Ritchie Valens

Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known as Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, he had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and beat, and it became a hit in 1958, 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 died in a small-plane crash in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as pilot Roger Peterson. Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Early life

Ritchie Valens was born in Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, on May 13, 1941. His parents were Joseph Steven Valenzuela and Concepcion Reyes. Brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, 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 at the age of 9 and trumpet, and he 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. Ritchie's life took a sharp turn when he was 10, his father passed away in a tragic accident. Valens attended Pacoima Junior High School (now Pacoima Middle School). By the time he was attending junior high school, he brought the instrument to school and would sing and play songs to his friends on the bleachers.

When he was 16 years old, he was invited to join a local band named 'The Silhouettes' as a guitarist. Later, the main vocalist left the group and Ritchie assumed this position as well. In addition to the performances with The Silhouettes, he would play solo at parties and other social events.

Career

A self-taught musician, Valens was an accomplished singer and guitarist. At his appearances, he often improvised new lyrics and added new riffs to popular songs while he was playing. This is an aspect of his music that is not heard in his commercial studio recordings.

Bob Keane, the owner and president of small record label Del-Fi Records in Hollywood, was given a tip in May 1958 by San Fernando High School student Doug Macchia about a young performer from Pacoima by the name of Richard Valenzuela. Kids knew the performer as "The Little Richard of the Valley". 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. An early stereo recorder (a two-track Ampex 601-2 portable) and a pair of Neumann U-47 condenser microphones comprised the recording equipment.

After this first audition, Keane signed Ritchie to Del-Fi on May 27, 1958. At this point 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.

Several songs, that would later be re-recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, were first demoed in Keane's studio. The demos primarily consisted of Ritchie singing and playing guitar, but some of them also featured drums. These original demos can be heard on the Del-Fi album Ritchie Valens — The Lost Tapes. As well as the aforementioned demos, two of the tracks laid down in Keane's studio were taken to Gold Star Studios 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, Carol Kaye, and Earl Palmer. The first songs recorded at Gold Star Studios, 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 Leiber and Stoller tune. Pressed and released within days of the recording session, the record was a success. Valens' next record, a double A-side, which was the final record to be released in his lifetime, had the song "Donna" (written about a real girlfriend) coupled with "La Bamba."

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. Valens was not at school that day as he was attending his grandfather's funeral. He eventually overcame 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 disc jockey 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 6120 guitar, the same model Eddie Cochran owned. In between the live appearances Ritchie returned to Gold Star Studios 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, Dion and the Belmonts, J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Frankie Sardo. All performers were augmented by Holly's new backup band including Tommy Allsup on guitar, Waylon Jennings on bass and Carl Bunch on drums.

Conditions for the performers on the tour buses were abysmal and 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, Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts took over the drumming duties since he had some drum experience. 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

After the February 2, 1959 performance in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly, Richardson and Valens flew out of the Mason City airport in a small plane that Holly had chartered. Valens was on the plane because he won a coin toss with Tommy Allsup, with the latter taking a bus instead. The plane, a three-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza, departed for Fargo, North Dakota and crashed shortly after takeoff in a snow storm. The crash killed all three passengers and pilot Roger Peterson. At 17, Valens was the youngest to die on the flight.

The event, along with Buddy Holly's death, inspired singer Don McLean's popular 1971 hit "American Pie," and immortalized February 3 as "The Day the Music Died." His remains were buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California.

Legacy

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

"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. Valens was the first to capitalize on this formula which would later be adopted by such varied artists as Selena, Caifanes, Café 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 phonetically in order to record "La Bamba" in Spanish.

"Come On, Let's Go" has been covered by Los Lobos, the Ramones and "the Paley Brothers" (the Ramones on guitar, bass and drums and The Paley Brothers on vocals), Tommy Steele, the Huntingtons, Girl in a Coma and the McCoys and in Australia by Johnny Rebb and his Rebels on Leedon/Canetoad Records. "Donna" has been covered by artists as diverse as MxPx, Cliff Richard, the Youngbloods, Clem Snide, Cappadonna, and the Misfits.

Robert Quine has cited Valens' guitar playing as an early influence on his style. Valens also inspired Chan Romero, Carlos Santana, Chris Montez, Keith O'Conner Murphy, Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys.

Valens' nephew, 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.

Valens has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Valens' mother Connie, who died in 1987, is buried alongside him.

Valens has been the subject of several biopic films, including the 1987 film La Bamba. Primarily set in 1957-1959, it depicted Valens from age 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. Valens was portrayed by Gilbert Melgar in the final scene of The Buddy Holly Story and also in the film The Day the Music Died (2010). Valens was portrayed by Joseph Thornhill in the 2011 film Lives and Deaths of the Poets.

The novelization of the film Grease (1978) by Ron De Christiforo is set around the time of Valens' death. In one of the earlier chapters, the gang sit around in the character of Sonny's basement, upset at the death of some of their favorite stars in the plane crash.

Tributes

In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s 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. It is located on private farmland, about one quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, approximately eight 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.

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

"Boogie With Stu" from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album was inspired by Valens' song "Oooh, My Head." It did not credit Ritchie Valens or Bob Keane. Eventually, a lawsuit was filed by Bob Keane and half of the award went to Valens' mother, although she was not part of the suit.

Discography

Original albums

• Ritchie Valens (March 1959) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1201 (US #23)
• Ritchie (December 1959) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1206
• In Concert at Pacoima Jr. High (1961) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1214

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

• Ritchie Valens Memorial Album (December 1962) -- Del-Fi DLFP-1225
  • Originally released with black cover, reissued in February 1963 with different cover (in white) and retitled His Greatest Hits
• Ritchie Valens...His Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1964) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1247
• History of Ritchie Valens (1981) --Rhino RNBC-2798
  • Box set replicating the three original albums plus booklet
• The Best of Ritchie Valens (1987) -- Rhino 70178 (US #100)
• La Bamba '87 (1987) -- Del-Fi DF-1287
  • 12" EP featuring four different mixes of La Bamba
• 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
• 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"

• "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. Del-Fi 4117 was also issued with picture sleeve.

• "La Bamba '87"/"La Bamba" (original version) -- Del-Fi 1287 (1987)
• "Come On, Let's Go"/"La Bamba" — Del-Fi 51341 (1998)