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Ritchie Valens

 
Who2 Biography: Ritchie Valens, Rock Musician
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Ritchie Valens
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  • Born: 13 May 1941
  • Birthplace: Pacoima, California
  • Died: 3 February 1959 (airplane crash)
  • Best Known As: The teen star who sang 'La Bamba'

Name at birth: Richard Valenzuela

Ritchie Valens' hit tune "La Bamba" made him America's first Hispanic rock star. He was just a kid of 17 from the Los Angeles suburbs when he released his first hit, "Come On Let's Go," in 1958. Later that year he recorded the sentimental ballad "Donna," but it was the flip side of that disc, the rollicking sung-in-Spanish "La Bamba," which became a more memorable hit. Early in 1959, still only 17, he was killed in a plane crash after performing a show in Clear Lake, Iowa. (The same plane crash killed fellow stars Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper.) The 1987 movie La Bamba resurrected the legend of Valens (with Lou Diamond Phillips playing the singer); a new version of the title song, recorded by the band Los Lobos, became an even bigger hit than the original.

Valens won a coin toss with guitarist Tommy Allsup to get a seat on the fatal flight. The Big Bopper also talked bassist Waylon Jennings into giving up his seat; Jennings later became a well-known country music star... Record producer Bob Kane suggested the stage name "Valens," which he thought would have more appeal to non-Hispanic audiences.

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Biography: Ritchie Valens
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In a recording career that spanned less than two years and produced only one album released during his lifetime, Ritchie Valens (1941-1959), born Richard Steven Valenzuela, has had an enduring influence on rock 'n roll music despite the fact that he died before his eighteenth birthday in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of rockers Buddy Holly and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper). Valens's music is admired for his gritty proto-punk, garage-rock guitar style, lack of sentimentality, and embracement of his Hispanic heritage, which are apparent in his most successful hit single "La Bamba."

With the concurrent deaths of Holly and Valens, it has been argued that the evolution of the rock 'n roll genre stalled until the Beatles (a band whose name was inspired by the name of Holly's band, the Crickets) took up where the two American performers left off. Valens, inspired by Holly and Eddie Cochran to write and play guitar on his own compositions, displayed a tremendous degree of potential as a songwriter, guitarist, and showman as evidenced by the performances captured on his two studio albums, Ritchie Valens (1959) and Ritchie (1959), and a live recording, Ritchie Valens in Concert at Pacoima Junior High (1960). These recordings inspired such later guitarists and songwriters as diverse as The Ramones's Johnny Ramone, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, and Los Lobos's David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas. Such was Valens's influence on Los Lobos that the band re-recorded two of his biggest hits for the soundtrack of the Valens's biographic motion picture La Bamba (1987), which revitalized interest in Valens's life and music.

Born in East Los Angeles

Valens was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima, the son of Joseph "Steve" Valenzuela, who worked at times as a tree surgeon, miner, and horse trainer. Valens's mother, Concepcion "Connie" Valenzuela, worked in a munitions plant and had one son, Robert, from a previous marriage. The parents separated when Valens was three years old, and the young man spent much of his time with his father who introduced his son to blues, flamenco, and other traditional Mexican music and taught his son how to play guitar. The heavy ethnicity of the Los Angeles area also exposed him to the rhythm and blues music of such acts as the Drifters, the Penguins, Bo Diddley (Elias McDaniel), and, perhaps most importantly, Little Richard, as well as the rock 'n roll music of Holly, Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.

When Joseph Valenzuela died of diabetes-related complications, Valens lived for a while with his uncle, Henry Felix, in Santa Monica, California, before moving back to stay with his mother, step-brother and two younger step-sisters in Pacoima. He continued to pursue his musical interests, studying guitar and listening to recordings by Chuck Berry, Richard, Presley, and others, while learning traditional Mexican songs from his relatives. He practiced and entertained his friends at Pacoima Junior High during lunch hours, refining the guitar skills and vocal prowess that led to an invitation to join The Silhouettes.

The Silhouettes

When he was sixteen years old, Valens accepted The Silhouettes's invitation to join the band as guitarist and singer. The racially integrated group included African American and Japanese American musicians who played local high-school dances, church social functions, and neighborhood parties. Other members of the band included vibes player Gil Rocha, who was twenty-one years old and often credited with instilling a sense of professionalism within the band. Valens shared vocal responsibilities with female vocalists Emma Franco and Phyllis Romano. His tenure with The Silhouettes is credited with assisting him overcome stage fright and shyness and led him to be nicknamed "The Little Richard of Pacoima" for one of his chief stylistic influences. His stage demeanor, however, was reportedly far more reserved than Little Richard's. Other writers claim that Valens's exhibited more of a Bo Diddley "shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits" rhythmic influence, but in either instance, it is clear that Valens was pioneering the use of rhythmic guitar as a lead rock 'n roll instrument, a style that is also used to good effect by guitarists Pete Townshend, Robbie Robertson, and Johnny Ramone as well as hundreds of guitarists in lesser-known garage and punk bands.

Bob Keane and Del-Fi Records

In May 1958, Valens auditioned for Bob Keane, the owner of Del-Fi Records. Recording at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, Valens cut his first single, "Come On, Let's Go." Although it is recognized by contemporary critics as a classic rock 'n roll song, it failed to chart in the top-40 upon its release.

Valens's second recording session yielded a two-sided hit single, "Donna" and "La Bamba." The first song was written by Valens for his high-school girlfriend and was rush-released after Los Angeles's most popular radio station, KFWB, broadcast a test-pressing of the song to overwhelming positive response. A softly sung guitar ballad with simple lyrics and guitar-chord changes, "Donna" inspired a whole generation of feminine-named songs from Neil Sedaka's "Oh, Carol!" to Randy and the Rainbows "Denise."

Rock critic Lester Bangs summed up the appeal of "Donna" in this way: "Valens sang with an unassuming sincerity that made him more truly touching than any other artist from his era. 'Donna' is one of the classic teen love ballads, one of the few which reaches through layers of maudlin sentiment to give you the true and unmistakable sensation of what it must have been like to be a teenager in that strange decade." Bangs continued: "The agonizing sense of frustration which is so crucial to adolescent life is never very far from his lyrics, and in his best songs, like 'Donna' and 'Come On Let's Go,' it is right up front, just as it is in Eddie Cochran's classic 'Summertime Blues."' "Donna" entered the pop-music charts on December 29, 1958, and became a number 2 hit with fourteen weeks on the Billboard American charts; it climbed to number 20 in Great Britain.

The single's flipside, however, may have contributed significantly to the success of "Donna." "La Bamba" was a huapango - a traditional Mexican folksong of celebration that is often sung at wedding receptions. Reputedly taught to Valens by his cousin, Dickie Cota, "La Bamba" is the song that became most closely associated with the singer, guitarist, and songwriter. While it rose to only Number 22 on the Billboard American charts, the song combines a flamenco-influenced lead guitar riff to a more visceral garage-band rhythm, resulting in one of rock 'n roll's seminal records of the 1950s.

All three singles were collected on the album Ritchie Valens, which was released February 12, 1959, slightly more than one week after Valens's death. In October 1959, however, Del-Fi Records released a second album of Valens's recordings, Ritchie, which yielded no hit singles but remains essential to fans of 1950s rock, proto-punk, and garage rock. Del-Fi also released Ritchie Valens in Concert at Pacoima Junior High, which included live concert versions of "Come On, Let's Go," and "Donna" and cover versions of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and the Mexican folksong "Malaguena." Reviewing the record, Bangs wrote: "Richie Valens was a quiet, underrated yet enormously influential member of that handful of folk visionaries who almost single-handedly created rock and roll in the Fifties. … It is a dignified, sincere memorial and a beautiful document out of the Fifties, but it is also a great rock and roll recording in its own right, because Richie Valens himself was a great artist." Numerous repackages of Valens's music have been released since his death.

Played with the Big Boys

Capitalizing on the success of "Donna," the upcoming release of his first album, and the forthcoming release of "La Bamba" as a single in its own right, Valens was asked to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and Alan Freed's Christmas Show in New York in December 1958. He also filmed an appearance in the 1959-released film, Go, Johnny, Go, in which he appears with Freed alongside performances by Cochran and Jackie Wilson.

In January 1959, Valens joined Buddy Holly and the Crickets, the Big Bopper, and Dion and the Belmonts on a package-concert tour organized by Clark, called "The Winter Dance Party." Such package shows were popular during the 1950s and 1960s and typically featured two shows every evening that allowed each act fifteen minutes to one-half hour to perform their hits. After a performance on February 2, 1959, several of the performers elected to fly in a plane chartered by Holly rather than ride on the tour bus with a broken heater in sub-zero temperatures. Valens earned a seat on the plane by winning a coin toss with Crickets guitarist Tommy Allsop and was killed along with Holly, the Big Bopper, and the twenty-one-year-old pilot when the plane crashed in a cornfield.

Enduring Popularity

Since his death in 1959, Valens's music and life have enjoyed renewed interest through the song "American Pie" by Don McLean, which presents the fatal plane crash as an allegory for lost innocence, and through the heavily fictionalized film biography La Bamba, featuring actor Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens. The film's title track, performed by the band Los Lobos, became a number one hit single the same year. Valens's name also appeared in music news when Led Zeppelin songwriter and guitarist Jimmy Page was sued for plagiarizing Valens's "Ooh! My Head" for the British band's song "Boogie with Stu." Page, who acknowledged Valens as "my first guitar hero," settled the suit for an undisclosed sum in 1978.

Books

Nugent, Stephen and Charlie Gillett, Rock Almanac: Top Twenty American and British Singles and Albums of the '50s, '60s, and '70s, Anchor Books, 1978.

Online

"The Real Story of Ritchie Valens," The Rockabilly Hall of Fame,http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RitchieValens.html.

"Ritchie Valens," Ritchie Valens,http:www/ritchievalens.net/bio/rvbio.html.

"Ritchie Valens," The Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame,http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id+1145.

"Ritchie Valens," (review by Lester Bangs), Rolling Stone,http://www.rollingstone/recordings/r.

Artist: Ritchie Valens
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
Ritchie Valens

Similar Artists:

Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran, Rick Nelson, Bobby Fuller Four, The Everly Brothers, Gary "U.S." Bonds, Los Lobos, Brenda Lee, Del Shannon, Doug Sahm, The Blendells

Influenced By:

Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry

Followers:

Los Lobos, Brian Setzer, The Blasters, Dave Alvin, Fernando, Minstrels, Souvenir Satellite, Clorox Girls, Chan Romero, Deer Tick

Performed Songs By:

Ersel Hickey, Robert Carr, Sharon Sheeley, William Clauson, Jerry Leiber, Rolf Kuhn, Ernesto Lecuona
See Ritchie Valens Lyrics
  • Born: May 13, 1941, Pacoima, CA
  • Died: February 03, 1959, Clear Lake, IA
  • Active: '50s
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: Guitar, Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "Rockin' All Night: The Best of Ritchie Valens," "The Very Best of Ritchie Valens," "History of Ritchie Valens"
  • Representative Songs: "La Bamba," "Donna," "Come on, Let's Go"

Biography

Valens will forever be known primarily as one of the two rock stars (along with the Big Bopper) who perished with Buddy Holly when their private plane crashed in the midst of a Midwest tour in 1959. At the time, Valens had just established himself as one of the most promising young talents in rock & roll, just missing the top of the charts with his ballad "Donna," and recording a pioneering blend of rock and Latin music with its almost equally popular flipside, "La Bamba." More than almost any other rock star who died prematurely, it's difficult to assess his unrealized potential; he was only 17 at the time of his death, and had just barely begun to make records.

The first Hispanic rock star, Valens grew up in Los Angeles suburbs, and was playing guitar by the time he was in junior high school. Inspired by Little Richard and rockabilly performers, he was discovered by producer Bob Keane in 1958. Keane signed the guitarist to his Del-Fi label, and they soon had a sizable hit with the brash "Come on Let's Go," which made number 42. It was the pensive, almost awkward "Donna" that got him to number two in early 1959. More innovative was the flipside, "La Bamba," sung entirely in Spanish, and featuring some fierce guitar work, as well as the thick sound of the Danelectro bass, which gave the instrument more electric presence than it had ever previously enjoyed on a rock & roll disc.

Valens only had about two albums worth of material in the can, as well as some lo-fi live tapes of a gig at a local junior high, before his death; undoubtedly some or many of these were demos or unfinished tracks. A few other singers emulated Valens' Mexican-American brand of rock in the following years, most notably Chan Romero (originator of "Hippy Hippy Shake," who also recorded for Del-Fi and used some of the same musicians that had backed Valens) and Chris Montez. In the 1980s and 1990s, L.A. Latino rock band Los Lobos were often cited for reflecting Valens' influence. The 1987 film La Bamba (whose soundtrack featured Los Lobos) gave his story the Hollywood treatment, exposing his legacy to millions even as it introduced the usual distortions and factual errors in its dramatization of his brief life. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Ritchie Valens
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For other persons named Valenzuela, see Valenzuela (disambiguation).
Ritchie Valens

Ritchie Valens album cover
Background information
Birth name Richard Steven Valenzuela
Born May 13, 1941
Origin Pacoima, California, USA
Died February 3, 1959 (aged 17)
near Clear Lake, Iowa, USA
Genres Rock and roll, Latin rock
Occupations Singer
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1957–1959
Labels Del-Fi Records

Richard Steven "Ritchie" Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), better known by the stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.

A rock and roll pioneer and the forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens's recording career lasted only eight months. During this time however, he scored several hits, most notably "Donna" which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Best Sellers chart; and, the flip side "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed into a song with a rock rhythm. Both songs charted in early 1959,[1][2] making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.

On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Valens was killed in a small-plane crash outside Mason City, Iowa, USA, an event that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Ritchie Valens was born in Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, on May 13, 1941 of Mexican descent. His parents were Joseph Steven Valenzuela and Concepcion Reyes.[3] Brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, as well as flamenco guitar, R&B and jump blues, he expressed an interest in making music of his own by the age of 5. He was encouraged by his father to take up guitar and trumpet, and later taught himself the drums. One day, a neighbor came across Ritchie trying to play a guitar that had only two strings. He re-strung the instrument, and taught Ritchie the fingerings of some chords. While Ritchie was left-handed, he was so eager to learn the guitar that he mastered the traditionally right-handed version of the instrument. By the time he was attending Pacoima Junior High School, his proficiency on the guitar was such that he brought the instrument to school and would sing and play songs to his friends on the bleachers. When he was sixteen years old, he was invited to join a local band named The Silhouettes as a guitarist. When the main vocalist left the group, Ritchie assumed this position as well. On October 19, 1957, Valens made his performing debut with the group.[4] In addition to the performances with The Silhouettes, he played solo at parties and other social gatherings.

Career

Ritchie Valens album cover

Valens was an accomplished singer and guitarist. At his appearances, he often improvised new lyrics and added new riffs while he was playing. This is an aspect of his music that is not heard in his commercial studio recordings. Due to his high-energy performances, Valenzuela earned the nickname "The Little Richard of the Valley."

In May 1958, Bob Keane, the owner and President of Del-Fi Records, a small Hollywood record label, was given a tip about a young performer from Pacoima by the name of Richard Valenzuela. Keane, swayed by the Little Richard connection, went to see Valenzuela play a Saturday morning matinée at a movie theater in San Fernando. Impressed by the performance, he invited Ritchie to audition at his home in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where he had a small recording studio in his basement. The recording equipment comprised an early portable tape recorder — a two-track Ampex 6012 — and a pair of Telefunken U-47 condenser microphones.

After this first 'audition', Keane decided to sign Ritchie to Del-Fi, and a contract was prepared and signed on May 27, 1958. It was at this point that he took the name Ritchie, because, as Keane said, "There were a bunch of 'Richies' around at that time, and I wanted it to be different." Similarly, it was Keane who decided to shorten his surname to Valens from Valenzuela, in order to broaden his appeal to white Americans.

Several songs that would later be turn down at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood were first demoed in Keane's studio. The demos were mostly just Ritchie singing and playing guitar. Some of them featured drums. These original demos can be heard on the Del-Fi album Ritchie Valens — The Lost Tapes. Aside from those demos, two of the tracks laid down in Keane's studio were taken to Gold Star and had additional instruments dubbed over to create full-band recordings. "Donna" was one track (although there are two other preliminary versions of the song, both available on ''The Lost Tapes), and the other was an instrumental entitled "Ritchie's Blues."

After several songwriting and demo recording sessions with Keane in his basement studio, Keane decided that Ritchie was ready to enter the studio with a full band backing him. Amongst the musicians were Rene Hall and Earl Palmer. The first songs recorded at Gold Star, at a single studio session one afternoon in July 1958, were "Come On, Let's Go," an original (credited to Valens/Kuhn, Keane's real name), and "Framed," a Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller tune. Pressed and released within days of the recording session taking place, the record was a success. Valens's next record, a double A-side, had the songs "Donna" (written about a real girlfriend), coupled with "La Bamba."
"La Bamba" (1959)

File:LaBamba.ogg
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

At this point, in the autumn of 1958, Valens quit high school to concentrate on his career. Keane booked appearances at venues all across the United States and performances on television programs. Valens, however, had a fear of flying brought on by a freak accident at his Pacoima Junior High School when, on January 31, 1957, two airplanes collided over the playground, killing or injuring several of his friends.[5] Valens was not at school that day as he was attending his grandfather's funeral. He eventually succeeded in overcoming his fear enough to travel by airplane. One of his first stops was Philadelphia to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show on October 6, where he sang "Come On, Let's Go." In November, Ritchie traveled to Hawaii and performed alongside Buddy Holly and Paul Anka. Valens found himself a last-minute addition on the bill of legendary discjockey Alan Freed's Christmas Jubilee in New York City, singing with some of those who had greatly influenced his music, including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran and Jackie Wilson. December 27 saw a return to American Bandstand, this time for a performance of "Donna."

Upon his return to Los Angeles, Valens filmed an appearance in Alan Freed's movie Go Johnny Go!. In the film, he appears in a diner, miming his song "Ooh! My Head," using a Gretsch guitar borrowed from Eddie Cochran. In between the live appearances, Ritchie returned to Gold Star several times, recording the tracks that would comprise his two albums.

In early 1959, Valens was traveling the Midwest on a multi-act rock and roll tour dubbed "The Winter Dance Party." Accompanying him were Buddy Holly with a new back-up band, Tommy Allsup on guitar, Waylon Jennings on bass, and Carl Bunch on drums; Dion and the Belmonts; J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson; and Frankie Sardo. None of the other performers had backing bands, so Buddy's backup band filled in for all the shows.

Ritchie Valens album cover

Conditions for the performers on the tour buses were abysmal, and the bitterly cold Midwest weather took its toll on the party; Carl Bunch had to be hospitalized with severely frostbitten feet, and several others (including Valens and The Big Bopper) caught colds. The show was split into two acts, with Ritchie closing the first act. After Bunch was hospitalized, a member of the Belmonts who had some drum experience took over the drumming duties. When Dion and the Belmonts were performing, the drum seat was taken by either Valens or Buddy Holly. There is a surviving color photograph of Ritchie at the drum kit.

Death

Main article: The Day the Music Died

The bus they all were taking on the tour was plagued with a defective heater and Holly decided to charter a small plane for himself and others. Valens, Holly, Richardson, and the pilot were killed when their small plane crashed quickly after taking off from Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. Don McLean referred to it as "The Day the Music Died".

Legacy

Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock, Latin rock and was an inspiration to many musicians of Latino heritage. He influenced the likes of Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, Chan Romero, Chris Montez, and Carlos Santana among countless others at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop music. He is considered the first Latino to ever successfully cross over into Rock mainstream.

"La Bamba" would prove to be his most influential recording; not only by becoming a pop chart hit sung entirely in Spanish but also because of its successful blending of traditional Latin American music with rock. He was a pioneer and was an inspiration for many after his death. Valens was the first to capitalize on this formula which would later be adopted by such varied artists as Selena, Caifanes, Cafe Tacuba, Circo, El Gran Silencio, Aterciopelados, Gustavo Santaolalla and many others in the Latin Alternative scene. Ironically, the Valenzuela family spoke only English at home, and Ritchie knew very little Spanish. Ritchie learned the lyrics of "La Bamba" phonetically in order to record the song in Spanish.

"Come On, Let's Go" has been covered by Los Lobos, The Ramones and "The Paley Brothers"; (jointly, The Ramones on guitar, bass, and drums and The Paley Brothers on vocals), Tommy Steele, The Huntingtons and The McCoys.

"Donna" has been covered by artists as diverse as MxPx, Cliff Richard, The Youngbloods, Clem Snide, Cappadonna, and The Misfits among many others.

Robert Quine has cited Valens's guitar playing as an early influence on his style.

Donna Ludwig, Valens's girlfriend, is today still recognized as "Ritchie's Donna". Her personalized license plate reads "ODONNA".

Ritchie's younger brother Mario, tours North America with his Backyard Blues Band. Ritchie Valens's cousin, Ernie Valens, has toured worldwide playing his uncle's songs, including a new version of the "Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly impersonator John Mueller. This tour has taken place at many of the original 1959 venues in the midwest.

Ritchie Valens is interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. In 1993 a U.S. Postage Stamp was issued honoring Ritchie. 1994 Paxton Park re-named Ritchie Valens Recreation Center (located at 10731 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Pacoima, California 91331). In 1997 Inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk, in 2000 inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame for song, "La Bamba." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Eleventh Annual Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2009, and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The Los Angeles City Council honored Ritchie by proclaiming Friday, July 3, 2009 as Ritchie Valens Day. 2009 saw the GRAMMY Museum at LA Live unveil a special Ritchie Valens exhibit. Artifacts on display: Red shirt he wore during first promo photo, 1957 Harmony Guitar and handwritten lyrics to his hit song, "La Bamba." Ritchie's mother Connie, who died in 1987, is buried alongside him.[6]

Ritchie Valens also appeared in biopic films. Valens was depicted in the 1987 biopic film La Bamba, which was about his life. The film's time period was from 1957 to 1959, in which his age was 16 to 17. It introduced Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens and co-starred Esai Morales as his older half-brother, Bob Morales. Los Lobos performed most of the music in the film.

Ritchie Valens was portrayed by Gilbert Melgar in the final scene of The Buddy Holly Story.

Tributes

Monument at Crash Site, September 16, 2003.

In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 50s era, erected a stainless steel monument depicting a steel guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of each of the three performers' labels and main hits.[7] It is located on private farmland, about one-third mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, approximately five miles north of Clear Lake. He also created a similar stainless steel monument to the three musicians near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.[8]

A park in Pacoima was renamed in Ritchie Valens's honor.

"Boogie With Stu" from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album was inspired by Valen's song "Oooh, My Head". In its credits, a "Mrs. Valens" is mentioned as co-author in an attempt by Led Zeppelin to pave the way for some of the royalties to reach Ritchie's mother. Eventually, a lawsuit was filed and it remains unclear whether Mrs. Valens received any payment.[9]

The 'Winter Dance Party Tour' is a tribute tour to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and early rock and roll. It gets its name from the tour that ended the lives of Holly, Valens, and Richardson. This reproduction of the tour ends every year on February 2, at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

Discography w/Billboard chart peak positions

Original albums

Features the remaining finished master tracks plus three demos recorded at Bob Keane's home studio
Side 1 features the concert with opening narrative by Bob Keane, side 2 features five unfinished tracks as described by Keane. "Come On, Let's Go" on side 1 is a demo version with the concert noise dubbed in

Compilation albums

Originally released with black cover, reissued later the same year with different cover (in white) and retitled "His Greatest Hits"
Box set replicating the three original albums plus booklet
One sided-promotional album of Bob Keane interview by James Austin. Features "La Bamba", "Donna" and "Come On, Let's Go"
  • The Ritchie Valens Story (1993) -- Rhino/Del-Fi 71414
Featuring hits, outtakes, rare photos, and a 20 minute narrative of Ritchie by manager Bob Keane
  • Ritchie Valens—The Lost Tapes—Del-Fi DFCD-70009 (1995)
Compilation of demos and multiple outtakes of songs
  • Rockin' All Night: The Very Best Of Ritchie Valens (1995) -- Del-Fi DFCD-9001
  • Come On, Let's Go! (1998) -- Del-Fi DFBX-2359
Deluxe 3-CD, 62 track set featuring all tracks from the three original albums plus rare demos and outtakes. 62 page booklet features biography and rare photos. Package also comes with poster, picture cards, and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame campaign cards

Singles

  • Come On, Let's Go (US #42) / Framed—Del-Fi 4106 (1958)
  • Donna (US #2) / La Bamba (US #22) -- Del-Fi 4110 (1958)
  • Fast Freight / Big Baby Blues—Del-Fi 4111 (1959)
Original pressings shown as "Arvee Allens", later pressings shown as "Ritchie Valens"
The above three singles were the only records released in Ritchie's lifetime
  • That's My Little Suzie (US #55) / In A Turkish Town—Del-Fi 4114 (1959)
  • Little Girl (US #92) / We Belong Together—Del-Fi 4117 (1959)
  • Stay Beside Me / Big Baby Blues—Del-Fi 4128 (1959)
  • The Paddiwack Song / Cry, Cry, Cry—Del-Fi 4133 (1960)
The above three singles were issued on gold "Valens Memorial Series" labels
  • La Bamba '87 / La Bamba (original version) -- Del-Fi 1287 (1987)
  • Come On, Let's Go / La Bamba—Del-Fi 51341 (1998)
  • We Belong Together

EP's

  • Special Release Programming Only—Del-Fi PR-1
La Bamba / We Belong Together / Donna / Framed
  • Ritchie Valens—Del-Fi D-101
Commercial copy of PR-1
  • Ritchie Valens Sings—Del-Fi DFEP-111
Bluebirds Over The Mountain / Come On, Let's Go / Hi-Tone / Donna

See also

References

  1. ^ HOME - The Daily Breeze
  2. ^ MIPUNTO.COM | TEMAS | Rock en Venezuela
  3. ^ www.history-of-rock.com/ritchie valens
  4. ^ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum: Ritchie Valens
  5. ^ The Pacoima plane crash: Eyewitness report
  6. ^ Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials
  7. ^ Findadeath
  8. ^ The Day the Music Died - Music Articles
  9. ^ Lewis, Dave. The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin. ISBN 0-7119-3528-9. 

External links

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