Thomas Douglas Allsup (November 24, 1931 – January 11, 2017) was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

and swing musician.

Personal life

Allsup was born near Owasso, Oklahoma in 1931, and was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. Allsup had a son, Austin, who is also a musician and competed as a contestant on the 11th season of

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

Career

Allsup worked with entertainers such as Buddy Holly, including playing lead guitar on " It's So Easy!" and "Lonesome Tears", as well as playing with Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. Allsup was touring with Holly,

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed ...

, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson when he serendipitously lost a fateful coin toss with Valens for a seat on the plane that crashed, killing Valens, Holly, Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson on February 3, 1959. Investigators initially thought that Allsup had died in the crash due to the fact that he had given Holly his wallet so that Holly could use Allsup's ID to claim a mailed letter on his behalf. Allsup moved to Los Angeles, played with local bands, and did session work, including songwriting credits for

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

"Bluer Than Blue","Guitar Twist", "Opus Twist". Tommy is known to be playing the lead guitar for these tunes on

albums, "The Colorful Ventures" and "Twist With The Ventures". He returned to

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, ma ...

, where he worked with Ronnie Smith, Roy Orbison, and producer

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

. He was also producer on the futuristic, prophetic trans-Atlantic & Australasian hit, "

In the Year 2525 "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. It peaked at number one in the UK Singles Cha ...

" by one-hit-wonders Zager & Evans. Later in 1968, he moved to Nashville, where he did session work and produced

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

' ''24 Great Hits by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys''. In the mid-1970s Allsup served as the producer for a pair of Asleep at the Wheel albums. In 1979, he started a club named Tommy's Heads Up Saloon in Fort Worth. The club was named for Allsup's coin toss with Valens 20 years beforehand. The last surviving member of Buddy Holly's "touring" Crickets for the 1959 Winter Dance Party, Tommy Allsup died on January 11, 2017, at 85 years old in a hospital in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

after complications from hernia surgery.

References

External links

Online biography

Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame—Tommy Allsup

* ttp://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/allsup-tommy/ Voices of Oklahoma interview with Tommy Allsup.First person interview conducted on September 8, 2011, with Tommy Allsup.
Tommy Allsup - MyBestYears.com INTERVIEW SPOTLIGHT
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allsup, Tommy 1931 births 2017 deaths Cherokee Nation artists People from Owasso, Oklahoma Guitarists from Oklahoma American rockabilly guitarists American male guitarists Native American musicians Western swing performers Record producers from Texas People from Odessa, Texas Grammy Award winners American country guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Texas Country musicians from Oklahoma 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans

Personal life

Career

See also

Further reading

References

External links