By Amanda Cartwright

Could Deaths of Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens Have Been Anything but Accidental? This week, the University of Tennessee announced that Dr. Bill Bass, one of the country's leading forensic scientists and a professor emeritus at the college, would be investigating the circumstances surrounding the plane crash in 1959 that claimed three of rock music's brightest stars: Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and Ritchie Valens.

Jay Richardson, whose father J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson topped the charts with "Chantilly Lace," is exhuming his father's body and wants Bass to study the remains and try to find an exact cause of death. The crash was originally ruled an accident, although some circumstances have led people to question that initial finding. Back in 1959, the three musicians climbed aboard a small passenger plane after a concert in Iowa. The plan crashed shortly after take-off. The flight was chalked up to pilot era. The younger Richardson, also a musician, said little investigation was done. Several inconsistencies with the "simple plane crash" theory don't match with the evidence. While the pilot and two other bodies were found with the wreckage, Richard's was 40 feet away.

Another rumor, perhaps urban myth would be a better term, reports that there was a bullet hole in the pilot seat. Buddy Holly is reported to have had a pistol on the plane and one was recovered at the crash site, although it was not mentioned in the official accident report. The younger Richardson says the plane's owner believes the pilot was incapacitated at the time of the crash. The pilot had flown the route many times and some aviation experts believe the "pilot error" cause of death was hastily reached, according to a University of Tennessee press release.

Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens often receive more information when the crash is discussed. Both have been the subject of major motion pictures. Richardson, though, was at the start of his career. His "Chantilly Lace" will forever be synonymous with the carefree times of the 1950s.

Another legend, this one true, is that Richardson was not meant to be on that flight. Waylon Jennings, who went on to be a country music legend, gave Richardson his seat because Richardson was ill.

How did the investigation come about? The younger Richardson had seen a documentary about Bass' work about the same time he and his family had decided to move his father's remains to a more prominent grave, according to the press release. Bass said he will X-ray the remains and, even these many years later, can yield many clues, including if the singer was shot.

Don McLean paid tribute to the three rockers in his 1971 hit, "American Pie." Mclean has always said that the song's haunting line "the day the music died" refers to Feb. 3, 1959. He recently has dispelled the growing myth that "American Pie" was the name of the plane carrying the three stars. The title was original and he wrote it as part of the song.

More resources

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/coroner.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/145619/forensic_scientist_seeks_to_clear_up.html