Texas music historian Gary Hartman has said you can draw a direct line from the popular music of Depression-era Texas, through Elvis, to the man who not only opened for Elvis in Texas, but in many ways was Elvis’ most likely successor. Or perhaps he might have inherited the crown, had he not been killed on this date in 1959.

But Lubbock’s Buddy Holly gave rock & roll a whole lot of Texas influence that goes largely unacknowledged, even today.

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