BARRY LEVINE: What would have been the impact of Holly, Valens?

February 3 marked the 57th anniversary of the most famous airplane disaster in rock ‘n’ roll history, an accident that claimed the lives of stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and pilot Roger Peterson.

The crash happened shortly after takeoff from the municipal airport in Mason City, Iowa.

Holly, 22, had been the most successful of the three, placing eight songs in the Top 40, one posthumously, during his abbreviated career. Three of his hits made the Top 10, “That’ll Be the Day,” No. 1, “Peggy Sue,” No. 3, and “Oh, Boy!,” No. 10, all in 1957.

Valens, 17, had two Top 40 hits, “Donna,” No. 1 in 1958 and “La Bamba,” No. 22 in 1959.

Richardson, 28, had been a DJ in Texas, before turning to recording. He had two Top 40 hits in 1958, “Chantilly Lace,” No. 4, and “Big Bopper’s Wedding, No. 38.

But what if the crash never occurred? What kind of rock careers would they had enjoyed? Would they have been able to sustain their early successes?

We posed those questions to two longtime Albany musicians, Bill Denson, a drummer with several different bands, and Davis Kinney, the lead singer for the past eight years for Relapse, a highly popular local band.

Denson worked on radio and TV for local stations. He also worked at Albany State University’s Communications Department for nearly a decade. The 65-year-old has been playing the drums for 52 years.

Kinney, 57, started with The Dreamers, located in the Atlanta-Athens area and featured mostly Drifters and Temptations songs. He joined Relapse eight years ago when lead singer Russell Martin died of cancer.

“Obviously we would not have any more songs from them and we would not have had ‘American Pie’ by Don McLean,” Denson said stating the obvious.

Added Kinney: “The crash certainly increased the impact the three had on rock ‘n’ roll.”

Kinney and Denson had very strong opinions on Holly, who certainly have the greatest impact on rock ‘n’ roll of the trio.

Kinney opted to compare Holly with Elvis Presley.

“Holly certainly had the biggest musical impact of the three singers who died in the crash. Holly was more of an innovator than Elvis. Presley had the looks and was a movie star who was a much better performer on-stage. Holly was known for his big black-rimmed glasses and did little moving when performing. Holly was kind of a geek and certainly wasn’t a pretty boy like Elvis.

“Holly’s style was Western and Elvis’ was Southern. Holly wrote most of his own material while Elvis did little composing. Holly controlled the recording process while Elvis did not,” Kinney explained.

Kinney felt that if Holly had lived, he would have moved more into the production aspect of rock ‘n’ roll than singing.

Said Denson: “Most rock ‘n’ roll at that time was very simple. As an example, listen to Chuck Berry’s early songs and they all sounded the same.

“Holly at that time had begun experimenting with different chords. It’s difficult to project how he would have evolved.”

Both were uncertain what the future might have held for Valens.

“It’s difficult to say what would have happened with Valens,” Kinney said. “”He was only 17 and probably was the first real Spanish rock ‘n’ roll star. Only time would be determined if he would have developed into a superstar.”

Both had similar feelings about the possible future of The Big Bopper. Kinney referred to the Big Bopper as a novelty act with not much of a future as a singer. Denson said he felt The Big Bopper would be placed in the category of one-hit wonders as were many performers during that period.

Denson quickly mentioned that the only reason Richardson was on the plane was because a guitar player and budding country singer with Holly’s band gave up his seat for him.

That singer, Waylon Jennings, had 12 No. 1 and 38 Top 10 hits on the country charts and earned a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

A friendly repartee occurred between Holly and Jennings ensued after the switch that effected Jennings for years. Holly jokingly told Jennings, “I hope your ol’ bus freezes up!” Jennings jokingly replied, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.”

This week in rock history — An estimated 4,000 fans and 300 journalists greeted The Beatles as they touched down at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Feb. 7, 1964. … The Diamonds had their best-selling record with their version of “The Stroll” on Feb. 8, 1958. The song peaked at No. 4. … After nine weeks, Guy Mitchell’s “Singing The Blues” is pushed from top spot on Feb. 9, 1957, by Elvis Presley’s “Too Much.” …

“Chattanooga Choo Choo” by Glen Miller became the first recording to be awarded a Gold Record on Feb. 10, 1942. It was actually just a master copy of the disc sprayed with gold lacquer as a publicity stunt. The actual award recognized today as a Gold Record would not be initiated for another 16 years when the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) borrowed the idea and trademarked the Gold Record. The first Gold single was awarded to Perry Como in 1958 for “Catch A Falling Star.” … The Miracles’ “Shop Around” became Motown Record’s first million-selling single on Feb. 12, 1961. … Frank Sinatra launched his record label, Reprise Records. Although he vowed to never sign any rock artists, the label later became the home of Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and The Beach Boys.

Barry Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected]