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Vol 8, No 56

February 25, 1957

Monday Evening

The Crickets record That'll Be the Day

Crickets record First Hit
CLOVIS NM (1957)  When drummer Jerry Allison of the Crickets saw the new movie "The Searchers", he immediate became a fan of John Wayne. During one of the band's rehearsals, Buddy told Jerry, he'd sure like to record a hit record, to which Jerry replied in a John Wayne drawl "That'll Be the Day". That line became the inspiration for the song "That'll Be the Day" which became the Crickets first No 1 hit.
   "That'll Be the Day" was the first song that John Lennon learned to play on the guitar. Paul McCarney once remarked that if it weren't for the Crickets, there'd be no Beatles. Other band names like "The Searchers" and "The Hollies" pay tribute to this sensational rock band from Lubbock.
   Earlier, in July 1956, at Decca Studios in Nashville, Buddy Holly and his band recorded the original "That'll be the Day", but at the producer's insistence, Holly sang the song slowly as a country ballad.
   After attending a concert by Elvis Presley at the Cotton Club in Lubbock, Buddy Holly and his band gave up Country and Western music, and took up Rock and Roll.
   By 1957, and under the leadership of producer Norman Petty, Buddy Holly re-recorded the song, but because the Decca label forbid using the name Buddy Holly on the record, the song was re-recorded under the band's name "The Crickets".
   It was this second version that was released on May 27, 1957 and reached No 1 on Billboards top 100, and launched Buddy Holly and the Crickets into rock and roll history.
   The hit song played a roll in Don McLean's hit "American Pie" about the sudden death of Buddy Holly in 1959 (the day the music died), with the line in his refrain, "This will be the day that I die" referring to the plane crash and Holly's first hit.
   In 1976, Linda Ronstadt hit No 1 with her version of the song, and in 1979, Paul McCartney bought the publishing rights to Crickets's songs including "That'll Be the Day".

Communication Desk
WFAA joins the National Broadcasting Co network
DALLAS  (1927)   On this date in 1927, WFAA in Dallas becomes the first radio station in Texas to be come affiliated with a national network, the National Broadcasting Company.

Political Desk
UT Students Protest mandatory Oaths
AUSTIN  (1959)   On this date in 1959, students at the University of Texas attempt to march in protest of a bill requiring public school teachers to sign an oath attesting to a belief in a Supreme Being. The protest march is stopped, however, by Campus police.

Religion Desk
San Ildefonso Mission established
SAN ANTONIO   (1749)    On this date in 1749, San Ildefonso Mission was established in present day Milam County.