Locals recall Coshocton's connection to the Day the Music Died

Leonard L. Hayhurst, Coshocton Tribune
·5 min read

COSHOCTON − Almost 65 years later, The Day the Music Died remains one of the most tragic and talked about events in music history.

Amateur music historians Mark Steuer, Bob Swanstrom and Scott Heikkinen talk with Larry Stahl, who was present at the Winter Dance Party tour stop in Coshocton in February 1959. The tour is most famous for the deaths of music pioneers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, who died in a plane crash. The shows continued with the concert in Coshocton about a week after the tragedy.

However, few may know that Coshocton County has a connection to the aftermath with locals having vivid memories of not only the deaths of three rock 'n roll pioneers, but a concert that followed living up to the old motto of the show must go on.

On Feb. 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and “Big Bopper” J.P. Richardson died in an airplane crash shortly after it took off from Clear Lake, Iowa, on its way to Moorehead, Minnesota. They were headliners of the Winter Dance Party tour.

Promoters decided to continue the tour and complete scheduled dates with replacement acts. That included a stop for two shows on Feb. 12 in Coshocton at the armory.

The poster for the show advertised Buddy Holly's Crickets, Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Dion and the Belmonts and Frankie Sardo as an extra attraction. Tickets for those through junior high school age were 75 cents and high school through adult was $1.50. Proceeds were to benefit youth activities by the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

Amateur music historian Dan Heikkinen of Duluth, Minnesota, looks at memorabilia with Carole Cornell and Judy Blair from a concert in February 1959 in Coshocton, part of the Winter Dance Party tour. The show happened about a week after the famed The Day the Music Died tragedy.
Amateur music historian Dan Heikkinen of Duluth, Minnesota, looks at memorabilia with Carole Cornell and Judy Blair from a concert in February 1959 in Coshocton, part of the Winter Dance Party tour. The show happened about a week after the famed The Day the Music Died tragedy.

Historians visit

Recently, amateur music historians visited Coshocton to talk with residents who attended one of the concerts and visit points of interest such as the old armory building on Otsego Avenue and WTNS Radio, which sponsored the show and played the popular music of the day.

The trip was organized by Sevan Garabedian of Canada, who was unable to make it due to visa issues. Visiting were Mark Steuer, Bob Swanstrom and brothers Dan and Scott Heikkinen. After Coshocton, they made stops in Louisville, Kentucky, and Springfield and Peoria, Illinois, that were also part of the tour.

"We wanted to research this whole tour and all these places these people went and who saw these guys. They're seeing Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, Fabian in some places; you don't see tours like that anymore," Dan said. "It's a slice of Americana for all of us to come here and talk to some of these people that were at these shows. It's stepping back in time."

Music historians Scott Hikkinen and Mark Steuer show pictures to Larry Stahl and Steve Foster at the old armory on Otsego Avenue. Stahl and Foster were at the Winter Dance Part concert tour stop in Coshocton that took place just a week after the famous The Day the Music Died tragedy.
Music historians Scott Hikkinen and Mark Steuer show pictures to Larry Stahl and Steve Foster at the old armory on Otsego Avenue. Stahl and Foster were at the Winter Dance Part concert tour stop in Coshocton that took place just a week after the famous The Day the Music Died tragedy.

Memories of the tour

Steve Foster was only 13 at the time and was dropped off at the armory by his parents. He said most of the attendees were older than him, but he was into rock 'n roll and was a fan of the performers.

"Jimmy Clanton had the greatest ducktail in the world. We had pictures of him all up and down Main Street," Foster said in reference to the popular 1950s haircut. "I stopped by because I did enjoy the music and I've always remembered it clearly. But, I was just too young to soak much of it in and I didn't have many friends here at the time."

Carol Ringer has laminated newspaper clippings she had saved from the Coshocton Tribune. It was a story on the show with a photograph and headshots of Jimmy Clanton and Frankie Avalon. Ringer had many of the stars sign the back of her senior picture, because it's the only thing she had to write on. She can't find it now, but know it must be in her house somewhere.

"It was big in this area. We were out in the country and never had anything like this. I liked music and knew who (the performers) were," Ringer said. "I don't remember that much the night of the show. All I remember is that we were packed in shoulder to shoulder."

Judy Blair said she didn't remember much of the show, but she still had the ticket, signed by Jimmy Clanton on the back, and other autographs.

An autograph by musician Jimmy Clanton on the back of Judy Blair's the ticket for the Winter Dance Party concert held in February 1959 in Coshocton.
An autograph by musician Jimmy Clanton on the back of Judy Blair's the ticket for the Winter Dance Party concert held in February 1959 in Coshocton.

Terry and Arlene Reddick, married today, were dating at the time. Arlene really wasn't a fan of the music, but Terry was and drug her along.

"I wanted to see Buddy Holly. He wasn't there and I wasn't happy," Terry said.

Tina Dobson was the daughter of Sheriff Bill Hoop. Since the Coshocton County Sheriff's Office was providing security, she got to go backstage and meet all the performers. Her favorites to meet were Jimmy Clanton and Dion DiMucci.

"To be honest, I don't remember the concert. I remember all the backstage stuff," Dobson said.

Laminated music clipping owned by Carol Ringer from a concert part of the Winter Dance Party tour held in Coshocton in February 1959.
Laminated music clipping owned by Carol Ringer from a concert part of the Winter Dance Party tour held in Coshocton in February 1959.

Suellen Husted didn't know the concert was happening until someone gave her a ticket.

"I walked out the door and saw a tour bus. I had never seen a tour bus in my life. It said 'The Jimmy Clanton Show' and I about died," Husted recalled.

Her father owned a print shop and told Husted he was friends with every policeman in town. If she ever did anything bad, he'd know about it. Husted took that to heart.

"We were all standing on these risers and jumping up and down while hanging onto nothing but each other. I looked across the way and there stood my dad in the doorway with a policeman," Husted said. "Some of the girls were going to The AC after, but I knew he wouldn't like it if I was there because they sold liquor."

The AC was the best bar and restaurant in town at the time. Husted was told that many of the stars went there after the show and Avalon couldn't finish his steak because of being bombarded by autograph seekers. His biggest hit, "Venus," had just been released.

"I have all these memories of people I saw," Husted said of the experience after all these years.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Locals recall Coshocton's connection to the Day the Music Died