Today is June 2, 2010, and I am on my way to Salt Lake City for the U2 tour opener tomorrow. Oh wait, the u2 tour was postponed until next year. So instead of going to Salt Lake City, I headed to Lubbock, TX in search of another music great – Buddy Holly.

On the way, we came across Billy the Kid’s grave in Fort Sumner, NM.

Fort Sumner, NM

Billy the Kid grave

history of billy the kid grave

Billy the Kid gravesite

Today we drove smaller roads, not the big route 40. So we passed a lot of cattle ranches and horse farms. Elvis barks at every cow and horse he sees. He’s not a big fan of animals.

I was looking for the Buddy Holly statue in Clovis, but I didn’t find it. I did, however, find the studio where Buddy Holly recorded ‘That’ll Be the Day.’

Buddy Holly's That'll Be the Day

Buddy Holly recorded here in Clovis, NM

As I was driving from Clovis to Lubbock and listening to Buddy Holly, I had an interesting thought. What if Elvis had died early on and all we had of his music were the Sun recordings? Sure, they were great, but his voice and music got so much better as he got older. Buddy Holly’s music was fantastic. Just imagine what he could have done had he lived.

Buddy Holly Center Lubbock, TX

Lubbock, TXBuddy's glasses