Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • June 22, 2011 Ridgewood Buddy Holly retrospective rocks Ridgewood audience by John Koster Everything Buddy Holly did in his short life had the quality of legend. The legend lived on at the Ridgewood Library last week when Chris Roselle and his band -Rave On! -- performed a musically uncanny tribute to the singer, whose died in a plane crash in the 1950s. Roselle, on acoustic and electric guitar, was a musical double for Holly, born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas, and sometimes called the greatest single influence on early rock and roll. His sidemen, Pete Farley on bass guitar and background vocals, and Don Giunta on drums and background vocals, formed a seamless facsimile of the music that resonated through the radios at the beginning of the rock and roll era and ended when Holly, J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), and Richie Valens were killed in 1957. Roselle, who was born in 1963, was delighted that one woman in the front row had seen Buddy Holly at the Paramount in New York. “That’s great,” he said, visibly impressed by someone who had touched the legend. Holly’s legend was perpetuated by a powerful sense of destiny. His biggest hit was “That’ll Be the Day (That I Die).” Holly borrowed the signature line from John Wayne in “The Searchers.” Elvis was already a force when Holly first became famous, and Holly once opened for him. Bob Dylan and The Beatles later became the biggest names on the charts, but Holly was an acknowledged influence on all of them, and perhaps on an entire generation. Don McLean wrote a triple-length tribute to Holly, identified by allusion in “American Pie,” contrasting the exuberant innocence of Holly with what McLean regarded as the contrived music of The Beatles or the corrupting influence of Mick Jagger -- “Jack Flash sat on a candlestick” -- whom McLean disliked. The refrain of the song “That’ll Be the Day That I Die” in turn because an anthem for the radical American Indian Movement and activist group of the early 1970s which later helped unseat Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua with the support of the CIA because Ortega was evicting Indians with Soviet assistance. McLean’s tribute with Holly’s death as a focal point captured the turbulence of the era that spanned from the beginning of the civil rights movement through the end of the war in Vietnam. The music, deftly performed with tributes to Valens and other singers mixed in with all the frenetic Holly favorites, said it all as far as Roselle and his band were concerned. “I don’t think that, 50 years from now, The members of Rave On! kids are going to think about today’s music the way we think about this,” Guinta said. The people in the capacity crowd agreed with him. Emmanuel Baptist Church, located on the corner of East Ridgewood Avenue and Hope Street, kicks off their summer “Sundays @ 7” program on June 26 at 7 p.m. in the air conditioned Peace Lounge. The program begins with a showing of “Abused: The Postville Raid,” a docu- Emmanuel Baptist plans discussion of Postville Raid mentary which recounts the 2008 ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raid in Postville, Iowa and its effect on individuals, families and communities. Following the documentary, there will be a discussion led by Pastor Dorcas Diaz Shaner. Light refreshments will be served. There is no charge for the program. Parking is in the rear of the church facility off Dayton Street. The peace lounge can be accessed from stairs in the back of the building or through the handicapped entrance by the playground. Call (201) 444-7300.