The Big Bopper
Encyclopedia
Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959) also commonly known as The Big Bopper, was an American
disc jockey
, singer
, and songwriter
whose big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll
star. He is best known for his recording of "Chantilly Lace
".
On February 3, 1959, a day that has become known as The Day the Music Died
(from Don McLean
's song "American Pie"), Richardson was killed in a plane crash in Iowa
, along with Buddy Holly
and Ritchie Valens
.
, the oldest son of Jiles Perry Richardson, Sr. and his wife Elise (Stalsby) Richardson. His father was an oil field worker. Richardson had two younger brothers, Cecil and James. The family soon moved to Beaumont, Texas
. Richardson graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947 and played on the "Royal Purple" football team as a defensive lineman, wearing number 85. Richardson later studied pre-law at Lamar College
, and was a member of the band and chorus. He sometimes played with the Johnny Lampson Combo.
radio station KTRM (now KZZB). He was hired by the station full-time in 1949 and quit college. Richardson married Adrianne Joy Fryou on April 18, 1952. In December 1953, their daughter, Debra Joy, was born. Earlier that year Richardson had been promoted to Supervisor of Announcers at KTRM.
In March 1955, he was drafted
into the United States Army
and did his basic training at Fort Ord
, California
. He spent the rest of his two years service as a radar instructor at Fort Bliss
, near El Paso, Texas
.
Following his discharge as a corporal
in March 1957, Richardson returned to KTRM radio, where he held down the "Dishwashers' Serenade" shift from 11 AM to 12:30 PM, Monday through Friday. One of the station's sponsors wanted Richardson for a new time slot and suggested an idea for a show. Richardson had seen the college students doing a dance called The Bop, and he decided to call himself "The Big Bopper". His new radio show ran from 3 to 6 p.m. Richardson soon became the station's program director.
In May 1957, he broke the record for continuous on-the-air broadcasting by eight minutes. From a remote set-up in the lobby of the Jefferson Theatre
in downtown Beaumont, Richardson performed for a total of five days, two hours and eight minutes, playing 1,821 records and taking showers during five-minute newscasts.
Richardson is credited with coining the term music video
in 1959, and recorded an early example himself.
— began his musical career as a songwriter. George Jones
later recorded Richardson's "White Lightning
", which became Jones' first #1 country hit in 1959 (#73 on the pop charts). Richardson also wrote "Running Bear
" for Johnny Preston
, his friend from Port Arthur, Texas
. The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the Sabine River
, where he heard stories about Indian
tribes. Richardson sang background on "Running Bear", but the recording wasn't released until September 1959, after his death. Within several months it became #1.
The man who launched Richardson as a recording artist was Harold "Pappy" Daily
from Houston, Texas
. Daily was promotion director for Mercury
and Starday Records and signed Richardson to Mercury. Richardson's first single, "Beggar To A King", had a country flavor, but failed to gain any chart action. He soon cut "Chantilly Lace
" as "The Big Bopper" for Pappy Daily's D label. Mercury bought the recording and released it in the summer of 1958. It reached #6 on the pop charts and spent 22 weeks in the national Top 40. It also inspired an answer record by Jayne Mansfield
titled "That Makes It". In "Chantilly Lace", Richardson pretends to have a flirting phone conversation with his girlfriend; the Mansfield record suggests what his girlfriend might have been saying at the other end of the line. Later that year, he scored a second hit, a raucous novelty tune entitled "The Big Bopper's Wedding", in which Richardson pretends to be getting cold feet at the altar. He was known for his "Hello baby!"
, Ritchie Valens
and Dion and the Belmonts
for a "Winter Dance Party" tour. On the eleventh night of the tour, Holly chartered an airplane to fly them to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. The musicians had been traveling by bus for over a week, and it had already broken down once. They were tired, they had not been paid yet and all of their clothes were dirty. With the airplane, Holly could arrive early, do everyone's laundry and get some rest.
21-year old pilot Roger Peterson
had agreed to take the singers to Fargo, North Dakota, where the airport serves the cities of Moorhead and Fargo. A snowstorm was inbound, and the pilot was fatigued from a 17-hour workday, but agreed to fly the trip. The musicians packed up their instruments and finalized the flight arrangements. Buddy Holly's bass player, Waylon Jennings
, was scheduled to fly on the plane, but gave his seat up to the Big Bopper, who was suffering from influenza. Holly's guitarist, Tommy Allsup
, agreed to flip a coin with Ritchie Valens for the remaining seat; Valens won. The three musicians boarded the red and white single-engine Beech Bonanza around 12:30 AM on February 3. Snow blew across the runway, but the sky was clear. Peterson received clearance from the control tower, taxied down the runway and took off. He was never told of two weather advisories that warned of an oncoming blizzard ahead.
The plane remained airborne only a few minutes; no one is sure what went wrong. The best guess is Peterson flew directly into the blizzard, lost visual reference and accidentally flew down instead of up. The four-passenger plane plowed into a cornfield at over 170 mph, flipping over on itself and tossing the passengers into the air. Their bodies landed yards from the wreckage and remained there for ten hours as snowdrifts formed around them. Because of the weather, no one reached the crash site until later in the morning.
, and was also planning to invest in the ownership of a radio station. He had written 20 new songs he planned to record himself or with other artists.
Jay Perry Richardson took up a musical career and is known professionally as "The Big Bopper, Jr.," and has performed around the world. He has toured on the "Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly impersonator John Mueller on some of the stages where his father performed.
In January 2007, Jay requested that his father's body be exhumed
and an autopsy
be performed to settle the rumors that a gun was fired or that Richardson initially survived the crash. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Bill Bass, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Tennessee
, Knoxville
. Jay was present with Dr. Bass throughout the autopsy and observed as the casket was opened; both men were surprised to find the remains well enough preserved to be recognizable as those of the late rock star. "Dad still amazes me 48 years after his death, that he was in remarkable shape," Richardson told the Associated Press. "I surprised myself. I handled it better than I thought I would". Dr. Bass' findings indicated there were no signs of foul play. He was quoted as saying, "There are fractures from head to toe. Massive fractures. ...(Richardson) died immediately. He didn't crawl away. He didn't walk away from the plane".
After the autopsy, Richardson's body was placed in a new casket made by the same company as the original, then was re-buried next to his wife in Beaumont's Forest Lawn Cemetery. Jay then allowed the old casket to be put on display at the Texas Musicians Museum. In December 2008, Jay Richardson announced that he would be placing the old casket up for auction on eBay
, giving a share of the proceeds to the Texas Musicians Museum, but downplayed the suggestion in later interviews.
In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, erected a stainless steel monument depicting a steel guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of each of the three performers. It is located on private farmland, about one quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, approximately eight miles north of Clear Lake; this is where the plane crash occurred. He also created a similar stainless steel monument to the three near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin
. The memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.
J.P. Richardson's pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
. The Big Bopper is fondly remembered not only for his distinctive singing and songwriting, but also as a humorist who combined the best elements of country, R&B and rock 'n' roll.
His name is mentioned as one of the upcoming musical acts in both the print and television versions of Stephen King
's short story
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
about a town inhabited by late musical legends. Buddy Holly is subsequently featured in the story.
The Canadian television comedy show SCTV
featured a character named "Sue Bopper-Simpson", a fictional daughter of the Big Bopper, played by Catherine O'Hara
. The character was a part-time real estate agent who appeared in a musical
entitled I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It On Right, and No Guy's Gonna Tell Me That It Ain't.
Shortly after the fatal plane crash, Tommy Dee wrote and recorded a song entitled Three Stars
in tribute to the three singers. It was recorded by others, including Eddie Cochran
, a good friend of all three.
in The Buddy Holly Story
, Stephen Lee in La Bamba
, and John Ennis
in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
.
On the London stage, Richardson has been portrayed by John Simon Rawlings in the musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, and is currently being portrayed by Steve Dorsett in the 2011 UK National Tour.
Both a movie project and a stage musical about Richardson are currently in development. (See www.bigboppermovie.com and www.chantillylace.com)
The song Chantilly Lace is used in the movie True Romance
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
whose big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
star. He is best known for his recording of "Chantilly Lace
Chantilly Lace (song)
"Chantilly Lace" is the name of a rock and roll song, written and originally performed by The Big Bopper in 1958. The Co-writers of the song were Jerry Foster and Bill Rice...
".
On February 3, 1959, a day that has become known as The Day the Music Died
The Day the Music Died
On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song...
(from Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
's song "American Pie"), Richardson was killed in a plane crash in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, along with Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
and Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
.
Early years
Richardson was born in Sabine Pass, TexasSabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border.Originally known as Sabine City, the original date of settlement of Sabine Pass is unknown, but is estimated at 1836...
, the oldest son of Jiles Perry Richardson, Sr. and his wife Elise (Stalsby) Richardson. His father was an oil field worker. Richardson had two younger brothers, Cecil and James. The family soon moved to Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
. Richardson graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947 and played on the "Royal Purple" football team as a defensive lineman, wearing number 85. Richardson later studied pre-law at Lamar College
Lamar University
Lamar University, often referred to as Lamar or LU, is a comprehensive coeducational public research university located in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar confers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and is classified as a Doctoral Research University by the Carnegie Commission on Higher...
, and was a member of the band and chorus. He sometimes played with the Johnny Lampson Combo.
Radio
He worked part time at Beaumont, TexasBeaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
radio station KTRM (now KZZB). He was hired by the station full-time in 1949 and quit college. Richardson married Adrianne Joy Fryou on April 18, 1952. In December 1953, their daughter, Debra Joy, was born. Earlier that year Richardson had been promoted to Supervisor of Announcers at KTRM.
In March 1955, he was drafted
Conscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...
into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and did his basic training at Fort Ord
Fort Ord
Fort Ord was a U.S. Army post on Monterey Bay in California. It was established in 1917 as a maneuver area and field artillery target range and was closed in September 1994. Fort Ord was one of the most attractive locations of any U.S. Army post, because of its proximity to the beach and California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He spent the rest of his two years service as a radar instructor at Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
, near El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
.
Following his discharge as a corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
in March 1957, Richardson returned to KTRM radio, where he held down the "Dishwashers' Serenade" shift from 11 AM to 12:30 PM, Monday through Friday. One of the station's sponsors wanted Richardson for a new time slot and suggested an idea for a show. Richardson had seen the college students doing a dance called The Bop, and he decided to call himself "The Big Bopper". His new radio show ran from 3 to 6 p.m. Richardson soon became the station's program director.
In May 1957, he broke the record for continuous on-the-air broadcasting by eight minutes. From a remote set-up in the lobby of the Jefferson Theatre
Jefferson Theatre
The Jefferson Theatre is a historic performing arts theatre located on Fannin Street in downtown Beaumont, Texas. Designed by Emile Weil and built in 1927, it is an example of Old Spanish architecture and seats over 1400. The theatre was built by Jefferson Amusement Company, which was owned by...
in downtown Beaumont, Richardson performed for a total of five days, two hours and eight minutes, playing 1,821 records and taking showers during five-minute newscasts.
Richardson is credited with coining the term music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
in 1959, and recorded an early example himself.
Singer and songwriter
Richardson — who played guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
— began his musical career as a songwriter. George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
later recorded Richardson's "White Lightning
White Lightning (George Jones song)
"White Lightning" is the title of a song written by the rockabilly artist J. P. Richardson, best known by his stage name, The Big Bopper. The song was recorded by American country music artist George Jones and released as a single in February 1959. On April 13, 1959, Jones' version became the first...
", which became Jones' first #1 country hit in 1959 (#73 on the pop charts). Richardson also wrote "Running Bear
Running Bear
"Running Bear" is a song written by J. P. Richardson sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. Preston first sang the song in 1959 with background vocals by Richardson and George Jones, who do the Indian chanting of "UGO UGO" during the three verses, as well as the Indian war cries...
" for Johnny Preston
Johnny Preston
Johnny Preston was an American pop music singer, who was best known for his international number one hit in 1960, "Running Bear".-Life and career:...
, his friend from Port Arthur, Texas
Port Arthur, Texas
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 57,755 people, 21,839 households, and 14,675 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.5 people per square mile . There were 24,713 housing units at an average density of 298.0 per square mile...
. The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the Sabine River
Sabine River (Texas-Louisiana)
The Sabine River is a river, long, in the U.S. states of Texas and Louisiana. In its lower course, it forms part of the boundary between the two states and empties into Sabine Lake, an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico. The river formed part of the United States-Mexican international boundary during...
, where he heard stories about Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes. Richardson sang background on "Running Bear", but the recording wasn't released until September 1959, after his death. Within several months it became #1.
The man who launched Richardson as a recording artist was Harold "Pappy" Daily
Pappy Daily
Harold W. Daily , better known as "Pappy" Daily, was an American country music record producer and entrepreneur who cofounded the Texas-based record label Starday Records...
from Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. Daily was promotion director for Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
and Starday Records and signed Richardson to Mercury. Richardson's first single, "Beggar To A King", had a country flavor, but failed to gain any chart action. He soon cut "Chantilly Lace
Chantilly Lace (song)
"Chantilly Lace" is the name of a rock and roll song, written and originally performed by The Big Bopper in 1958. The Co-writers of the song were Jerry Foster and Bill Rice...
" as "The Big Bopper" for Pappy Daily's D label. Mercury bought the recording and released it in the summer of 1958. It reached #6 on the pop charts and spent 22 weeks in the national Top 40. It also inspired an answer record by Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
titled "That Makes It". In "Chantilly Lace", Richardson pretends to have a flirting phone conversation with his girlfriend; the Mansfield record suggests what his girlfriend might have been saying at the other end of the line. Later that year, he scored a second hit, a raucous novelty tune entitled "The Big Bopper's Wedding", in which Richardson pretends to be getting cold feet at the altar. He was known for his "Hello baby!"
Death
With the success of "Chantilly Lace", Richardson took time off from KTRM radio and joined Buddy HollyBuddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
, Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
and Dion and the Belmonts
Dion and the Belmonts
Dion and the Belmonts was a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s. The group formed when Dion DiMucci, lead singer , joined The Belmonts - Carlo Mastrangelo, baritone , Freddie Milano, second tenor , and Angelo D'Aleo, first tenor , in late 1957.-History:After an unsuccessful first single,...
for a "Winter Dance Party" tour. On the eleventh night of the tour, Holly chartered an airplane to fly them to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. The musicians had been traveling by bus for over a week, and it had already broken down once. They were tired, they had not been paid yet and all of their clothes were dirty. With the airplane, Holly could arrive early, do everyone's laundry and get some rest.
21-year old pilot Roger Peterson
Roger Peterson (pilot)
Roger Arthur Peterson was a 21-year-old pilot of the aircraft whose crash took the lives of rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson as well as himself...
had agreed to take the singers to Fargo, North Dakota, where the airport serves the cities of Moorhead and Fargo. A snowstorm was inbound, and the pilot was fatigued from a 17-hour workday, but agreed to fly the trip. The musicians packed up their instruments and finalized the flight arrangements. Buddy Holly's bass player, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, was scheduled to fly on the plane, but gave his seat up to the Big Bopper, who was suffering from influenza. Holly's guitarist, Tommy Allsup
Tommy Allsup
Tommy Allsup is an American musician.He worked with entertainers such as Buddy Holly and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys...
, agreed to flip a coin with Ritchie Valens for the remaining seat; Valens won. The three musicians boarded the red and white single-engine Beech Bonanza around 12:30 AM on February 3. Snow blew across the runway, but the sky was clear. Peterson received clearance from the control tower, taxied down the runway and took off. He was never told of two weather advisories that warned of an oncoming blizzard ahead.
The plane remained airborne only a few minutes; no one is sure what went wrong. The best guess is Peterson flew directly into the blizzard, lost visual reference and accidentally flew down instead of up. The four-passenger plane plowed into a cornfield at over 170 mph, flipping over on itself and tossing the passengers into the air. Their bodies landed yards from the wreckage and remained there for ten hours as snowdrifts formed around them. Because of the weather, no one reached the crash site until later in the morning.
Son
Richardson was survived by his wife and four-year-old daughter. His son, Jay Perry Richardson, was born two months later in April 1959. At the time of his death, Richardson had been building a recording studio in his home in Beaumont, TexasBeaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
, and was also planning to invest in the ownership of a radio station. He had written 20 new songs he planned to record himself or with other artists.
Jay Perry Richardson took up a musical career and is known professionally as "The Big Bopper, Jr.," and has performed around the world. He has toured on the "Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly impersonator John Mueller on some of the stages where his father performed.
In January 2007, Jay requested that his father's body be exhumed
Exhumed
Exhumed may refer to:*Exhumation*Exhumed , a first-person shooter*Exhumed , a deathgrind band* Exhumed Films, a Philadelphia-based "organization* Exhumed river channel, a ridge of sandstone...
and an autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
be performed to settle the rumors that a gun was fired or that Richardson initially survived the crash. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Bill Bass, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
. Jay was present with Dr. Bass throughout the autopsy and observed as the casket was opened; both men were surprised to find the remains well enough preserved to be recognizable as those of the late rock star. "Dad still amazes me 48 years after his death, that he was in remarkable shape," Richardson told the Associated Press. "I surprised myself. I handled it better than I thought I would". Dr. Bass' findings indicated there were no signs of foul play. He was quoted as saying, "There are fractures from head to toe. Massive fractures. ...(Richardson) died immediately. He didn't crawl away. He didn't walk away from the plane".
After the autopsy, Richardson's body was placed in a new casket made by the same company as the original, then was re-buried next to his wife in Beaumont's Forest Lawn Cemetery. Jay then allowed the old casket to be put on display at the Texas Musicians Museum. In December 2008, Jay Richardson announced that he would be placing the old casket up for auction on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, giving a share of the proceeds to the Texas Musicians Museum, but downplayed the suggestion in later interviews.
Awards/honors
- Rockabilly Hall of Fame (1997)
- Texas Country Hall of Fame (2004)
- Texas Radio Hall of Fame (2008)
Compositions
Songs Richardson composed and recorded include:- Chantilly LaceChantilly Lace (song)"Chantilly Lace" is the name of a rock and roll song, written and originally performed by The Big Bopper in 1958. The Co-writers of the song were Jerry Foster and Bill Rice...
- Big Bopper's Wedding
- White Lightnin'White Lightning (George Jones song)"White Lightning" is the title of a song written by the rockabilly artist J. P. Richardson, best known by his stage name, The Big Bopper. The song was recorded by American country music artist George Jones and released as a single in February 1959. On April 13, 1959, Jones' version became the first...
, #1 hit for George Jones - Running BearRunning Bear"Running Bear" is a song written by J. P. Richardson sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. Preston first sang the song in 1959 with background vocals by Richardson and George Jones, who do the Indian chanting of "UGO UGO" during the three verses, as well as the Indian war cries...
, #1 hit for Johnny Preston - Purple People EaterPurple People Eater"Purple People Eater" is a novelty song, written and performed by Sheb Wooley, that reached #1 in the Billboard pop charts in 1958.-Composition:...
Meets the Witch Doctor - Little Red Riding Hood
- Walking Through My Dreams (two versions, one on 45-RPM only, the other on LP)
- Beggar to a King (recorded under his real name)
- Crazy Blues (recorded under his real name)
- Bopper's Boogie Woogie
- That's What I'm Talking About
- Pink Petticoats
- Monkey Song (You Made a Monkey out of Me) (Richardson's attempt to imitate Buddy Holly)
- It's the Truth, Ruth (two versions, one on 45-RPM only, the other on LP)
- Preacher and the Bear
- Someone Watching Over You
- Old Maid
- Strange Kisses
- Teenage Moon
- The Clock
Tributes
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
. The memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.
J.P. Richardson's pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on the internet on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities involved in this pioneering American music genre....
. The Big Bopper is fondly remembered not only for his distinctive singing and songwriting, but also as a humorist who combined the best elements of country, R&B and rock 'n' roll.
His name is mentioned as one of the upcoming musical acts in both the print and television versions of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
"You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" is a short story by Stephen King. It was first published in the horror anthology Shock Rock and later included in King's collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, concerning a young couple on a road trip in Oregon when they accidentally wander into a small town...
about a town inhabited by late musical legends. Buddy Holly is subsequently featured in the story.
The Canadian television comedy show SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
featured a character named "Sue Bopper-Simpson", a fictional daughter of the Big Bopper, played by Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
. The character was a part-time real estate agent who appeared in a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
entitled I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It On Right, and No Guy's Gonna Tell Me That It Ain't.
Shortly after the fatal plane crash, Tommy Dee wrote and recorded a song entitled Three Stars
Three Stars
"Three Stars" is a song written by Tommy Dee in 1959, as a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson , who died in an airplane crash earlier that year. The song was recorded by Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and first released on April 5, 1959 by Crest Records...
in tribute to the three singers. It was recorded by others, including Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
, a good friend of all three.
Film and stage
Richardson was portrayed by Gailard SartainGailard Sartain
Gailard Sartain is an American comedic and serious actor, often playing characters with roots in the South. He is also an accomplished and successful painter and illustrator.-Early years and education:...
in The Buddy Holly Story
The Buddy Holly Story
The film was adapted by Robert Gittler from Buddy Holly: His Life and Music, the biography of Holly by John Goldrosen. It was directed by Steve Rash.-Plot:...
, Stephen Lee in La Bamba
La Bamba (film)
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The picture features Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck, and Joe Pantoliano...
, and John Ennis
John Ennis (actor)
John Ennis is an American actor and comic. He has been a regular cast member of Mr. Show with Bob and David, has played roles in Malcolm in the Middle and played a writer for the fictitious comedy show at the center of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip...
in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is a 2007 music comedy film written and produced by Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan, directed by Kasdan and starring John C. Reilly...
.
On the London stage, Richardson has been portrayed by John Simon Rawlings in the musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, and is currently being portrayed by Steve Dorsett in the 2011 UK National Tour.
Both a movie project and a stage musical about Richardson are currently in development. (See www.bigboppermovie.com and www.chantillylace.com)
The song Chantilly Lace is used in the movie True Romance
True Romance
True Romance is a 1993 American romance crime film written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette with an ensemble cast consisting of Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin...
.
External links
- J. P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, Jr at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...