On Feb. 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens hired a small
airplane to take them from Clear Lake, Iowa, to Moorhead, Minn., for the next
gig in their “Winter Dance Party” tour. The plane made it about eight miles
before crashing in a cornfield, killing everybody on board.
The toll left a hole in rock & roll, but it was Buddy Holly’s passing at the age of 22 that was most keenly felt. He recorded music for only two years, but Holly already was one of his era’s most innovative and imitated songwriters. After his death, Holly’s popularity just kept growing.
Enter John Mueller, musician, actor, and big Buddy Holly fan. Mueller, a native of Wichita, Kan., played music when he was young, teaching himself favorites by Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and other early rock pioneers. In his late teens, Mueller relocated to Chicago to pursue acting and found work in theater, films, and commercials. After seven successful years in the Windy City, he packed up and headed for Hollywood.
Mueller’s big break came in 1996 when he combined his acting and music talents for the lead in Buddy . . . The Buddy Holly Story, a national traveling theater show. As the awards and praise rolled in (former Crickets member Niki Sullivan called Mueller a reincarnation of Holly), he was established as the nation’s No. 1 Buddy Holly impressionist. Since then, he has donned the black plastic glasses countless times to sing “That’ll Be the Day,” “Peggy Sue,” “Words of Love,” and other Holly classics.
In the late ’90s, Mueller joined other musicians to resurrect the Winter Dance Party tour. The new version has fared much better than the original, including a safely-traveled 40th anniversary tour in which the group attempted to play in as many of the original venues as they could. In addition to Mueller, other performers in the Winter Dance Party include Jay P. Richardson Jr., who portrays his father, the Big Bopper, and Ray Anthony, who plays Ritchie Valens.
Incidentally, back in 1959, the last scheduled date of the Winter Dance Party tour was Feb. 15, at the Illinois State Armory.
The Winter Dance Party featuring John Mueller hits Springfield on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m. in the Springfield High School Auditorium, 101 South Lewis. Tickets are $20 in advance and available at Recycled Records (522-5122) or for $23 at the door.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2004.
