THE (SECOND) DAY THE MUSIC DIED...

On March 3, 1963, Patsy Cline, famous for "I Fall To Pieces" and Willie Nelson's "Crazy", played a benefit concert in Kansas City with George Jones, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and others. Two days later, she was killed in a plane crash, along with Hawkins and Copas, only 90 miles from her destination. That day, three country music stars died; a fourth, Jack Anglin, of Johnny and Jack, best known for "Ashes of Love", was killed in a car accident on the way to a memorial for Patsy Cline. Ironically, country singer Dottie West had pleaded with Pasty not to board the plane, but to ride back home with her by car. Patsy refused, wanting to get back sooner to her children.

Almost four years earlier, on February 2, 1959, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash after playing a show in Iowa. Valens got a seat by flipping a coin with Holly's bandmate, Tommy Allsup, and won the toss. The Big Bopper convinced a second Holly bandmember, Waylon Jennings, to give up his seat. Of course, this story was immortalized in Don McLean's classic, "The Day The Music Died".

I think the death of Patsy Cline, Hawkins, Copas and, indirectly, Anglin was a devastating blow to country music. That's why I call it, "The (Second) Day The Music Died."

Patsy Cline: "Leaving On Your Mind"


Patsy Cline

Porter Tubb