Buddy Holly perished in a plane crash 50 years ago today. Whether that was "the day the music died" depends on point of view, but it was clearly a watershed event in rock 'n' roll history.
Holly's short career was beset by bad business dealings. On Feb. 28, 1957, Holly hooked up his reel-to-reel tape recorder to the phone and made a call to Decca Records, his label at the time, inquiring about a release from his contract. He then tried to persuade an executive, unsuccessfully, to let him re-record songs that had been cut in a disastrous Nashville session and tossed in the label vaults. One of those songs was "That'll Be the Day," which reached No. 1 late that year.
To listen to an mp3 of the conversation, click here. To read more on the situation surrounding the call, go here.
