youtu.be/IQ2CyIkq_Yg For Beverly Gilbreath Music Career Beginnings in music The 12-year-old Jennings auditioned for a spot on KVOW in Littlefield, Texas. Owner J.B. McShan, along with Emil Macha, recorded Jenningss performance. McShan liked his style and hired him for a weekly 30-minute program. Following this successful introduction, Jennings formed his own band. He asked Macha to play bass for him, and gathered other friends and acquaintances to form The Texas Longhorns. The style of the band, a mixture of country and western and bluegrass, was often not well received. At age sixteen, after being punished on several occasions, Jennings was convinced to drop out of high school by the superintendent, in the tenth grade. Upon leaving school, he worked for his father in the produce store, also taking temporary jobs. Jennings felt that, besides being his fondest activity, playing music would turn into his career. The next year, Jennings and The Texas Longhorns recorded a demo of the songs “Stranger in My Home” and “Therell Be a New Day” at KFYO radio in Lubbock, Texas. Meanwhile, he drove a truck for the Thomas Land Lumber Company, and the Roberts Lumber Company driving a cement truck. Tired of the owner, and after a minor accident while driving, Jennings quit the job. Jennings and other local musicians would perform at country music station KDAV. During this time, he met Buddy Holly at a Lubbock restaurant. He and Holly later became friends, often coming across each other during local shows; while Jennings would also attend later in 1954 Hollys performances on KDAVs Sunday Party In addition to performing on air for KVOW, Jennings started to work as a D.J. for the station in 1956, and moved to Lubbock. His program ran for six hours, from four in the afternoon to ten in the evening. Jennings played two hours of country music classics, two of current country and the last two hours were dedicated to mixed recordings. During the last two hours of his show, Jennings would play artists such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The owner would reprimand him each time he aired the recordings, and after one day he played two Richard records in a row, he fired him. During his time at KVOW, Jennings was visited by D.J Sky Corbin, who worked at KLVT in Levelland, Texas. Corbin was impressed with Jennings voice, and decided to visit him at the station after hearing him sing a jingle to the tune of Hank Snows Im Movin On. During the visit Jennings expressed his economical struggle to live with a US$50-a week salary. Corbin invited Jennings to visit them at KLVT, where he eventually took Corbins position after he moved to work to another station.The Corbin family later purchased KLLL, in Lubbock. They changed the format of the station to country, becoming the main competition of KDAV. The Corbins hired Jennings as the first stations D.J. For the newly created station, Jennings also produced commercials and created jingles with the rest of the D.Js. As their popularity in town increased, the D.Js participated in public appearances, that in Jennings case included live performances. During a performance, L.O Holley, the father of Buddy Holly approached them with his sons latest record, and requested them to play it at the station. L.O Holley mentioned his sons intention to start producing artists himself, and Corbin recommended him Jennings. After returning from his England tour, Buddy Holly visited KLLL Holly took Jennings as his first artist. He purchased for him new clothes, and took him to a barber to improve his looks. He arranged a session for Jennings at Norman Pettys recording studios in Clovis, New Mexico. On September 10 Jennings recorded the songs “Jole Blon” and “When Sin Stops (Love Begins)” with Holly and Tommy Allsup on guitars with saxophonist King Curtis. Holly then hired Jennings to play electric bass for him during his “Winter Dance Party Tour.” While the tour was due to start, and Holly vacationed with his wife in Lubbock, Jennings helped him complete his song Youre the One, in December 1958. Jennings and Holly soon left for New York City,arriving on January 15, 1959. Jennings stayed at Hollys apartment by Washington Square Park, on the days prior to a meeting scheduled on the headquarters of the General Artists Corporation, that organized the tour. They later took a train in Grand Central Terminal to Union Station, in Chicago to group with the rest of the band. The tour began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 23, 1959. The amount of travel created a logistical problem with the tour. The distance between venues had not been considered when scheduling each performance. Adding to the disarray, the tour buses that were not equipped for the weather broke two times. After a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly chartered a plane for himself, Jennings and Allsup to avoid a long bus trip to Fargo, North Dakota. Jennings gave up his seat to J. P. Richardson, who was suffering from a cold and complaining about how uncomfortable a long bus trip was for a man of his size. Holly jokingly told Jennings, “I hope your ol bus freezes up!” Jennings replied, “Well, I hope your ol plane crashes!” During the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, later known as The Day the Music Died, the charter crashed outside Clear Lake, killing all on board. Jennings family heard on the radio that Buddy Holly and his band had been killed. After calling his family, Jennings called Sky Corbin at KLLL from Fargo to notify that he was alive. The General Artists Corporation promised to pay a first class ticket for Jennings and the band to assist Hollys funeral in Lubbock, in exchange for them playing that night in Moorhead, Minnesota. After the first show, they were originally denied their payment by the venue, and after Jennings persistence, they were paid. The flights were never paid, and Jennings and Allsup finished the tour for two more weeks, featuring Jennings as the lead singer. They were paid less than half of the original agreed salary, and upon returning to New York, Jennings put Hollys guitar and amplifier in a locker in Grand Central Station and mailed the keys to Maria Elena Holly. Then, he returned to Lubbock. Jennings later admitted that he felt severe guilt and responsibility for the crash. Jole Blon was released on Brunswick in March 1959 with limited success. Now unemployed, he returned to KLLL. Still affected by the death of Holly, his performance at the station worsened. He left the station after being denied a raise, and later worked briefly for the competition, KDAV
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 15:52:30 +0000
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