Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,500+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.
I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here
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The motorhome is parked at American Legion Post #19 in Yuma, Arizona. I expect to depart here February 28th..
Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.
In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!
So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.
This entry was posted October 30, 2012
NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, I’LL SHARE WITH YOU THAT…
Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.
The motorhome is still parked at the Fraternal Order of Eagles #3245. This was my second day here in Clovis, New Mexico.
Yesterday I drove the Bronco the about one mile to the old Norman Petty Recording Studio at 1313 W. 7th Street. It’s Clovis’s #1 tourist attraction…primarily because this is where Buddy Holly and The Crickets recorded such songs as That’ll Be The Day, Maybe Baby, Every Day, and Peggy Sue. This studio is no longer active. It was last used in 1969 when Norman Petty moved into a larger studio.
The Norman Petty Trio also had a very famous hit song of their own…Mood Indigo.
You can read all about Norman Petty by clicking this Wikipedia informational link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Petty
Here’s a link that will inform you all about the history of the Norman Petty Studio…
http://www.superoldies.com/pettystudios/pettytour.html
Another all-time favorite of mine, country singer Waylon Jennings recorded Jole Blon here. The following is from a Wikipedia article about Waylon Jennings…
In 1958, Buddy Holly arranged Jennings’ first recording session, of “Jolie Blon” and “When Sin Stops (Love Begins)”. Holly hired him to play bass. During the “Winter Dance Party Tour,” in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a plane to arrive at the next venue. Jennings gave up his seat in the plane to J. P. Richardson, (The Big Bopper) who was suffering from a cold. The flight that carried Holly, Richardson and Ritchie Valens crashed, on the day later known as The Day the Music Died.
You can listen to Waylon’s first recording from 1958 by clicking the below link. Buddy Holly plays guitar and King Curtis plays the sax. Waylon went on to become a mega country singing star…
http://youtu.be/DQlw8I6sd6g
In addition, Buddy Knox (Party Doll), Roy Orbison (Pretty Woman) and Leann Rimes are among many others that have recorded here. Stepping into the studio is like stepping back in time inside of a time capsule. Kenneth Broad (age 78) provided me with the tour. He is the trustee for the Petty Estate and once was Vi Petty’s minister. He also participated in the production of some of Leann Rimes music. He has been associated with the studio for 30 years and provided endless stories about his time there. One story he told me was they recorded from midnight until dawn because the studio is located on a main road it did away with background vehicle noise and the chances of electric power failures were less. He also added that the studio remains essentially the same as it was in the Buddy Holly days when Buddy Holly had 12 top hits within a 15 month period.
Here are some of the photos that I took…
As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…
The exterior of the building…
A close-up of the sign…
The entrance door…
The reception room…
Here Kenneth sits behind the control panel and plays some Buddy Holly music for me…
The control panel that recorded Buddy Holly and others…
This is the machine that “cut” the master with a diamond stylus…
The control room looked into the musicians area…
The microphone…
The musicians area…
Towards the end of my tour, Kenneth’s friend David Bigham (age 75) joined us. David was a member of a group called The Roses who did backup vocals for Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison. He joined in the stories from the past…
If you want to see the other 37 photos that I took including the eating and sleeping areas at the back of the studio, you’ll have to click this Picasa Web Album link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/NormanPettyRecordingStudioClovisNewMexico
Here’s are three YouTube videos about the Norman Petty Studio you might enjoy seeing…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH-AZhRpWW0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlwatY0tzwk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyoHuF2hmag&NR=1&feature=endscreen
I spent a very enjoyable two hours with Kenneth Broad and thank him for his hospitality as the studio is shown by appointment only.
Enjoying the interesting historic places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!
NOW SOME FINAL NEWS…
David provided me with Peggy Sue’s telephone number….yup, the one that Buddy Holly’s song is about. She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas and has agreed to meet with me when I arrive there in about a week or so. So I guess I’ve got a date with Peggy Sue!!! How about that.
If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW.
I hope you enjoyed the photos.
Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 74 degrees.
Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!
The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Arizona. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…
Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein
My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken at Rogue River, Oregon, October, 2017…
On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!
Que Sera, Sera... Whatever Will Be, Will Be... 