THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED

Don McLean exploded into my life when by chance, I heard his ballad "American Pie" on the radio. It was a complicated structure, almost a cantata, but it had a spontaneity that almost seemed improvised. But if you examined it carefully, a clear structure emerges but with touches of Christian revivals. 

I have called Don MacLean the "Shakespeare of Song." Even though, he was born in 1945, when I was nine years old, we have had strangely parallel careers. He delivered the morning newspapers in his hometown of New Rochelle, and he identified with country music. I delivered the morning Amarillo Globe, and identified with the music of Gershwin and Broadway. 

I discovered Don MacLean through his epic, The Day the Music Died, as I had attended Texas Tech and knew of Buddy Holly when he performed around Lubbock. My girlfriend Dorothy scheduled Holly to perform at Texas Tech. Holly grew up in Lubbock and sang western music as he was growing up. I grew up in Amarillo, always pursuing New York, Gershwin, and the musical theater scene. I wrote musicals every year through grade school, junior high, and Amarillo High School, where I edited the school newspaper, the yearbook, and wrote a musical show every year that I performed in, including "The Ballad of the Blue Rose." I cast my high school idol, Caroline Southwood to dance in the ballet.

But when I discovered MacLean's music, I thrived on his performances. No one has equaled his output. His lyrics are pure poetry, with intricate rhyme schemes and thematic metaphors. For me, he is the Shakespeare of the American Song.

THE DAY THE MUSIC LIVED

From my point of view, I believe the day that Eddy Arnold appeared on the music scene, a new era for the American song began through the metamorphosis of Country Music to a pop style that spread throughout the world. This was the day the music lived. Few people know my songs. They were written in private. The only songs I shared were Christmas songs that I composed and recorded each year to send to friends as Christmas Greetings. Those songs are on Spotify as The Twelve Songs of Christmas by John V Gilbert.

Country music had a dramatic impact on popular music, especially in the 1950s, when the influence of Nashville was shaped by Country Music singers in the Texas Panhandle. The most famous singer and song writer to emerge was Buddy Holly, whose fame exploded on the scene in Lubbock with his band, The Crickets. The Beatles took note of Buddy Holly's songs, and informed him that they had formed their group as a tribute to add their voices to a new direction for popular music that would become the international pop music scene.

But to understand what led to the development of Buddy Holly, some background of forces at play during that era may help to clarify this phenomenon. 

The music genius of Eddy Arnold not only dominated Nashville, but it nurtured the Country Music scene in the Texas Panhandle. The music activity in Amarillo and Lubbock developed a style that was perfect for the recording studios that were beginning to appear everywhere. Singers with guitars fit these studios perfectly. This is when Eddy Arnold began to dominate the airways. I remember his songs as I heard him on the radio. Listen to his recordings and you will hear a new style emerging in songs like "You Don't Know Me," which may be one of the most recorded songs by so many artists over the years. 

I was born September 5, 1936, and Buddy Holly was born September 7, 1937. Buddy Holly's The Crickets was active in his high school in the 1950s.

In 1948, at Butler College, the Four Freshmen began as a Barbershop Quartet. I followed suit in 1952 with a Barbershop Quartet that our music teacher, Mrs. Thompson, put together. That gesture on her part, changed my life.

The quartet in Amarillo focused more on Jazz as represented by the Four Freshmen. I would transcribe each individual voice in their recordings for my quartet and teach them the songs. I wrote several songs for our quartet that I have lost track of, remembering only the titles, "No More" and "Where Has The Simmer Gone."

When I went to Texas Tech, I formed a  quartet we named "First Impressions." We met with the Four Freshmen when they performed in Lubbock, Texas. I said we sang all their songs, they smiled and said that many quartets made that claim, but they were not accurate. We then sang "It's a Blue World" they said that we really nailed it. They then took out their instruments and we formed a circle and we sang through their repertoire. It was such a thrilling moment.Then we sang my song "Must You Go?". They offered to include it in their repertoire, but I foolishly said that I wanted to keep it for our quartet.

It is only now, that I understand how much Eddy Arnold impacted on my music, despite my focus on the music of George Gershwin.