Tommy Allsup (born November 24, 1931 in Owasso, Oklahoma) is an American musician.
Allsup began his career in music in 1949 as a guitarist with the Oklahoma Swingbillies. In 1958, recording at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico, he was asked to work with Buddy Holly. Allsup agreed, and played with Waylon Jennings, who played bass guitar, and Carl Bunch, who played the drums. His guitar work can be heard on "Wishing", "Heartbeat", "It's S...
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Tommy Allsup (born November 24, 1931 in Owasso, Oklahoma) is an American musician.
Allsup began his career in music in 1949 as a guitarist with the Oklahoma Swingbillies. In 1958, recording at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico, he was asked to work with Buddy Holly. Allsup agreed, and played with Waylon Jennings, who played bass guitar, and Carl Bunch, who played the drums. His guitar work can be heard on "Wishing", "Heartbeat", "It's So Easy", "Love's Made a Fool of You", "Lonesome Tears", and "Come Back Baby".
During their winter tour, Buddy Holly was killed in an airplane crash on February 3, 1959 at Clear Lake, Iowa, in what has become known as "The Day the Music Died". The crash also took the lives of the Big Bopper, the pilot, and singer Ritchie Valens, who won the privilege of riding on the ill-fated plane in a coin toss with Allsup. The coin-toss scene was depicted in the film La Bamba. According to Allsup, the coin toss occurred in the ballroom and not on the...
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