Days the music died connected to Texas

Did everyone check out the news this week? There was a story that didn't get very much play, but we believe it to be quite significant.

Mark David Chapman is eligible for parole as he sits in prison serving a 20-years-to-life sentence for murder.

Mark David Chapman is the assassin who gunned down former Beatle John Lennon outside his New York City apartment in 1980. Chapman was a real man about it ... walked up and shot him in the back.

American singer/songwriter Don McClean had a huge hit in the 70s with the anthem, "American Pie." The song discusses the day the music died ... describing the plane crash in 1959 that killed Charles Hardin Holly -- also known as Buddy Holly -- as well as J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens.

I have maintained there have actually been four days that music died ... and I will be adding a fifth this year as I've come to understand the significance of another day the music died. In fact, the new day on the list might be the most significant of them all.

Interestingly, all of the days the music died have a Texas connection.

The subjects of the Don McClean song are truly representative of the day the music died. Lubbock's own Buddy Holly was a break through artist and might be one of the first "crossover" artists in history. His music was welcome on both mainstream country and renegade rock and roll stations.

The Big Bopper had a huge, monster hit with "That's What I Like." Ritchie Valens was only 17 at the time of the crash and his whole life and career in front of him.

Another day the music died occurred Sept. 20, 1973. A small plane carrying singer/songwriter Jim Croce crashed in a field killing him and the pilot. The Texas connection? Croce was flying to Sherman to perform a concert at Austin College.

Croce was a monster star and ushered in the great singer/songwriters of the 70s ... McClean, James Taylor (although Taylor had been an established star since the 60s) and others. I believe Croce would have put together a string of number one hits as impressive as anyone's out there.

Day the music died number three, the aforementioned death of John Lennon. The impact Lennon and his fellow Beatle bandmates (well, perhaps with the notable exception of Ringo) left on the music industry goes without saying. Even the death of John Lennon has a Texas connection ... Mark David Chapman was born May 10, 1955 in Fort Worth.

Aug. 27, 1990 -- another day the music died. Dallas' own and Texas guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed in a helicopter crash leaving a Chicago concert. There are four or five guitar players credited with revolutionizing the way the instrument is played. Les Paul. Eddie Van Halen. Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton. One has to list Stevie Ray Vaughan as one such artist.

Who knows how significant SRV would be right now if he hadn't tragically been taken from us. He was able to take a niche music genre and take it mainstream. No blues artist had done it before and for my money, nobody has done it since. I supposed you can make a case for Clapton, but I think blues player Robert Cray put it best. "There are a lot of frustrated guitar players out there tryin to play Stevie's stuff."

Finally -- and I believe this is the most significant day the music died -- there is March 31, 1995. Selena Quintanilla-Perez is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar in Corpus Christi. Selena was born in Lake Jackson and died in Texas as well ... completing the Texas connection for all of the days the music died.

Selena was only 23 when she was murdered by someone she thought she could trust. In fact, if the movie "Selena" starring Jennifer Lopez is accurate, Saldivar was allowed into the inner circle of the Quintanilla circle.

Why is this the most significant day the music died? Well, because a genre of music actually died when Selena was shot and killed.

Like the other artists in this list, Selena was a crossover artist. Her music was adored on both Spanish language and general market radio. The Tejano music scene exploded with the rise of Selena. Since her passing, Tejano music has really never been the same. Nobody else as emerged as the torch bearer for the genre.

The Real. Texas. Festival. has a special place for Tejano and for the legacy that former Texan Selena created. It is hoped that the next "Selena" will emerge and Tejano will once again rise to prominence as a relevant, top-of-mind style.