hard to pinpoint why music innovators seem to come from different locations at different times.
London, NYC, Southern California, Nashville and Austin come to mind. could be the social-economic conditions of the area. could be those who moved there to be part of a new sound emerging. could also be the big name labels saturating the area with more talent scouts to exploit a rise in popularity.
whichever theory may appeal to you, it seems to happen repeatedly.
in Buddy's case, there were many soon-to-be known artists arising from west TX at that time. Roy Orbison, "The Big Bopper" AKA J. P. Richardson, Bobby Fuller, Waylon Jennings, Sonny Curtis, Joe B. Mauldin, Virgil Johnson, Niki Sullivan, Glen Hardin, and Tommy Hancock.
many don't know that a young Waylon Jennings [recently hired to play bass for Holly*] was scheduled to be there "The Day The Music Died" but had given up his airplane seat to J. P. Richardson who was very ill with the flu.
excerpt from "I've Always Been Crazy", by Waylon Jennings--second verse:
i've always been different with one foot over the line
winding up somewhere one step ahead or behind
it ain't been so easy, but i guess i shouldn't complain
i've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane
another interesting tidbit about Holly, to me. he bought a Magnatone Custom 280 amp just 6 months before his death.
it was a two channel/stereo 6973 powered 25ish watt circuit per channel.
STOLEN FROM BELOW LINK:
www.vintageguitar.com/11040/buddy-hollys-58-magnatone-280/"The model featured stereo pitch-shifting vibrato and a pair of Jensen 12-inch speakers, alongside two five-inch tweeters, and although Holly was smitten with its sound, studio use was limited to demo sessions only. Had he survived, it might well have been a different story."
i find it interesting that the Magnatone Company was from the southern CA area, just like VALCO. started out as a result of hawaiian style music popularity, much like VALCO. the above amp used the new [for that period] 6973 tube in their circuit, just like VALCO was doing then. the original DICKERSON MUSICAL INSTRUMENT founder Delbert J Dickerson, held a patent for an electric guitar with amplifier built into it's case, just like VALCO built for Danelectro. also, VALCO built amps for everybody and their dog for rebranding.
couldn't find any evidence to prove my suspicions though...
mitchfit
*Jimmmy Page played bass for the Yardbirds-- to get in the band. Skunk Baxter played bass for Hendrix-- to get in the band.
