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RICHARDSON, JILES PERRY [BIG BOPPER] (1930–1959). The Big Bopper, disc jockey, songwriter, and singer, was born Jiles Perry Richardson on October 24, 1930, in Sabine Pass, Texas. Some sources claim Richardson's first name was Jape rather than Jiles, but in any case he usually went by the initials J. P. He used the pseudonym, "The Big Bopper," on air and when recording. He is best known for his hit, "Chantilly Lace," which reached number one on the charts in 1958, and for dying in a plane crash with Richie Valens and Buddy Holly (see HOLLEY, CHARLES H.). His family moved to Port Arthur when he was very young. In 1949 he graduated from Beaumont High School. While still a teenager Richardson began working as a disc jockey at KTRM radio in Beaumont. After a stint in the army, he returned to the station where he eventually became program director while still working as a disc jockey. Richardson was influenced early by country singers. In 1957 he sent some songs to Pappy Daileyqv at Mercury Records in Houston, and the company signed him as a country act. He left Mercury when the records proved to be unsuccessful and began working with Shelby Singleton who also had Johnny Preston and Bruce Channel under contract. The switch also indicated Richardson's move from traditional country to the new and extremely popular rockabilly music. His first single was "Chantilly Lace," which he followed with "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Big Bopper's Wedding." The latter songs were also hits but not of the same caliber as "Chantilly Lace." Other songs written by Richardson included "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor" and "Running Bear." In 1960 fellow Texan Johnny Preston made a recording of "Running Bear" that became an international hit. The Bopper wrote about thirty-eight songs during his life and recorded twenty-one of them. Most of his recordings were classified as novelty songs that did not have lasting popularity. His appeal was largely in his flamboyant stage performances. He wore checkered jackets and zoot suits and used a prop phone during "Chantilly Lace" to talk to his girl. In 1958 he also made a pioneering video for the hit song and later coined the term "music video" for the production. In order to maintain his showman image, he did not wear his wedding ring in public and generally kept his marriage to Adrian Joy Fryon (married on April 18, 1952 ), a secret from his fans. The couple had two children. On February 2, 1959, Richardson, Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens played a show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. They were scheduled to play in North Dakota the next day. After the show Holly and Valens chartered a plane so that they could rest before their bands arrived. Richardson, who had the flu, was supposed to take the bus, but at the last minute switched places with Holly's band member, Waylon Jennings.qv The plane went down just after takeoff at about 1:00 A.M. in Mason County, Iowa, killing the pilot and all three musicians. Richardson was survived by his wife and a daughter and son. He was buried in Beaumont Cemetery. In the late 1980s the Port Arthur Historical Society commissioned sculptor Donald Clark to create a memorial to the musicians. The piece was initially displayed at a Fabulous Thunderbirds benefit concert on February 3, 1989, thirty years after the crash. The Big Bopper is an inductee in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. His body was reburied next to his wife in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaumont in 2007. In 2008 he was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. His son Jay had a successful music career and billed himself as The Big Bopper, Jr. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Colin Larkin, ed., The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Chester, Connecticut: New England Publishing Associates, 1992). Norm N. Nite, Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock n' Roll (New York: Crowell, 1974). Official Big Bopper Website (http://www.officialbigbopper.com), accessed June 11, 2008. Irwin Stambler, Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock, and Soul (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1974). Vertical Files, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Alan Lee Haworth
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