest.  And as his son, I have always been enormously proud of my father and his participation in the great struggle against imperialism.  Thanks, Dad, and all of those men and women who took part in this terrible but necessary conflict against the forces of darkness.


READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!!  You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at:  krustybassist@gmail.com  I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!!

Sources =

The Wartime Journal of John P. Bolten - February, 1944. Unpublished. Possession of B.T. Bolten

http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003124-00/sec3.htm

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