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DAY 56
Saturday May 26th
Clovis NM. to Albuquerque NM.
Clovis is less than 100 miles from Lubbock, and that is the journey that Buddy Holly and the Crickets took to make their first recordings, at the studio of Norman Petty. Norman died in the eighties, followed by his wife in the early nineties. At this point the studio was left in the Petty's estate, with the instructions that it should not be destroyed, to the mercies of two of his advisers. One of these is Kenneth Broad, and I have arranged to meet him this morning for a tour of the studio.
On arrival, I am met by two men, neither of whom is Kenneth. One is Jonathan, who is also here for the tour, the other introduces himself as David Bigham, one of the Roses. The Roses were a local vocal group in the fifties, and, I had learned yesterday, sang backing vocals on several Holly tracks. So there I am, chatting to this 69 year old, who sang on "That'll Be The Day". This was a bonus! |
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For the first part of the tour, Jonathan and I are handed over to Jay Parmenter. Jay is an obvious enthusiast, who was a close friend of the Pettys, and gives up a lot of his time to the preservation of the studios. We are shown the production room, which still has all the original equipment, and listen to some original tracks through this equipment. We are even allowed to sit in the original leather chair, which is where Buddy Holly would have sat when he first listened to the finished version of his own music.
In the studio stand some of the original instruments, including the celeste that Vi Petty played on "Everyday", and the piano she played on "Think It Over." The original microphone stands there too. At the rear of this room is a small apartment, which was used by the artistes when they needed a break. The kitchen was where Vi would make them tea with honey, and the lounge has several pull out beds where they could relax.
At the end of the tour, Jay takes us into town, and we are shown around the Lyceum Theatre, which was used by Norman for recording activities which were too big for the studio. This is a wonderful old theatre, dating from 1919, and the front lobby has a collage of fliers for the acts and films that have appeared there. From there we go past the Foxy Drive-in, where the artistes would dine, to Lubbock Cemetery to see the Pettys' grave, and return to the studio for farewells. That was a morning which produced more than I could have expected.
The drive to Albuquerque this afternoon was just over 200 miles, yet produced some amazing contrasts in scenery. I managed to avoid the weather, besides being able to see storms on either side of me, as the scenery changed from the flatlands around Clovis, in gradual stages to the Rockies, on whose southern tip Albuquerque stands.
I need clean laundry, so I am directed to the local Laundromat. So in the bright early evening sunlight, I am able to complete my chores, whilst staring out of the window at spectacular mountain views.
To round off a thoroughly satisfying day, I drive several miles to an Indian restaurant, advertised in the foyer, and luxuriate in my first curry for two months. |
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