One of the rare treats I was privileged to have on Saturday at the Iowa Straw Poll was meeting Buddy Holly’s old band The Crickets and listening to them play a couple of songs with Governor Mike Huckabee, who sat in with them on “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll Be The Day”
Huckabee was clearly enjoying himself, and made his admiration for the band known by saying that being on the stage with them was “one of the coolest things (he) had done in his life”.
It’s difficult to express the impact that these guys, along with Holly, had on popular music throughout the world. It has been said that in the late 1950’s they were the top rock and roll band in the world, and it’s hard to argue against that point. Paul McCartney suggested that if it weren’t for The Crickets there would be no Beatles.
Anyway, I conned these guys into sitting down and letting me take their picture. I found them to be very nice guys. It was great to see them and listen to them play.