# 21 Part 4, The final part of the series, where Tommy Allsup recalls events with Buddy Holly, leading to Buddy Dying in a plane crash

Part 4 The final in the interview series where Oklahoma Music Maker, Tommy Allsup, recalls, in his own words, his Historical Account, of the Events, with Buddy Holly, leading to Buddy, Richie Valens, J.P. Richardson aka The Big Bopper and the pilot, being killed together, in a plane crash.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

This is the fourth and final part of the Tommy Allsup interview, in his own words.

: 0:12

Well, it was, it went pretty good. A fact, we didn't have a drummer and we're switching around and I saw Richard Moore that night and buddy got the early are we want to. We got to. We were late getting there and he had talked to Anderson and got that manager and got range was for me and him to Wayland to fly the big bopper had the flu and he talked to wayland battery. There's another seat. He had locked the habit and wayland said, we can go in my place. I don't really care about flying that much. So he gave up his seat. Well, when Richie found out to Barbara was going and he wanted to fly and he asked me several times, but I saw him a lot more that night because we were on stage a lot.

Speaker 1: 0:51

He was back in the other acts, you know, playing drums and uh, and he asked me four or five times 50 fly. And probably that was reason because I've seen him before that night. And I usually did. But that's the main thing I remember about the surface, the fact that it was, uh, it was, it was different in the sense that, you know, you don't feed your buddy back here playing drums, star of the show and uh, and you don't, just things like that you will stand out in your mind. And, and now 50 years later you got pictures that you tell people about it and you wonder through the years late, thank you, been lying about it. And then now here, all of a sudden we got pictures to back us up what we've been telling people for 50 years. She goes and you remember, I remembered all that, you know, grow. Yeah. Thirty$6 a piece. We paid for the cost of the charter. Yeah. Well it didn't happen to, after I got off with loaded everything on the bus and I got my little bag of dirty shirts and was getting into the wagon and got in the backseat. But the big bopper and buddy turned around and said, go back in there, Tom, and check, make sure we got everything loaded out because we was using Carl's drums. And uh, uh, I went back and checked events and make sure we had loaded everything off the stage and, and he never said that before and it was kind of odd, you know, and I didn't think about it for years, you know, but I've wondered why he did ask me go back in there, you know, I don't, I think it was the reason, the fact that was used in Carl's drums and they left Carla, left his clothes bag hanging in a dressing room a few nights before that. But had he not said that I'd been on the way to the airport, you know, with them. But that's one of the saw richie and there, he was still in the building signing autographs and he asked me against it, you're going let me fly. And I just pulled out a fifty cent piece and flipped it and call it. And he called a and it ahead. So I went back to buddy about it and he said, well let me. I said, well, you pick up a letter for him at the airport. And he said, yeah, or airport, will you pick up a letter to post office? And he said, yeah, give me some Id. My mother had sent me a letter and back then you got your mail through general delivery. So he, uh, I was trying to find my driver's license. He just said, I'll give me your wallet. And he just took my wallet and stuck it in his inside pocket. And that's, that's why they found five. Are these the next morning? No, look for bodies coaster close, kind of ripped off of them. And they found that all the guys wallets were laying around, you know, that mine was laying outside the of buddies coat. The sheriff told me. Yeah. The first news went out, said I could be what? It listed, all five names, but they only found four bodies and they found five names. And it wasn't until later up in the morning at the Mr Anderson, the manager of the ballroom went out there and told them that, that who the four was that I wasn't on the plane. Yeah. It was kind of weird. I was talking to my mom in Claremore, Oklahoma and, and the lady next door was trying to tell her, call her and tell her that she had heard about it on the television radio station that I was listed as one of the people on that plane. I was asking her and she been watching TV that morning. She said, no, she hadn't turned it on, but the very minute I was talking to her, well miss lady named Gaddis lived next door, was trying to get through to her. And her line was busy telling us she just heard on the radio at it. And then I've got several rallies up here. They heard the same announcement, you know, where I could have been one of the people on the plane, you know, actually from the surf ballroom to that airport. Uh, it's, it's probably less than two miles and it's, it's in Mason city, but it's right on the line where you see the, when you're going into to clear lake from Mason city, it says, it says clear lake and you can look to the right right there. And that's where the runway started, where they took off from. So that's standard to at clear lake side, throw a rock out there on the runway where they put where they left from that night because they took off to the east instead of the runway where it runs north and south, but they took off to the east and circle back to the south, come back over the runway and went right straight down the runway kind of northwest, you know. And uh, and then Doris told me, he said, I'll watch the plane lights. He said then all, you know, they went over the horizon, but I think the plane was going down more than going over the horizon. It was just, you know, they were losing altitude, right? Yep. When I gave buddy my wallet and I slapped him on the arm and said, I'll see you in glare. Liked the next day. That was it. It was cold and clear, you know, it was like, probably it had been like 15 below zero. And uh, it was probably that, it was probably that code, but it was clear, you know, and they talk about snow stores. There was snow on the ground, but you know, what, no snowstorm going on there was flurries or in the area, you know, I think just the kid couldn't read the, you know, he wouldn't work, checked out on his instrument flying. So I think that was the big deal right there. Yeah. We had, we had for Fargo, North Dakota and that's where we're staying. And the big bopper that day he got sick. He which stopped at an army navy store and he'd bought a sleeping bag and old cam to sleeping bag. And I got that sleeping bag. Then he said, you can use it. And uh, I've heard people say, well white. And said he got into a sleeping bag, but I'm the one that slept in the state of sleeping bag. And back back in those days they had a seat all the way across the bus for, for the black American African American people. That's where they used to say it in the back of the bus. And that seat went all the way across and I got back here and lay down on that seat and got into a sleeping bag and was actually warm all the way to clear lake or from clear lake to a Fargo, North Dakota, which is about 350 miles. And we got in there about the tent, about 11:00 the next day. Ten Thirty, 11:00. Yeah. Walked in a hotel, men that road manager. And I was up and uh, set up front talking to him when we got there and wildland, everybody was still asleep on the bus and he and I walked into a hotel and I told the guy today, so I said, put me next to buddy holly. And he said, uh, well mandate new here. So dim guys got killed. Well, when we was walking through the lobby of the big boppers picture was on the television. I thought it was just an advertisement for the day. It's about the time this guy told me they changed the pictures to show him buddy and Richie, you know. And yeah, that's how we heard it.

Speaker 2: 7:20

This concludes our special presentation on Tommy. Also, we hope you've enjoyed listening to his account of the time he'd spent with rock and roll legend Buddy Holly. You've been listening to Oklahoma music legends. Spread the word we can be found on itunes, stitcher, Google music, flay and on spotify. Find all of our podcasts on our website, Oklahoma music legends.com. Click on the podcast link where you'll find all of our stories while you're there. Check out our updated picture galleries. Join our Oklahoma music legends facebook page for Oklahoma music legends. I've Tommy Hinshaw. Thanks for listening.