Remember when rock was young (and so were we)?

Continuing with travels of folks with a National Park Service nexus, this re: a cultural (& spiritual) journey received from Dick Sellars (NPS Historian and general all around good-guy):

http://www.cic.edu/Programs-and-Services/Progams/Woodrow-Wilson-Visiting-Fellows/Pages/Richard-Sellars.aspx

“Just finished a short trip to Clovis and Lubbock--a Buddy Holly pilgrimage.  See brief statement on influence of Buddy Holly:

Buddy Holly and the Crickets had the most influence on the Beatles."^[26] Lennon and McCartney later cited Holly as a primary influence.^[27] (Their bug-themed band's name, The Beatles, was chosen partly in homage to Holly's Crickets.)^[26] The Beatles did a cover version of "Words of Love" that was a close reproduction of Holly's version, released on late 1964's Beatles for Sale (in the U.S., in June 1965 on Beatles VI). During the January 1969 sessions for the Let It Be album, the Beatles played a slow impromptu version of "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" — although not written by Holly, it was popularized by him — with Lennon mimicking Holly's vocal style;^{[citation needed]} the recording was eventually released in the mid-1990s on Anthology 3. In addition, John Lennon recorded a cover version of "Peggy Sue" on his 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll. McCartney owns the publishing rights to Holly's song catalogue.^[28]

A 17-year-old Bob Dylan attended the January 31, 1959, show, two nights before Holly's death. Dylan referred to this in his 1998 Grammy acceptance speech for his Time out of Mind being named Album of the Year:

"And I just want to say that when I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armory and I was three feet away from him...and he LOOKED at me. And I just have some sort of feeling that he was — I don't know how or why — but I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way."^[29]

Keith Richards attended one of Holly's performances, where he heard "Not Fade Away" for the first time.^{[citation needed]} The Rolling Stones had an early hit covering the song.
The launch of Bobby Vee's successful musical career resulted from Holly's death, when he was selected to replace Holly on the tour that continued after the plane crash. Holly's profound influence on Vee's singing style can be heard in such songs as "Rubber Ball" and "Run to Him."

Holly influenced many other singers during and after a career that lasted barely two years. Keith Richards once said Holly had "an influence on everybody."^[30] In an August 24, 1978, Rolling Stone interview, Bruce Springsteen told Dave Marsh, "I play Buddy Holly every night before I go on; that keeps me honest."
The Grateful Dead performed "Not Fade Away" 530 times over the course of their career, making it their seventh most-performed song.^{[citation needed]} The song also appears on eight of their official live recording releases."