Legendary Guitarist, Tommy Allsup Passes Away

Tommy Allsup, guitarist who toured with Buddy Holly and is the Father of Texas sensational artist AUSTIN ALLSUP, dies at 85 years

Randy Steele fondly remembers the last time he saw Tommy Allsup, the guitarist who toured with Lubbock musician Buddy Holly in 1959.

Steele arranged for Allsup to come to Lubbock last year, when he was interviewed in October for a documentary ahead of the opening of the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences.

It’s possible that was the last on-camera interview for Allsup – the guitarist known for riffs in the Crickets’ single “It’s So Easy.”

“Tommy’s body may have been 85, but his hands were as young as ever, and so was his mind,” said Steele, adding he’s a longtime friend of the Holly family and an avid fan and researcher of Holly and the Crickets. “He played unbelievable. It was almost effortless, or seamless.”

Holly initially offered members of his touring band, including Allsup, a spot on the four-seater aircraft he chartered after a Winter Dance Party tour across the Midwest, according to A-J Media archives.  Bob Hale, a disc jockey at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, told reporters he flipped the coin that decided whether Allsup or Valens would have the last seat.  It was Allsup who pulled out a 50-cent piece and flipped it.  He lost the coin flip and was asked decades later by music historian Bill Griggs what happened to the coin. Allsup said that he kept it.  “It saved my life,” Allsup told Griggs.

Every year, Allsup joined others to perform in Iowa on the anniversary of the crash. Steele said Allsup had been looking forward to playing there this year, which would mark the 58th year since the crash.  On a cold February evening on the 50th anniversary of the crash, Allsup and his wife noticed Steele walking outside and honked for him to come join them in his truck, Steele recalled.  “We talked about some things and I said, ‘Tommy, we’re right now … in this hour, we’re at 50 years to the day, to the hour of when this happened. What are you thinking about right now,'” Steele said. “He said, ‘I’m really happy to be here this evening to celebrate music that Buddy and the Crickets created. I’m deeply sad because I remember everything about this night. I remember the conversations clearly in my mind, I can see Buddy clearly in my mind and yet I’m really thankful because in a way that flip of that coin saved my life.”

The Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock posted on Facebook that they’re saddened by the news of Allsup’s death.

“(The) Center extends its condolences to Tommy’s family during this difficult time,” they posted. “Rave on, Tommy!”

Allsup’s son, Austin Allsup – also a musician who recently appeared on NBC’s “The Voice” – said in a post on Facebook that his father was the 12th of 13 children.