Events of 2014

Articles - Diaries > Events of 2014

Jan 1, 2014 - HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 TO ALL THE MUSIC FANS AND FRIENDS.

Vicky enjoyed New Year's Day in Dallas with family.

Buddy Holly is mentioned in the Texas Highways Magazine for January, page 32. In the Texas Top 40 Travel Destinations. "Lubbock is No. 40 . . .Few cities honor their heritage as enjoyable as Lubbock, home to museums focused on Buddy Holly . . .". "The great Buddy Holly was born there - there's a music center in his memory. You can visit his grave in The City of Lubbock Cemetery. From Corey Trevathan. Mineral Wells."

Jan 2, 2-14 - Vicky returned to Houston and entertained with piano selections at the Alief Chapter of AARP.

Jan 3, 2014 - Music fans were saddened to hear that Phil Everly, 74, of The Everly Brothers died today.

Vicky and friends attended a Friday at Epiphany concert at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany that featured DISTIKHON presenting "Favorite Things", classical pieces for Cello and piano, selected by cellist Jose Rocha and accompanied by pianist Jane Perkyns. Selections were Rachmaninoff and Schumann pieces along with other artist. A late dinner was enjoyed by the group after the performance.

Jan 11, 2014 - Buddy Holly is mentioned in the Texas Highways Magazine for February, page 11. "Buddy Holly would be happy that Lubbock made the Top-40 list! From Laverne Clancy, TH Facebook Fan." (The Texas Top 40 Travel Destinations).

Jan 15, 2014 - "Buddy Holly Center glasses artist Steve Teeters mourned by art community" by William Kerns. Steve Teeters, 59, died Wednesday afternoon at the University Medical Center in Lubbock. Beside the Holly glasses, Steve refurbished the Holly statue when it was moved to its present location and many other art works seen in Lubbock.

Jan 16, 2014 - Vicky heard friend Mark Lowry sing and perform comedy at the "Girls Night Out" at Houston's First Baptist Church sponsored by Christian Radio KSBJ with over 3,000 women. Britt Nicole sang and Pattie Mallette, mother of Justin Bieber spoke. Mark sang his classic gospel song "Mary Did You Know?". There is a Justin Bieber You Tube site on which Buddy Holly and the Picks "True Love Ways" has been put on as vocal backup.

Jan 17, 2014 - Vicky and AARP friends toured the National Museum of Funeral History. Included in the tour was a 4' wallpaper picture of Buddy Holly and mentions of many other musicians who have died including Elvis (the Pickerings were about 8' from him in Lubbock at a performance at the auto dealership); In the Funerals of Popes, was a mention of Archbishop Daniel Cardinal DeNiro (Pickerings shared a program with him); In the Tomb of the Unknowns display, there was a picture of May 30, 1958 when the two Unknowns from WW II and Koren were buried and the Pickering's were there (John was in the Army at Ft. Belvoir, VA.); there was a book Vicky owns, "Weird, TX" that has a story of the Museum. Pictures and stories of Houston Funeral Homes in the 1940 and 1950s where the Pickering Family sang at funerals. Then the AARP group had lunch at Hyde's Cafe in Old Town Spring where a poster of Buddy Holly and the Crickets was hanging with other memorabilia. It was a poster for the January 1, 1957 program with Chuck Berry and a "guest singer Ritchie Valens". CD of various artist the Pickerings had met were on the juke box.

Jan 19, 2014 - Marilyn Brown sent Vicky a text message with a picture of a shirt with "Oh Boy" written on the front. The shirt was advertized in the latest issue of "Marie Claire" magazine for $329.00"

Jan 21, 2014 - New CD release date January 21, 2014 "The Essential Buddy Holly" a 3-CD set with 69 tracks including 9 songs on which The Picks (John, Bill, Bob) are singing including "Oh Boy", "Maybe Baby", "Tell Me How", "You've Got Love", "An Empty Cup", "Send Me Some Lovin' ". "It's Too Late", "Last Night", "Rock Me My Baby". Recorded in 1957; Re-released in 2014; 57 years after the first release and releases in many formats.

Texas Musicians Museum with Tom Kreason. Picture of "The Chirping Crickets" LP at the museum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G94Zr9gQs9o

Vicky corresponded with Texas Musicians Museum in Dallas, Texas Music Museum in Austin, and the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock.

Jan 23, 2014 - Congratulations to the daughter of LHS Class of '55 grad, Bob Montgomery. Daughter Echo Garrett's non-profit charity, Orange Duffle Bag Initiative, was presented the 22nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award. Congratulations Echo.

Jan 24, 2014 - Buddy Holly Appreciation Society of Ontario by Brian Wilson of Toronto. "John Pickering, a voice behind Buddy Holly and the Crickets." http://brianwilson-1.tripod.com/buddyholly/id54.html

Jan 25, 2014 - The Houston area Lubbock High School Class of '55 met for lunch at the Potatoe Patch Restaurant. Toni Bannister told the group that she played the piano for Buddy Holly to sing a solo one time in high school. She was in the musical "Girl Crazy" at Texas Tech with Bob Lapham in 1956. She had the program for the musical in her scrapbook which she shared with the classmates. It included Bob's picture. Vicky found the ticket stubs for the muscial in her scrapbook.

Jan 28, 2014 - John Pickering died 35 months ago.

February 3rd will be the 55 anniversary of the death of Buddy, Bopper and Ritchie and pilot Petterson. In today's Chronicle Joey Guerra reported, "There's a casual reference in 'We Will Rock You,' the mystifyingly popular musical built around the songs of rock band Queen, when a character utters, 'Maybe the music did die.' The phrase, of course, comes from a lyric in Don McLean's 'American Pie,' which concerns the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson. In recent times, 'the day the music died' has been stamped on various historical moments: the suicide of Kurt Cobain, the death of the album, the moment Rebecca Clark's 'Friday' went viral. It also could be the moment 'We Will Rock You' premiered on stage." (The show is currently in Houston.)

Feb 3, 2014 - 55th Anniversary of the death of Buddy, Bopper, Ritchie, and Roger. When John and Vicky heard the news in 1959 in Corpus Christi, they thought the music of Buddy had ended. The Picks had hoped to record backup vocals with Buddy again, which they didm overdubbing Buddy solo songs in 1984.JaJJan ---------------------JJanJJanFe

Feb 6, 2014 - Vicky played love songs on the piano for Valentine's Day theme dinner at an AARP Chapter.

Feb 7, 2014 - KDP Productions presented A Tribute To Buddy Holly Starring Kenny James & The Midnight Shift at Reed's Entertainment Dinner Theater in Sulphur Springs, TX.

Vicky and friends attended "Friday at Epiphany presents . . . Symphony Brass playing Romance" at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Houston.

Feb 9, 2014 - On the Beatles 50 Years TV special, several mentions were made to Buddy Holly and The Crickets. Paul McCartney said they thought Cricket was a game played in England, then found out it was an insect also. John and The Picks are singing on nine of the songs the Beatles listened to from "The Chirping Crickets" album.

Feb 15, 2014 - Pickering's niece, Roxanne, heard "Oh Boy" when she was at a convention in San Antonio.

Feb 19, 2014 - Joyce Buckner called to tell Vicky that the "Buddy Holly" movie was on TV. Vicky watched on Comcast MovieTVNetwork.com Channel 308.

Feb 22, 2014 - Vicky and John Pickering and daughters Lisa and Paula drove from Corpus Christi to Lubbock, Texas, in a snow storm on Feb. 22,1964 for the wedding of her sister, Marilyn to Travis Brown. Happy 50th Anniversary to Marilyn and Travis.

Feb 27, 2014 - Happy Birthday to Pickering's daughter, Paula. When Paula sat down in a restaurant for birthday breakfast a song started playing. It was her Dad singing on the Buddy Holly/Crickets/Picks song "Maybe Baby". She thought, "There's Dad making contact on my birthday!" Made it a very special day for her. It is the day before the 3rd anniversary of John's death.

Feb 28, 2014 - John W. Pickering died 3 years ago. Vicky and son John visited the gravesite, then had lunch together remembering John on the day.

Mar 1, 2014 - Pickering's grandson, Jacob, was in the musical production "Crazy In Love" at Waco's Baylor University's All University Sing that included Beta Theta Pi, Men of Principle, his fraternity. They sang "Everyday". Thanks, Jacob for helping to carry on the music of Buddy Holly. His parents drove from Dallas for the show.

Daughter, Lisa, went to Houston and she and Vicky visited John's gravesite.

Mar 4, 2014 - The Choirs of Epiphany proudly presented "Our 2nd Annual Shrove Tuesday Fundraiser for Choral Scholarships." Pancake and gumbo dinners were served.

Mar 6, 2014 - Vicky played country tunes on the piano at the Alief Chapter of AARP to recognize RodeoHouston going on in Houston for 20 days. Gary McHenry, lifetime member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo presented an interesting program on Rodeo Clowns at RodeoHouston. To recognize St. Patrick's Day, Vicky ended the evening by playing "I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover".

Marilyn and Travis Brown ate at Potbelly Sandwich Shop in Lubbock and talked to the manager about the Buddy Holly picture. He invited Vicky to send memorabilia on The Picks to include in the Holly display.

Mar 7, 2014 - Happy Birthday to Pickering's son-in-law, Terry.

On "Jeopardy" TV Show the answer was: "Oh boy, Gary Busey played the singer who would not fade away." Question: "Who was Buddy Holly?"

Vicky and friends attended "Friday at Epiphany" concert featuring TAKE FIVE (a Wind Quintet) performance.

Mar 8, 2014 - John W. Pickering b.3-8-1933 - d.2-28-2011.

Mar 9, 2014 - Happy Birthday to Pickering's daughter, Lisa.

Mar 13, 2014 - Vicky played piano selections for 30 minutes before the dinner at Houston's First Baptist Church Phase 2 Widow's Dinner. The program was a baby shower for a minister and wife of the church. Vicky played selections of "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves The Little Children" and other chldren's songs.

Mar 21, 2014 - Vicky was watching a re-run of the sit-com "The Middle" in which Paul Hipp plays the character Reverend TimTom. She read his resume' and found out that he is an actor, singer, songwriter and filmmaker. It was on stage with Carole King at London's Royal Albert Hall that Hipp was spotted by the producers of a new West End musical "Buddy: the Buddy Holly Story." "Buddy" opened to rave reviews on October 12, 1989 at The Victoria Palace Theater. Hipp's turn in the title role of Buddy Holly earned him a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Musical. The following year, "Buddy" at Broadway's Shubert Theater in New York, and Hipp was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance, as well as winning the Theater World Award for Best Broadway Debut.

Apr 3, 2014 - Vicky enjoyed her brithday with cousin Lavoyda (who took piano lessons from Vi Petty in Clovis, NM) and her husband with a trip to the San Jacinto Monument and lunch at the Monument Inn. They watched the huge super tankers pass by in the Houston Ship Channel as they enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch. Vicky took pictures including one of the Battleship Texas as seen between the flag of the US and Texas flying at half staff in honor of the people killed at Ft. Hood TX on the 2nd.

Vicky continued to celebrate her birthday at the AARP meeting where she played piano before the dinner. The special guest entertainer, Henry Lee joined Vicky in playing songs before the dinner began. It was an honor for Vicky to play with Mr. Lee who is a concert violinist who had a 20-year caneer with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra and has performed all over the world.

Apr 8, 2014 - Happy Birthday to Pickering's granddaughter, Rylie.

Apr 21, 2014 - Jimmy Fallon was asked on an interview what his favorite office item was. He showed a stained glass painting of Buddy Holly that had been loaned to him by a fan. See on YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUFh9PMlKhg

May 1, 2014 - Vicky played piano at the Alief Chapter of AARP dinner meeting.

May 17, 2015 - The Pickering's grandson, Zachary Robinson, graduated from Colorado State University with degrees in Physics and Math. He began his Doctoral program studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in Fall Semester 2014.

May 26, 2014 - Vicky remembering that on Memorial Day in 1958 she and John were at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Arlington National Cemetery, USA, for the burial of 2 unknowns from WWII and Korean War. Lt. John Pickering was stationed at Ft. Belvoir, VA at the time and they lived in Alexandria, VA.

Jun 5, 2014 - Vicky played piano at the Alief Chapter of AARP dinner meeting.

Jul 3, 2014 - Vicky played patriotic piano selections at the Alief Chapter of AARP dinner meeting.

Jul 4, 2014 - Chip Esten will perform at the Southwest Airlines Freedom Over Texas Fourth of July celebration in downtown Houston. In the Chronicle, "On the road as Buddy Holly. In college, Esten played in a band and decided to try his hand at acting. He portrayed Buddy Holly for two years in the hit musical 'Buddy' on the London stage, then on an eight-month U.S. tour." by Diane Cowen.

Jul 5, 2014 - "Nashville" stars Chip Esten (who plays Deacon Claybourne) and Clare Bowen (Scarlett O'Connor) showcased some of their small-screen power onstage prior to Nettles' headlining set. Esten's voice wavered at times but he got more comfortable as he went on, pushing through originals, Buddy Holly hits and familiar "Nashville" anthems despite a chest cold.

Jul 10, 2014 - Happy Birthday to Pickering's grandson, Garrett.

Jul 11, 2014 - Gene Watson sang on the Grand Ole Opry on WSM. He recorded a song written by John Pickering in the 1970s "I'm Not Strong Enough".

Jul 15, 2014 - In the August 2014 issue of Texas Highways magazine, Nevena Christi of Rocketbuster Handmade Custom Boots in El Paso was interviewed and saying she hoped her company's success will be good for the industry as a whole. ". . . no matter how the world feels about America, people will always love rock-and-roll and cowboy boots."

Jul 17, 2014 - Vicky donated an array of records, posters and other music memorabilia featuring The Picks (John, Bill and Bob), the Pickering Brothers (John and Bill) and the Pickering Family (Mom, Pop, Bill and John) to the Texas Music Museum in Austin, Texas and Clayton Shorkey, PhD., President, Board of Directors. A duplicate set was sent to Thomas Kreason, Director, Texas Musicians Museum in Irving, TX.

Jul 22, 2014 - Found on YouTube - John and Bill (The Pickering Brothers) recorded John's song "Letter to Nashville (I'm Gonna Be A Big Country Star". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zvtdFfmXo

Several Pickering Brothers 45 rps records are listed on eBay.

Jul 23, 2014 - Sent by Jim Blackstock on Face Book "Ben Hall and The Circle 4 Ramblers Verson 2 video". Includes Buddy Holly singing "Blue Days-Black NIghts". Bill Pickering was the first D.J. to play "Blue Days-Black Nights" by Buddy Holly after Buddy brought it to him at KLLL Radio in Lubbock.

Jul 27, 2014 - Houston Chronicle "Book Review 'Credited Fan Tells Pop Music's Tale' " by Mikael Wood. 'Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music From Bill Haley to Beyonce' by Bob Stanley. At least 9 mentions of Buddy Holly. Mentions "Oh Boy" and "Maybe Baby". Vicky emailed Mikael Wood with compliments on article.

Jul 28, 2014 - Mikael Wood emailed Vicky with thanks for reading article. "Will forward your note to Stanley's publicist".

Aug 7, 2014 - Vicky played piano selections for the Alief Chapter of AARP dinner meeting.

On a recent PBS TV '50s music show, the announcer mentione Buddy Holly.

Aug 16, 2014 - On a re-run of the May 30th "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" guest star was Hugh Laurie who starred in the 2000 movie "Maybe Baby". In the movie, the Buddy Holly and the Crickets song "Maybe Baby" was performed by Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra and The Traveling Wilburys). Paul owns the publishing rights to the Holly/Crickets version of the song. The Picks sing on the original Holly/Crickets version. It is interesting to compare Buddy Holly and The Picks voices with Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne on the song on YouTube.

Sep 1, 2014 -

"Buddy Holly's song True Love Ways (the version featuring The Picks) was used in Panda Cheese's Never Say No to Panda television commercials, created for Egyptian company Arab Dairy. The commercials became viral on YouTube and also revived True Love Ways' popularity. Even today, most of the comments on True Love Ways videos refer to the Panda Cheese ad." Buddy Holly Wikipidea.

Sep 3, 2014 - Pickering's son, John's birthday.

Sep 13, 2014 - During the Texas Tech University vs University of Arkansas football game in Lubbock, the ABC announcers showed pictures and were discussing various venues of Buddy Holly memorabilia in Lubbock including the gift shop and Buddy Holly Center. They talked about the song, "American Pie" with the reference to Buddy.

In the October issue of Texas Highways magazine, in the article "LSA Burger Tunes In - Denton's Famous Burgers, With a Side of Music, it mentions that the interior is punctuated with music-centered art like concert posters and albums from Texas artists such as Meat Loaf and Buddy Holly.

Sep 16, 2015 - Pickering's son-in-law, Craig's birthday.

Sep 17, 2014 - George Hamilton IV, 77, died in Nashville, TN. In the late 50s, he toured with Buddy Holly and the Crickets.

Sep 22. 2014 - Vicky heard on "Coast to Coast A.M." radio at 12:29 a.m. Buddy Holly and the voices of the Crickets - Gary and Ramona Tollett - singing "That'll Be The Day". The song was recorded 57 years and 7 months ago.

Sep 27, 2014 - Vicky woke about 2:30 a.m. and heard on "Coast to Coast A.M." radio at 2:35 a.m. Buddy Holly singing "Everyday".

Sep 29, 2014 - Vicky dreamed that The Picks were inducted into the Buddy Holly Walk of Fame in Lubbock, 57 years after their recording of the 9 songs on "The 'Chirping' Crickets" 1957 recordings.

Oct, 2014 - Article in Texas Highways on LSA Burger Co. (Lone Sar Attitude) with picture of Buddy Holly.

Oct 1, 2014 - Wednesday night, on Craig Ferguson's new game show, "Celebrity Name Game", Buddy Holly's name was in the game. Craig was giving hints to the two contestants to help them name Buddy. He said he was from the 1950s, Weezer was a fan of the celebrity, a famous song he recorded was "Peggy Sue" and his name rhymed with "Duddy" and the woman contestant guessed Buddy Holliday! [She must be the only person in the world that did not know who recorded "Peggy Sue".]

Oct 3, 2014 - Happy Birthday to Pickering's granson, Zachary.

Vicky went to AARP Alief Chapter where she plays piano each month. Tonight the program was Brian Su, 7th grade singer, violinist and pianist who appears on the Rosenberg Opry. He entertained the crowd with a program of country-western music focusing on Hank Williams music. They discussed some of their mutual friends in the music business, Moses Rangel, Jim Blackstock, Steve Snow, Janice Turner, A.V. Mittelstedt, and others. Brian was interested to know her connection to Buddy Holly.

Sir Paul McCartney made his first visit to the hometown of Buddy Holly. Sir Paul owns much of the Buddy Holly songbook publishing rights. He appeared in a full-house show, talking about Buddy and singing "It's So Easy To Fall In Love". He talked about how the Beatles became interested in Buddy and the Crickets music. The Picks are honored that he and the Beatles liked the music they sang with Buddy on the only group-sound album made while Buddy was alive.

Oct 4, 2014 - Buddy Holly was mentioned again on Craig Ferguson's "Celebrity Name Game". The category was "People you wouldn't want to wake up next to in bed." The answer was Gary Busey. Craig gave the clue "He's a nominated actor for the Buddy Holly Story". The contestant could not name Gary Busey.

Oct 9, 2014 - Happy Birthday to Pickering's grandson, Landon in New Zealand.

Oct 17, 2014 - Vicky's sister, Marilyn in Lubbock, sent her an article from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal October 12, 2014 edition about the Texas Tech Chancellor Robert Duncan's residence at TT. In the article by Glenys Young, she states that in the Music Room, "One of the pieces in the display case tells an interesting and little-known story." "There are three guys that were called The Picks, and they were Tech grads, and they were actually what we heard in some of the Crickets (music), Terri said. "It wasn't the Crickets that we were hearing, it was really The Picks. They re-recorded over it. They dubbed over the Crickets, and a lot of people don't know that". Correction by Vicky: The Picks didn't re-record over the Crickets, they put backup vocals on with Buddy Holly's -voice, making them Crickets' songs. Thanks for the article Glenys Young. Chancellor Duncan was the then-Texas Senator who introduced a Texas Senate Resolution to honor The Picks for 50 years of music in Texas in 2009.

Oct 19, 2014 - Terry and Paula Pickering Robinson saw an interview on www.myfoxdfw.com Fox 4 News of the Texas Musicians Museum in Irving, TX. The museum will officially open in April 2015. Memorabilia of The Picks is included in the museum. It is- the premier conservatory of Texas music and its history.

Oct 22, 2014 - Happy Birthday to the Pickering's grandson, Jacob.

Nov 10, 2014 - Buddy Holly mentioned by Don Nelson on Houston's ABC TV station concerning the motorcycle that was owned by Waylon Jennings that has been given to the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock. A clip of Buddy singing "That'll Be The Day" was shown.

Nove 19, 2014 - Vicky heard Mac Davis "Texas In My Rear View Mirror" with lines about Buddy Holly ", , , humming an old Buddy Holly tune called 'Peggy Sue' . . ." and " . . . I ran off chasing a distant star. If Buddy Holly could make it that far, I figured I could too. . "

Nov 21, 2014 - Kathi and Dennis D'Hondt reported that on a recent trip to Florida and a cruise, they saw several 50s musicals including "The Buddy Holly Story" with Todd Meredith protraying Buddy.

Dec 4, 2014 - Bob Montgomery of Nashville, TN died today at 2 pm Nashville time. Graduate of Lubbock High School Class of '55. Began singing career with Buddy Holly in the middle 50s. Became a very successful and well respected music producer in Nashville. Respected all over the world for his music publishing company, House of Gold. He will be missed

Dec 11, 2014 - Question on "Jeopardy" TV show, "Buddy Holly named this song for his drummer's girlfiend". Answer is "What is Peggy Sue?"

Dec 25, 2014 - Merry Christmas to all.

Dec 31, 2014 - Happy 18th Birthday to the Pickering's granddaughter, Jansen.

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone.

If you are looking for gospel or secular music to perform and/or record, please contact Vicky Pickering at John Pickering Music Company % Pick Records, Inc. 281-498-5249. John had written many songs that are in his catalog.