In 1958 I was a 15 year old boy living in the wilds of Suffolk, UK, who had grown up with such pearls on the wireless as “How Much Is That Doggie In The Window” but then found myself able to play 78 records of Bill Haley and Elvis on the latest wind-up gramophone!
Imagine my amazement the following year to find that Buddy Holly, who had smashed the 1957 record charts with “That’ll be the Day” was about to hit the Ipswich Gaumont with the Crickets as part of his UK tour!
As a 78 year old rocker now, I find it difficult to remember all the detail of that wonderful concert, but I do recall how spine-tingling it was when Buddy started to play his incredible Fender Stratocaster guitar, and everybody began dancing in the aisles.
The climax of the day was to wrestle my way through a mob of teenagers (mainly girls, which was an added bonus!) to the stage door, where my small piece of paper was signed by Buddy, Gerry Allison and Joe Mauldin – a memento that I’ve treasured to this day, but that I’m hoping will now finance some important needs in my grand-daughter’s affairs.
As an amusing aside, I’ve noticed in the Memorabilia website archive a post from a lady who appears to have possibly been in the same autograph scrum as me on March 15th, 1958 – the mind spins!
A legacy (?) of this landmark in my musical education may well reside in the memories of the good folk of Little Bealings where, later that year, my brother and I performed “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” in the local village hall as part of the Scout “Gang Show” – nobody clamoured for our autographs though………..