A LIVERPOOL tribute to Buddy Holly took place at the Philharmonic Hall last night to mark the 50th anniversary of the pop music icon appearing on the same stage.

 Making sure she was on hand to see for herself was the singer’s widow, Maria Elena Holly, who traveled to the city especially for the one performance, which featured local talent, old and new.  She told the Daily Post before the show: “People love Buddy’s music.  And I’ve been lucky because I always say my consolation for losing him is that people still enjoy his music, and hear it, and are very happy”

Buddy Holly’s two shows at the Phil on March 20, 1958, are thought to have had a resounding influence on Liverpool’s young musicians of the day who went on to forge the burgeoning Merseybeat sound.

Members of what were to become the Searchers, the Swinging Blue Jeans, and musical theatre impresario Bill Kenwright were among the audience for yesterday’s matinee and evening shows.

Organizer and Holly aficionado David Crosby said: “I just thought it was an occasion worth remembering. Bearing in mind the significance of Liverpool as a musical city and Buddy Holly as an icon of early pop and rock ‘n’ roll music, both were very influential. The influence of Buddy Holly was definitely felt by the Liverpool groups of the late 1950s, particularly The Beatles, who went on to influence pop music in general.”

 Mr Crosby, from West Kirby, owned Rox Records, a chain of record shops across Wirral, in the 1970s and 1980s.  For the sell-out tribute show, each act interpreted a song from Buddy Holly’s back catalogue. He added: “The response from the acts was amazingly good. I didn’t think the likes of Pete Wiley or Ian McNabb would be interested, as it’s not their generation, but they love him.”    

The charity show raised money for Cancer Research.         —-Exerpt from Liverpool Daily Post