Norman and Vi Petty Rock & Roll Museum

The Norman and Vi Petty Rock and Roll Museum at 105 East Grand Avenue in downtown Clovis celebrates the producer and studio owner whose recording facility just down the street was the birthplace of some of the most important early rock and roll records. Norman Petty produced Buddy Holly's landmark recordings -- including 'That'll Be the Day', 'Peggy Sue', and 'Oh, Boy!' -- at his studio in Clovis between 1956 and 1959. The museum honours both Norman and his wife Vi, who was a key creative and business partner in the studio operation throughout.

Petty was a pivotal figure in Holly's career: he gave him studio time, acted as his manager, and helped shape the recordings that made Holly a star. Their relationship eventually soured over financial arrangements, and Holly had left Petty's management by the time of his death. But the Clovis recordings -- made in a studio that Petty built himself in an unremarkable building in a small New Mexico city -- remain the foundation of Holly's legacy. The museum documents this history with artefacts, photographs, and recordings.

The museum is operated by the City of Clovis and the Clovis-Curry County Chamber of Commerce. It opened in 2013 and is located a short walk from the Norman Petty Recording Studios on 7th Street. The two sites together form the core of a Clovis rock and roll heritage experience that draws visitors from around the world, despite (or because of) the city's obscure location on the Llano Estacado of eastern New Mexico.