American rock Building Sound and the polished production values of soul, have been seen as influencing the Merseybeat sound, particularly the early work of The Beatles, and through them and others the form of later rock music. Some historians of music have also pointed to important and innovative technical developments that built on rock and roll in this period, particularly the Wall of Sound pursued by Phil Spector. Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By 1959, the death of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash,
Ritchie Valens accident. It is located on private farmland, about one-quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, about north of Clear Lake. He also created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians that was installed near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003. A park in Pacoima was renamed in Ritchie Valens' honor in the 1990s. Originally named Paxton Park, a city council member representing Pacoima proposed the renaming to honor Valens so residents will "remember his humble background and emulate his accomplishments." Musician Tommy Allsup started a