Tommy Allsup was not only the guy who flipped a coin with Ritchie Valens - and lost - and avoided the fatal flight that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper took - but he also was a Bob Wills sidesman for several years, has played on over 7000 sessions (so far...), was responsible for most of the instrumentation on Zager and Evans "In the Year 2525", wrote the riff for the song "Little Sister", lists a recording session with Mae West as one of the most fun ones that he did and also recorded with the likes of Dean Martin, Johnny Paycheck, (who he made his first visit to the UK with), Waylon Jennings, George Jones and countless others. He was a producer for Liberty records too in their golden age too.
He's in his late 70s now, but he has a devilish spark in his eyes and still has the fire in his fingers - clearly a player who is influenced by the western swing style of Eldon Shamblin who he described as one of his earliest guitar-playing influences.
This is his second tour in a year in the UK , after Kevin Montgomery (son of Bob, Buddy Holly's High School musical sidekick and a successful songwriter in his own right.) brought him over to do a series of dates which involved as much chat and story-telling as playing - but it's absolutely enthralling stuff, considering the experiences that he's had...and to see and hear classic Buddy Holly songs from someone who was playing on them, literally right in front of me, was - for someone whose first treasured long player as an impressionable 12 year old was a Buddy Holly double album - an awesome experience.
I know I'm gushing, but it was a brilliant show and even though I only got three hours' sleep before school after driving back, it was well worth it.
