BUDDY HOLLY LIVES - The Buddy Holly Fan Pages By Hans

Hier geht es nun weiter mit John Beecher's Bericht vom 2006er Clovis Fest.

Jimmy "Wheels" Torres and a nice fan of the Clovis Music Fest.

It was a little disappointing to discover that this year’s festival was

to be held at the brand new Clovis Civic Center – last year’s venue,

the Marshall Auditorium, was almost perfect as it had a genuine 50s

feel (it was built in 1956 and even sported PA speakers installed by

Norman Petty in the 60s). And fine though the Civic Center is, it felt

a little cold despite the organisers attempts to give it some charm

with 50s decorations.

Next year the plan is to return to the Marshall – it was unavailable this

year due to refurbishment of the airconditioning. That apart, things got

off to a fine start with a nice touch – an opportunity for fans to meet

the artists at a reception at the Civic Center on Wednesday 6th

September, something appreciated by the early birds, although

unfortunately some of us didn’t arrive until the next day.

On the 7th, Buddy Holly’s birthday, there were tours of the Petty

studios and the downtown Lyceum Theater (where Sonny West

recorded Rock-Ola Ruby”) and the Mesa Theater, once the home

of Norman’s second studio.

I’d been travelling to Clovis with Mike Berry and his Outlaws since

the previous day and we’d taken the opportunity to visit Lubbock’s

Buddy Holly Center during the morning with one of the town’s

treasures, Jack Davis.

Jack took the time to show us all the sights in Lubbock, including the

spot where he and Elvis stood at the Fair Park Colisuem in that

famous photo - with Buddy a few yards away. A quick but moving

visit to Buddy’s grave and those of his parents and then we were

on the road again – to Clovis.

Mike was thrilled to be recognised – “Aren’t you Mr Spooner?” (he

was played by Mike in the TV sitcom, 'Are You Being Served') in a

supermarket in Muleshoe, Texas. An early evening event, a dance

contest entitled “Twist Off” may have been great fun but we avoided

it , going instead to meet the probably far more fun Sonny West at

the Lyceum Theater.

I learned later that the afternoon ended with the presentation of a

signed guitar to the raffle winner, a young local Tommy Allsup lookalike

who was thrilled to bits and attended all the week’s events picking up

tips and licks from the bands.

Clovis Poster 2006.jpg

The original

poster of the

Clovis Music

Festival 2006

The String-A-Longs opened the music event proper later in the

evening. They confessed beforehand that they hadn’t played together

in 40 or so years and only had one rehearsal. They soon proved that

old saying that once you can ride a bike, you never forget.

They ran through their hits, from “Wheels” to “Matilda” sounding

just like the records, to the delight of the crowd, which was as

cosmopolitan as could be – OAPs, babes in arms and teenagers,

all out for a good time. And they got it.

Tommy Roe followed - a class act; despite being backed by what looked

but didn’t sound like a bunch of hippies (the Techniques). They got the

feel of his records and other songs just right and with the seating being

a little like those arse-aching doctors waiting room chairs, folks were

soon happy to be up and bopping. Tommy rocks more than you might

imagine and although some of his hits were sometimes what we’d call

lightweights (Hooray For Hazel? Oh, come on, Hazel was a real PT!)

he tore into a few RnR standards with gusto, proving that he has a

rock’n’roll soul. His band too knew what to do – they’d need a lot of

haircutting and Brylcreem to make it at Hemsby but they’ve been to

the college of rock’n’roll knowledge.

Thirsty work.jpg

No beer ?

I don’t know who was inspired to book the LA Party Dolls onto the bill

but they were well qualified to close the show. Despite coming on

looking like Marge Simpson and the Simpettes, they soon sounded like

Veronica and the Ronettes – these young gals have the 60s girl group

scene off pat (whoever she was) and their accentuated beehive

hairdos and busty frocks only serve to back up the illusion.

They rocked through “Stupid Cupid” and rolled the “Loco-Motion”

and “It’s My Party” with great dance moves and real flair. Fabulous

stuff and much appreciated by the crowd who by now would have

all been on the floor if there had been room. Out into the night and

back to our hotel to hobnob with the triumphant String-A-Longs and

a few folks we hadn’t seen since last year and a few we hadn’t seen

since the month before back in the UK – the event attracts an

ever-increasing mob of people who speak proper English and do

their best to sip the US beer with appreciation.