Tommy Allsup
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Tommy Allsup (born November 24, 1931 in Owasso, Oklahoma) is an American musician.
Allsup began his career in music in 1949 as a guitarist with the Oklahoma Swingbillies. In 1958, recording at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico, he met Buddy Holly, who asked him to play lead guitar in a new backup band to replace The Crickets.[citation needed] Allsup agreed, and played with Waylon Jennings, who played bass guitar, and Carl Bunch, who played the drums.
During their winter tour, Buddy Holly was killed in an airplane crash on February 3, 1959 at Clear Lake Iowa, in what has become known as "The Day the Music Died." Allsup was the person who, luckily, lost the toss of a coin to Ritchie Valens for a seat on the small airplane.[citation needed] The scene was depicted in the film La Bamba.
After Holly's death, Allsup moved to California, where he did session work for Liberty Records and eventually became one of their record producers. In 1968, he moved to Nashville to manage Metromedia Records.
Over the years, Allsup has played guitar, as well as produced some of the biggest names in country music.[citation needed]
In 2000, Tommy Allsup shared the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for "Bob's Breakdowns."[citation needed]
Allsup has played guitar or bass on close to nine-thousand recording sessions[citation needed] and his work has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.[citation needed] He currently lives in Azle, Texas, where he operates Common Ground Studios.
