Report by Jude Paton. Photographs by Matthew Thomas

The music died because Buddy Holly merely wanted what every touring musician wants to do: the laundry. In an unheated buses on the “Winter Dance Party” tour in 1959, Holly, tired of travelling through the Midwest with dirty clothes, chartered a plane to fly from Clear Lake, Iowa, to Fargo, North Dakota where he hoped he could make an appointment with a washing machine. Joining him on the plane were Ritchie Valens and, after Waylon Jennings gave up his seat, “The Big Bopper.” The plane crashed in bad weather killing everyone on board. The toll was incalculable: the singers of “Peggy Sue” and “Donna” and “La Bamba” were dead. Holly was just 22, Valens just 17, Big Bopper 29. Rock and roll would never be the same.

Thirteen years later, Don McLean wrote a song about this tragedy: “American Pie,” an 8½ minute epic with an iconic lyric about “the day the music died.” Last week the original 16-page working manuscript of the lyrics was sold at auction for $1.2 million (over £800,000) and Don McLean at 70 has cut himself a slice of music history gaining third place in the highest price paid for lyrics behind Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and Lennon's "A Day in the Life." 

 

I have heard "American Pie" sung on many occasions at Open Mic Sessions, sometimes all 800 words but more often a shortened version as time normally wouldn't allow for the full 8½ minutes. There are countless songs that have a story behind the lyrics. Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" is the sad tale of a High School student who shot himself in front of his classmates, there's Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", Carly Simon's "You're So Vain", Bobby Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" and a popular song at Open Mic "Up the Junction" by Squeeze. Life's experiences and life's tragedies recorded in words and music live on forever.

 

Unusually Tuesday's Open Mic session at the Royal Naval Association in Newport only had self penned songs from young Olly Flavell who was first in the spotlight and is a rising star of Open Mics and live music sessions all over the County. If you were to find yourself  walking alongside the Birmingham Canal Basin on a Sunday lunchtime then Olly's jazzy sound from any of the canalside pubs would not go amiss.

 

Alan Critchley from Wellington provided excellent vocals alongside a backing track and had everyone clicking their fingers to Roger Miller's "King of the Road". Dedicated to Sue in the audience, a song with a story behind it followed with Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" written about George Harrison's ex wife Pattie Boyd in 1976, while waiting for her to get ready to attend Paul and Linda McCartney's annual Buddy Holly party. Just to make sure there wasn't a dry eye left in the house Alan finished a lovely set with "You Are So Beautiful" by the late great Joe Cocker.

 

12 year old Jay Harris who took part in the Easter weekend Big Busk in Shrewsbury seems to have grown enormously in musical stature over the past few weeks. He rarely performs the same song over two or three consecutive weeks and this week was no exception. Pigeon Detective, Fallout Boy and Catfish and the Bottlemen are not the norm on an Open Mic playlist. Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" was more familiar territory for me and completed an excellent set.

 

Father and son Mike and Mikey Collins from Perton billed themselves as Mike's Grumpy Band and together with drummer Nigel Tidy couldn't go wrong with a storming version of Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark".  From Springsteen to Greenday to The Undertones to Wilson Pickett........you couldn't wish for greater diversity in a set.

 

Paul Crewe was our man AND comedian on the sound desk, but took his seat on the drum stool with Lost the Plot alongside Ed Conway whose 50th birthday is only days away and Simon Mann on bass and "trumpet". Smiles all round and first class entertainment from these three as always, in disguise as Frank, Bob and Sid in the hitherto unknown band Clunk the Pigeon. "Video Killed the Radio Star" a one hit wonder by Buggles, "I Wanna Be Like You" from Jungle Book, "Daydream Believer" complete with dance routine and "Delilah"......a great choice of songs from these lads.

 

Always good to see the multi-talented Rich Evans at the Navy and once again diversity was the name of the game effortlessly going from Bob Marley to Neil Sedaka to the Commodores. Just a tiny fraction of his huge repertoire.

 

Claire Shaw, a talented singer/songwriter from Telford performed 4 covers in her own  unique style with George Ezra's "Blame it on Me" followed by a real crowd pleaser with the sizeable audience joining in with "Sweet Caroline". Once more a sizeable audience with several new faces at Tuesday's Open Mic stayed to hear the closing bars of "Whiskey in the Jar".

 

A tremendous night of live music. Same place, same time next week at the Royal Naval Association in Bellman's Yard. Newport Open Mic....don't miss it and KEEP MUSIC LIVE.