Thomas Douglas Allsup (November 24, 1931 – January 11, 2017) was an American country music, rockabilly and Western 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.
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, 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 because 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 "Bluer Than Blue", "Guitar Twist", and "Opus Twist". Allsup is known to be playing the lead guitar for these tunes on The Ventures albums
The Colorful Ventures and
Twist With The Ventures.
Allsup played guitar on
Bobby Vee recording sessions, including playing lead guitar on the album
Bobby Vee Meets The Crickets. In 1964, he played guitar on the Buddy Holly tribute album
The Buddy Holly Songbook produced by
Norman Petty.
He returned to Odessa, Texas, where he worked with Ronnie Smith, Roy Orbison, and producer Willie Nelson.
In 1979, he started a club named Tommy's Heads Up Saloon in Fort Worth.
The last surviving member of Buddy Holly's touring band for the 1959 Winter Dance Party, Tommy Allsup died on January 11, 2017, at 85 years old in a hospital in Springfield, Missouri, after complications from hernia surgery.
See also
Further reading
External links
