Forthcoming "Hey Buddy" Picking Up Traction

Gary
Gary
Gary W. Moore, author of our previous bestseller Playing with the Enemy, has penned the soon-to-be-released (January 20, 2011) Hey Buddy: In Pursuit of Buddy Holly, My New Buddy John, and My Lost Decade of Music (Savas Beatie, 2011). Let's say it is a very personal, very moving, and very insightful "pursuit" of Buddy, his legacy, his death, and much more. It is not a biography.

I honestly had no idea of Holly's impact on The Beatles, Stones, etc., or how advanced he was in the musical world (wrote, sang, played lead, produced, managed, etc.). Had he lived, he might have  been the Oprah of his day. He was that "vertically" visioned.

Although Gary had no intention of spending much time discussing the terrible way Holly, Ritchie Valens, J. P. Big Bopper Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson were killed just a few minutes after taking off from the Clear Lake, Iowa, airport, the crash sucked him in. Gary happens to be a former pilot and former charter service owner (the plane was chartered). Gary worked with a retired aviation crash expert and poured over the records relating to the crash and even interviewed Barb Dwyer, co-owner of the company that hired the pilot and leased the plane. Gary and the expert reach a startling conclusion about the last minute or two of the flight. Here is the first trailer on this issue:

The book release will coincide with a big sweep through the Chicago area, where a publicist we hired is working with SB marketing director Sarah Keeney to put together a strong opening that includes a premier book signing at Anderson's (one of the leading independent bookstores in the country), TV, radio, and special appearances at universities, clubs, music events, and more. This includes stops in Wisconsin, Iowa, and south to Texas (where Buddy was born). Other appearances as far west as Seattle and elsewhere east are also being planned for later in February and beyond.

Here is a tribute song / video by John Mueller called "Hey Buddy," after which our book is entitled. The lyrics are largely based on song titles written by Buddy. Give it a listen. It is addictive.

The Joiliet (IL) Tribune just ran a story, all the early reviews are glowing, and we are all excited about the tour, which will officially "conclude" the day after the anniversary of Holly's death (February 4) in Lubbock, Texas, at the Buddy Holly Center.

Here is what Jim Riordan, NY Times bestselling author of Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison wrote about Hey Buddy:

Hey Buddy is a page-turning pursuit of Buddy Holly’s legacy and his impact on others in and out of the music industry. It’s as American as apple pie and as compelling as Don McLean’s legendary hit about The Day the Music Died. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and get two copies—one for you and another for anyone you know who listens to music.

And Gary achieved the pièce de résistance: an interview with recluse Don McClean. The interview appears as an Afterword. McClean, of course, wrote the smash hit "American Pie" in the early 1970s, which is about "The day the music died"--in other words, February 3, 1959.

Consider putting in a pre-order on Amazon, at your local bookstore, or contact Anderson's and reserve a personally inscribed copy!

Stay tuned.

--tps