Niki Sullivan - original member of Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets died.

my e-mail | 4/6/2004 | me

[Keith in Iowa]

Hello Folks, It is with great sadness today that I report the passing of my good friend Niki Sullivan. He apparently died of natural causes in his sleep. He had been healthy and recently retired so it came as a surprise to all. I was informed today of the sad news by his wife Fran and his son's Erin and Marty.

Niki, for those that don't know was an original member of Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. He was a very modest person, generous, kind, funny and just an all around great guy to hang out with. He enriched my life greatly and I'm sure countless others and will be missed.

Services are to be held this Friday in the Kansas City, MO area.

Condolences can be sent to the Sullivans at: 12403 Silver Lane, Sugar Creek, MO 64054

Rest in peace Niki.

[Keith in Iowa]

I met him once whe he was in Clear Lake, IA for one of the Tribute concerts. Nice guy. He will be missed.

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[Keith in Iowa]

Bump...anyone with ping lists who might be interested in this bit of news - feel free to ping...

[socal_parrot]

RIP Niki Sullivan...

Buddy Holly and the Crickets
(Sullivan is front right)

Sullivan(l) at a tribute show.

[Keith in Iowa]

ping your friends who might be interested...

[EggsAckley]

He had a lovely smile!

[speedy]

Thanks for posting, Keith. Not sure how many of The Crickets are still alive -- Jerry Allison? Clear Lake and The Surf Ballroom are wonderful places to visit. Used to be that the Norman Petty Studio in Clovis, NM, was open to the public. I'm not sure if that's still the case. Buddy's legacy recedes a little further into the mist. But the music still sounds pretty fresh.

[Keith in Iowa]

ping...

[Keith in Iowa]

just damn??

[ladyinred]

RIP I don't remember the band, but I remember Buddy Holly. I was young when he was killed, but loved Peggy Sue.

[Rockpile]

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/cab.htm

For anyone interested, the link is for the CAB report on the Holley plane crash in Feb 1959.

[archy]

Thanks for posting, Keith. Not sure how many of The Crickets are still alive -- Jerry Allison? Clear Lake and The Surf Ballroom are wonderful places to visit. Used to be that the Norman Petty Studio in Clovis, NM, was open to the public. I'm not sure if that's still the case. Buddy's legacy recedes a little further into the mist. But the music still sounds pretty fresh.

--The third Cricket was Niki Sullivan, a distant cousin of Buddy's, who played rhythm guitar on a thin Gibson hollow body electric. He toured with them all through 1957 but left the band to form a rock group called The Plainsmen, but they did not meet success. After Buddy died, he teamed up with a man named Gene Evans and recorded at Norman Petty's studio under the name The Hollyhawks. Buddy's father, Lawrence Holley, was the group's manager.

The Crickets on stage in Philadelphia, sometime in 1957. Oh Boy!

Niki Sullivan with a Buddy Holly tribute performer, San Diego, Summer 1997

[archy]

Thanks for posting, Keith. Not sure how many of The Crickets are still alive -- Jerry Allison? Clear Lake and The Surf Ballroom are wonderful places to visit.

J.I. was still around in 2001 for the annual Winter Dance Festival and Buddy Holly/Big Bopper/Richie Havens memorial show at Clear Lake, IA., so he may still be at it. The Clear Lake Surf Ballroom get-together is becoming quite the event in the Midwest. That's J.I. Allisin with the hat and glasses, below.

[speedy]

Archy -- you are The Nonpareil when it comes to the rock archives. What great pictures. So much heart in that music. Nobody could get more out of an A-D-E chord progression than Buddy Holly. When I visited the Petty Studios in the late 80s, Norman's widow Vi was giving the tours. And of course paid homage to the Holly statue in Lubbock. Maybe we can discuss The Skyliners or Frogman Henry sometime. Maybe even Travis and Bob. Thanks again -- after those great postings on Jan & Dean!!

[archy]

Archy -- you are The Nonpareil when it comes to the rock archives. What great pictures. So much heart in that music. Nobody could get more out of an A-D-E chord progression than Buddy Holly. When I visited the Petty Studios in the late 80s, Norman's widow Vi was giving the tours. And of course paid homage to the Holly statue in Lubbock. Maybe we can discuss The Skyliners or Frogman Henry sometime. Maybe even Travis and Bob. Thanks again -- after those great postings on Jan & Dean!!

You bet. I'm a little busy with Iraq today, off to have dinner with a local university ROTC commander, expect I'm going to have to hive his ca-detts a sitrep briefing. But we'll talk up the music biz one of these days.

You a guitar player by chance?

[speedy]

Yeah, we can talk the fun stuff on a more leisurely day. Yes, I played guitar in a couple of bands where I was surrounded by people with much more talent than myself. By a long shot our biggest thrill was opening for The Beach Boys at The Armory in Wilmington, DE, in the mid-60s. Never came close to that pinnacle again. Also opened for some people like Little Anthony and the Imperials and Hermans Hermits, but their careers were on the skids by then. Of course, so was ours!! Haven't picked up the old Gibson in many years now, though, and the calluses are long gone. I'm taking it you saw some stage action yourself? Talk to you later on the private line. Rave On.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Buddy Holly bump. How I love his music!

[James Mabry]

Thanks, however sadly, for this news. It is nice to pause a moment and let music, and memories of music, have their moment.

I'll spare the litany of why I love Buddy Holly and the Crickets and share a personal favorite.... For a Buddy Holly and Lubbock Music freak (Joe Ely, J.D. Gilmore, et al) there is nothing quite like seeing, on more than one occasion through the years, The Rolling Stones start their shows with Not Fade Away. Talk about making a dirt farming redneck proud!

Keith played guitar on that track, Brian the harmonica. The rhythm thing was formed basically around the Buddy Holly thing. We brought the rhythm up and emphasized it. Holly had used that Bo Diddley trademark beat on his version, but because he was only using bass, drums and guitar, the rhythm element is sort of a throwaway. Holly played it lightly. We just got into it more and put the Bo Diddley beat up front.

- Bill Wyman

[Keith in Iowa]

Obit from the local paper, published April 8:

NIKI M. SULLIVAN

SUGAR CREEK, Mo. — Niki M. Sullivan, 66, of Sugar Creek, Mo., died Tuesday (April 6, 2004) at his home.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday(4/9/04) at the Speaks Surburban Chapel, 18020 E. 39th St. in Independence, Mo. Cremation took place.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Kanas City Hospice, 9221 Ward Pkwy, Ste. 100, Kansas City, MO 64114, Independence Dedicated Unit.

Nick was a Mason, a rhythm guitar player for Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and the world’s best husband and father.

Nick had just retired from Sony Electronics and was an avid golfer.

When Nick was with Buddy Holly, he played on 27 of the 32 songs recorded. He received calls from all over the U.S.A. and the world.

He was a proud member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Matt and Kathy Sullivan, of Lubbock, Texas.

He is survived by his wife, Fran; his twin sons, Eryn and Marty; his granddaughter, Holly Erin, and a sister, Renetta Kay Jeans, and her husband, Tim.

He will be sadly missed by all of us, who loved him and by the world that knew him.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.speakschapel.com.

[Lancey Howard]

BUMP!