REMEMBERING BUDDY HOLLY - February 3, 2025

I started out when I was a little kid. I was as naive as I could be at 10. I didn't know mothers were pregnant. My friend, he said, y'all are going to have another baby. And I said, no, no, they'd tell me, but they didn't tell me until it happened. Pardon me, I'm going to get a drink of this coffee here. So your mom had a baby when you were 10 years old? Yeah, I told her about that. The book starts out in 1936, just before Buddy was born. I was 10 years old. And they sent us off to my cousin's house. When we came back, Buddy was there with mother in the bed, a little baby. And it got off with me so, because they hadn't told me. I cried about it even, because I was supposed to know everything. I was the oldest child. But then it went from there to there, there on down. The kids we played with, and the fun we had, and the fights we had. It goes on. Later on, when the war broke out, I joined the Marines. I wanted to be a Marine. So when you came home, you went on with your life? I mean, if I can ask, I mean, I know Buddy was important to you. I mean, was he always musically inclined? Or were you musically inclined too, or your whole family, or what? Buddy was living with mother and daddy. He was about 10 whenever I got out of the Marines. He just thought that I hung the moon, because I'd come back from the service. And I thought a lot of him. And I'd take him hunting and stuff. Got pictures in here. I have a whole chapter on just Buddy, and me and him together, and fishing, and hunting. It was really, before he really was getting into the music. But then whenever he started getting into the music, I was right there to talk to him about it. And he would come to me and have a few little words of a song, and say, why do you think I could make a song out of this? I'd say, yeah, I believe you can. He'd sing a little bit like he had. I said, yeah, I believe you can make a good one. And I went to Clovis with him whenever he would cut some songs. I had the money to send him to Nashville and buy his guitars and his clothes. Mother and daddy was broke just about, didn't have enough to eat. And I had some mustering out pay. And I got jobs as a carpenter and different things, all that to tell about. Post office, railroad, riding trains. I worked for all of them. And I'd tell all about them, some of the good things about them and bad things. So you helped Buddy get his start in music with things like that? Yeah, he come to me, well, his first start, he came to me when I was home with mother and daddy. And said, Larry, I need a guitar. And I said, well, Buddy, you can't play one. He said, yeah, I can learn. He said, there's a guy on the school bus, Wayne Maynes is his name. And he can play the guitar a little bit, and he showed me a few cards. I said, okay, whatever you say. I said, do you know where we can get a guitar? He said, yep, I do. He said, this guy's got a 45 Gibson, we can get for $45. And I said, well, that's reasonable enough. And they're a little guitar, and so we got it. He was sitting around playing it all, or picking around on it. It wasn't making much sense, but he was always working with it. I mean, he was diligent on that thing, he loved it. First thing you know, he was playing pretty good, and playing on the radio with Jack Neal. And then he comes to me a little after that and said, well, I'm leaving out a lot of stuff. But he said, Larry, I could go to Nashville if I had a good guitar and some clothes. And I said, well, what will it take? He said, I need $1,000. And I said, man, that's just like asking for the moon. At that time, $1,000 was really some money. But I raked it up for him and sent him to Nashville. He brought some of the gosh awful clothes you've ever seen. A chartreuse coat and some red or I believe it was blue shoes. And rock and roll stuff. I said, man, you'd blew it now. But they went out there and they didn't hit like they wanted to. They wanted him to do it country-wise. And he said, no, we're gonna do it our way or we're not gonna do it. And he said, come on, guys, let's leave. They could see that they was in the wrong town and in the wrong place. And he came on back, and me and him was working out here on the, he was my helper in the tile business on the city county health unit. It's still out there, I got pictures of it. He was real blue one morning, was working, putting tile up. I said, what's wrong, buddy? He said, Larry, I tell you, if I just had some help and somebody would give me a chance, I think I could make it. I said, well, what about them songs you cut in Clovis the other day? It was about a month earlier. He said, I don't know. He says, I did the best I could, and Norman's off on vacation. And I don't know who to get in touch with, hardly. He sent them off to New York somewhere, the records. And I said, well, do you know who he sent them to? He said, yeah, I think his name was Maury Dutch. And I said, do you have a phone number on him? He said, I believe I do. I said, let's go over to Mother's house, pull up the tools, and let's go call him. And he said, buddy, baby, buddy, baby. He said, I'm glad you called. He said, Norman's out of town. But he said, I want you to know that they're playing your song on the streets of New York, and people are dancing on the streets. And buddy said, sure enough. Well, could you send me $500? And he said, sure enough, baby, I'll do that. And so he got some money in the next day or two. And I didn't have a helper after that. But I didn't care. I wanted to make it. What song was it? Do you remember that? It's on me today. So had you heard it before it was released, when he recorded it? Did you hear it? No, I hadn't. I hadn't heard it. But did he play it for you before he recorded it? No. I think him and Jerry Allison and Joe B got together, and they went to that movie, John Wayne, where he would say, that'll be the day. That'll be the day. And they said, let's make a song like that. And they made it just overnight, early, and went up there and cut it. And I was with them when they cut it, the first time I heard it. You were in the studio when they played it? I was in there, and they cut that on the back. I'm looking for someone to love. Fact is, I thought up a verse for him on that one. And I was up there with several other songs that he did. I'd go up with him, because I was real interested. They'd stay nearly all night cutting music, because the phone wouldn't ring. Nobody would bother them. Tell me about that lyric in I'm looking for someone to love that you wrote the story of. We was going across the railroad tracks into Clovis, New Mexico. He said, I need another verse, another verse. And I said, well, I'd heard my uncle say this on the, when I was working for him on his bricklayer. I helped him in his bricklayer. He said, I said, drunk man's streetcar, footstep, and there you are. But he said, I believe I'll put that in the song. I said, I was just kidding. He said, no, I'm going to put it in there. And he did. Did he record old boy in Clovis at that time, too? Or was that a different time? Not that time. I didn't hear him record that. I'm looking for someone to love, and that'll be the day. And maybe, baby, he might have did old boy. But he would come to me. I was real busy in the tile business then and working hard. And he'd come to me and get with me and say, I want you to hear what I've got. And I'd listen to him and say, yeah, that ought to make a good, just get after it, you know? And I kept encouraging him. And he'd say, well, I don't have the money to get to Clovis. And I'd say, well, OK, we'll give you a draw. He'd been working, you know? But we had a lot of fun together. And I was glad that every penny I ever did loan him, he paid me back. And the fact is, him and the other two, Jerry and Joe B. Joe B, by the way, Joe Bice, Bice, something to eat. That's what Buddy called it. They didn't have wheels. There was any count. And they started playing in Artesia and Lownpasses and places. And I found a red Cadillac. It was about two or three years old. It was in pretty good shape, big old four-door. And I paid down on it for him and gave it to him. Well, they drove the hound out of it for about six months or so, maybe longer than that. And one day, that man that I got it from, I was on the note. He called me and said, Mr. Honley, would you come down here and look at this car? And I said, yeah, I guess so. What's wrong with it? He said, well, I wish you'd just look at it. He said, the boys have trashed it. And it was parked. They at least took it back to him and parked it. And they left. And I had to pay for it. But it was all I was glad I did, you know? Because they were cooking, cooking pretty good and getting better every day. Did you consider Buddy a rock and roll star? I mean, did you ever think of him like that? Or did you just think of him as your brother? I mean, did you see him as a rock and roll star? Um, well, he was my brother, first of all. But then I noticed that he was getting mighty good, very good. I just loved it. I never had liked them. They hadn't meant anything like rock and roll before Buddy. Maybe a few guys that Buddy had picked up from. But I didn't know them. And I liked everything Buddy did and liked the way he did it. I'd go with him to some of these clubs where he played. And the guys were pretty rough. And some of them said, this is going to beat up on Buddy because the girls was going gaga over him. And I'd hang around out there sometimes just to make sure they didn't. And, but I really, it broke my heart. Is today a hard day for you? Yeah. About 53 years ago today, I didn't think I could stand it. Anyway, the good thing about it, in the meantime, Buddy went off, you know, England, Australia, and everywhere, and was making it big. And we sort of lost track of him. Didn't get to see him very often. I tell about when he'd come back, how we'd get together and go fishing and stuff. I'll tell about all that in this book. I'll tell you, if anybody wants to know about Buddy or about Lubbock in early days, that book. And I haven't found anybody that didn't like it. Sometimes the man and wife will almost fight over it whenever they've got just one book. So, I'm real proud of what did it. And what I was going to say, I forget now what was it. Were you talking about Buddy going overseas, coming back home, you guys went fishing, and then. But I was asking you about him becoming a real popular artist. And, you know, he inspired me to play. I mean, I was, I'm younger than him, but his music inspired me to play. Well, yeah. He inspired a lot of guys. But I haven't heard anybody yet that can do it just like Buddy. He had a touch that he had four things going for him. He could write good songs, one right after another. And he had a good, pretty voice, clear, a good guitar playing. And he didn't overdo it and get up there and just chop it away like some of these guys do. He played with just what needed, and that's it. And it's exactly the way I would have did it if I could have. But, yeah, he, and not only that, he was a good innovator, four things, singer, player, songwriter, and innovator. You take some of them songs he did, if anybody else would have done them, they wouldn't have hit. But Buddy had a flair of putting in something and giving it a certain kick that made people really like it. Why, every song that he ever wrote seemed to be about love or about a girl. Why do you think that was? Was he influenced by that around him, or what made him do this? Well, a boy at that age, that's one of the chief things they think about, is girls. And girls, he was around a lot of them. I've seen where there was dancing, them kids could dance, boys. They did the bop. They didn't do this jitterbug where they'd twirl them around. They did the bop. And they could do it really pretty. It was a little bit suggestive, but he... If there was 10 people going to play, and all real good artists, and I didn't know none of them, and Buddy would play one, and I didn't know who it was, I'd know it was Buddy. He did it just like I would have done it if I could have. And I've always had a pretty good ear for what makes a good sound. But boy, Buddy, he was a genius. I didn't realize what we had there for a while until it wasn't very long. See, I'd take him up in my airplane. I got to flying and riding motorcycles and everything. A big portion of this book is about my flying and nearly crashing. I've come within a second of losing my life. This was about three weeks after, three or four weeks after Buddy got killed. We nearly hit the ground in the fog all of a sudden, just like a sheet coming off. And boy, I pulled back on everything that had the flaps and everything. And we went up again and got in the fog again. It's a long story. My brother, he was with me. He said, Larry, I saw little bitty rocks on the ground. I said, yeah, we just missed it about four feet. And then there was another airplane in about a mile and a half from there that crashed and killed four men that day in that fog. It was a strange fog. But that's the only thing bad about flying. I believe I had Buddy with me that night he got killed. If I'd have been flying, I don't believe we would have crashed. But I'm satisfied. I talk about that some in this book and also on my DVD. It's just about Buddy. It's not about me, but Buddy. But this book is mostly about me, but with Buddy. And my wife, I married the prettiest, I've been blessed. I married the prettiest girl in the world, had an easy life, a hard life, lots of work, a fun life, lots of adventure. And if I could do it over again, I'd do it the same way. So again, as far as today, is it hard for you today? Or have you been thinking a lot about today? I mean, 53 years ago, or what have you been thinking about today? Well, I've got where I can handle it now. But when I get to thinking actually about the plane crash, sometimes I lose it, my composure. But, you know, that plane, I think the pilot was a little bit awestruck to have three celebrities with him. And he was just young. And they had a new gyroscope in that plane, a Sperry. And it works a little bit different than the regular artificial horizon like I used. But I flew with both kinds and they are a little different. And I think they just put one of them in a few days before and he had never got to use it. And then I think that the windows fogged up pretty much just about the time they were leaving the ground. You take four warm bodies in an airplane real tight and you can't reach the windshield to clean it all. And you don't have a windshield wipers on that airplane, you didn't. I think it fogged over. And they thought this Sperry looked like one plane, looked like it was artificial horizon. You're climbing to the right. And the other one, you'll be going down to the left. It's something about one of them, the plane moves and the other, the earth moves or the atmosphere. It's hard to explain. If you try them out, you know what I mean. But I wish I'd have been there that night that he got killed and took him in my airplane, because I've flown to some strange places and got in all kind of weather and managed to come through it. Did you ever get bitter about it or you just believe that he it happened and, you know, it's too bad it happened? I mean, was it hard for you for a number of years after that or? No, I believe that the Lord, the Lord had a hand in it. I believe he decided that Buddy was getting too much fame, too quick, and he come as far as he wanted him to come. And he took him. And since then, he got more popular and the royalties really came in. And we mother and daddy and me and Travis and Pat and all of us had a good income since then off of what Buddy made. And of course, I worked hard contracting and made pretty good money, too. So I was better off than the rest of them in that respect. I personally went to the cemetery today. I just wanted I've never seen the gravesite. So that was very special for me. You know, I I don't go out there. My wife's buried over there real close. But I I know she's in heaven. And I feel like it's not going to be too long till the rapture comes and I'll go, too, or either I'll go in death. But before then, I'll see her. I'll see Buddy. I'll see mother and daddy and my sister, Pat. I saw your your mom and dad buried next to Buddy. Yeah. Yeah. But I've also been to the crash site. I went there four years ago. I had the owner of that land take me out to the crash site. I don't think you've ever been there, though, have you? Yeah, I was out there. Just the plane was still there. And all it was just rolled up like a ball. And there was stuff laying everywhere. And somebody had gathered up the garments. They were a stack of clothes about this high. And that man asked me to go out there. He said, do you want any of this stuff? And I said, no. And I reached down. I said, I will take this little dop kit for the hippie razor and his toothbrush and stuff. I said, I'll take this. And I took it. And I didn't even open it for years after that. One time I opened it, talcum powder or foot powder or something. Maybe it was tooth powder. It was all in there and it was just a mess. And you see where the fake deal on the bottom had been torn loose because it was cloth. And the gun was heavy enough that it must have came up and the gun kept going and went over the fence and landed in the pasture. And that farmer picked it up. And naturally, he did just what I did. See if it'll shoot, you know, and he he shot one bullet and it shot. And it had been in the snow all winter. Well, now that then the word gets out there's somebody shot the pilot. That's a bunch of nonsense. So you were at the crash site. Yeah. Right. That next day, the next day, like today, he had just gone to the funeral home. They were still getting him prepared. And I went up there to identify the body. And I was so sad. I said, Jay, he was my brother in law. I said, I can't go in there. And he said, I'll do it. And he came out there just white as a ghost. He said, I'm glad you didn't go. He said it was bad. So did you guys bring buddy back here and have a ceremony here? Yeah. We didn't bring him in the plane I was in. But another plane, a charter plane, brought the body back. I know the guys who brought it back. I knew him then, sort of. But I love flying. And I respect the fact that you can get hurt flying. Just quickly, I saw a documentary. I think Maria Elena said something like Buddy always wanted his music to be remembered or he wanted to be recognized. Is that how he was? He wanted people to. Yeah, I made the remark. I made the remark myself. I said, Buddy wasn't after a bunch of money. He wanted to be understood and people to recognize what he could do. That's what he wanted more than anything. I know at one time when he first started, it was getting pretty good. He he he got a little bit cocky, you know. And one day mother got me one side and said, I wish you had talked to Buddy. He's getting where he wanted him to answer me. Whenever he, you know, he's in his own world. And he was not treating people real, real nice. And so I got him out in the car and I talked to him about an hour. I said, no, you know, if you're going to make it in this world, you're going to have to be friendly to people and be compassionate, treat mother and daddy with real respect because they're my mother and daddy, too. And I talked to him a while and we both cried about it. And mother told me about a week later, she said, I don't know what you told Buddy, but he's a different person. And we noticed he was a different person to the public and everybody. So I felt like I had a little bit to do with getting him over the hump. Did you ever meet any of the Beatles? No, because they were influenced by Buddy. Yeah. Just when me and you, I didn't think they could hold a candle to him. But I agree. Oh, yeah. I met Paul McCartney and was backstage with him in Birmingham. And I saw his show, but it didn't impress me at all. It was under wings. But he's a nice guy, friendly guy. What's your fondest memory of Buddy? I guess sitting around the campfire talking after we'd been fishing all day and maybe he'd have his guitar and play a few little songs and things. Yeah, that's my fondest memories. Did you speak at his memorial service when they had a service at a church or in the gravesite? Did you speak at all? No, I was too distraught. I couldn't have spoke. Was it a big event or is it just for family? Oh, man, that church was big. They was thousands of people. I didn't look around to see, but they said it was packed with standing room only and the parking lot was all full. Why would Buddy marry her? Because Buddy's a Christian. I mean, what happened with that? I think he was living so fast and so hard that he didn't have time to really get in love with a girl and court her like they should, you know. And he had had a girl in high school, Echo McGuire, and he thought a lot of her and her folks didn't think a lot of Buddy. And they whisked her off to college out of town some way off. And Buddy sort of felt like she's jerked out from under him, you know. And whenever he saw Maria, she was a pretty little thing. I've seen some pictures of her. He said, I'm going to marry that girl when he first saw her. And Jerry and Joe B. was with him. They said, no, you can't marry her. He said, you just watch me. And he started then. And I mean, he had all the confidence in the world of what he could do. And he. I've seen him actually get emotional and cry because he couldn't make a song do like he wanted it to when we were out on campground or somewhere playing. And he said, I can't play the guitar. We'd had a few beers, you know, and he said, I can't play the guitar no more. I got on top of him and had to rattle him down, keep him from busting his guitar. And I said, yes, you can. You can play it. You're just drunk. But I mean, me and Buddy was close. He was my protege, I guess you'd say. And I was his mentor. One of the things that makes me laugh is last time I was here. You use the expression, do it up brown. Yeah. Tell me where that comes from again, because I've explained that to some people, and I said, that's a West Texas expression. Tell me where that comes from. Uncle Henry, I guess, got it started. He was in. There's a whole chapter on him in this book. Doing it up brown is just, I mean, get it down just right. Bill, what's his name? Bill Kearns here in town. He writes about all the music and everything about people and the bands that come through. He I talked to him. I gave him one of my DVDs and he said, what is this doing it up brown? And I said, I thought anybody knew that. He said, no, I said, it's doing it the best it can be done. I like it. I'm using it. I like that. Yeah, we've said it all over life and just. Did you ever listen to that song that Don McLean did American Pie at the beginning of that? Do those lyrics mean anything to you about the day the music died? They're sort of weird. And when you get into the depths of that song, they really get sort of weird. But just the first part talking about, you know, February made me shiver with everything I delivered. It's definitely about Buddy and Chevrolet. But when he gets into that. The father, son and the Holy Ghost. Yeah, that part of the coast. He sort of should have left that out. I think it was a it is a different song that I think about that song. But when I went out to the gravesite today, I was the only one there. And it was it was pretty it was a very solemn moment for me. I'd never I've always wanted to visit the gravesite. Then, you know, singing with Sherry is amazing. But I sang a song to Buddy out there. And I just I just felt moved to sing a song. So I just did. But it really meant a lot to me to go out there. There was some. Yeah, it affects different people in different ways. But I'm such a strong believer in the fact that he's not out there. That's just the bones and. Playing in there and even. The body that's in there won't go to heaven. It'll just be the the body will go, but it won't be flesh and blood because there won't be no flesh and blood up there. It's what our preacher said. It just the soul, the spirit, you'll have a new body like Jesus Christ when you get there. And I'm in a way, I'm looking forward to the day that I can be up there and see the Lord and see Buddy and see my wife and mother and daddy. They're all up there. Any closing thoughts about today? I mean, today's is today a special day for you or just another day? Yeah. No, it's just another day. I mean, I got over being really upset and emotional. And I think of Buddy not out there in the graveyard. I think of him up there with the Lord and with my wife and the rest of the people, mother and daddy. And I just live to get up there. But I want to stay here as long as I can because the Lord wants me to talk to people. That's good. That's good. Do you ever listen to Buddy's music anymore? Do you ever listen to a song here and there? No, I don't listen to him. I've never played any on my fiddle or nothing or the guitar. In fact, is I don't like to hear any of Buddy's music by anybody else. But Buddy, but I listen to him every now and then. I hear him all the time when they're playing them. But I don't I've got albums that were never open to him. Can I take a picture with me and you? You can stay right there. Yeah. Whenever. And I took one of us last time, but I just thought I'd take one today, too.