...It was about 1 a.m., Feb. 3, 1959, when a light plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson crashed near Mason City, Iowa. The trio had just finished a concert in Clear Lake and was headed to Fargo, N.D., the next stop on their tour, when the plane went down in bad weather. All three were hitmakers on the music scene at the time, Valens with the song “La Bamba” and Richardson with “Chantilly Lace.” But the real star of the group was Holly. He was the creator of songs which are now considered to...