Maria Elena Holly (Buddy Holly’s widow) 50 Winters Later
On February 2, 2009 i had the honor of opening the finale concert for the Buddy Holly 50 Winters Later week in Clear Lake, Iowa at the Surf Ballroom. I sang a song my father wrote called “Wishing”, and then sang backups later on that night for Dave Mason, and Pat Dinizio from The Smithereens. It was an honor.
I also had an impromptu interview with Maria Elena Holly from the dressing room of the Surf Ballroom. While most people have to pre-arrange interviews like this……i just asked if i could talk to her for a minute on camera, and then led her into the dressing room…….into what really turns out to be a pretty poignant setting for the interview. The dressing room was probably the last “building” that Buddy Holly was ever in, and the dressing room door was a door that led he and the others into rock ‘n’ roll history.
I would imagine that the fact that my father, Bob Montgomery, was one of Buddy’s closest friends and his first musical partner in the musical duo “Buddy and Bob” probably gives me special access to Maria Elena Holly.
From http://www.history-of-rock.com/buddy_holly.htm :
“In 1951 Buddy met Bob Montgomery, a fellow seventh-grader at Hutchinson Jr. High, who also played guitar and sang country songs. Montgomery’s taste in music ran to country music, especially Hank Williams, and Montgomery would be a major influence over Buddy’s choice of music.”
”In fact, their popularity grew so much they were given their own half-hour program each Sunday. Their repertoire remained basically country with Bob Montgomery still singing lead. But as 1954 progressed, Buddy began to sing more blues and “bop” numbers on the show. Although Montgomery was the principal composer during their partnership, Buddy also began to write. Two of these three songs were “Heartbeat” and “Love’s Made a Fool of You,” both recorded several years later.
In January of 1956, Buddy was offered a contract from Decca Records. The only hitch was that they were interested in just Buddy. Montgomery insisted that Buddy go it alone, Welborn stayed in Lubbock to finish high school.”
I’ve found that there are two camps of people when it comes to Maria Elena. There are those that vilify her, and those that love her. I personally choose to take her at face value (See things from her perspective in this Lubbockonline.com story). She has always treated me with respect and even come out of her way to be nice to me…….that is all i know, and all i care about.
I do think that this video captures a woman who is remarkably vibrant for her age, and puts into living motion a woman that so many have only seen in frozen pictures from the past.
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Check out more interview and live performances from the 50 Winters Later week at this earlier blog http://www.kevinmontgomery.com/2009/02/09/live-from-the-buddy-holly-celebration-at-the-surf-ballroom-interviews-and-more/
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