Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens |
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Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13 1941 – February 3 1959), was a pioneer of rock and roll.
Career
The professional career of Ritchie Valens lasted a period of eight months, during which time he recorded some very influential songs of the 1950s rock and roll era. His best known song, "La Bamba", is probably the very first Latin Rock song to become a hit [1][2], making Valens the father of the Spanish rock and roll movement.
He was born in Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, on May 13, 1941. Brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, as well as flamenco guitar, R&B and jump blues, by the age of 5 he expressed an interest in making music of his own. He was encouraged by his father to take up guitar and trumpet, and it is also known that 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. By the time he was attending Pacoima Jr. 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. Later on, 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 gatherings.
A completely self-taught musician, Valenzuela 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. 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-87 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, with the intention that a Latino name would make the DJs think that it was Latino music for a Latino audience - Keane wanted Ritchie's appeal to audiences of all kinds to be in the songs themselves.
Several songs that would later be re-recorded 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. As well as the aforementioned 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' next record, a double A-side, which was the final record to be released in his lifetime, had the songs "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 two airplanes collided over the playground, killing or injuring several of his friends. The planes were a cargo plane and a military jet. The Cargo plane landed in the junior high playing field, and the military jet landed in the mountains East of there. [I was eight years old, and I saw the planes collide. I was attending Terra Bellas Street School, which was separated from Pacoima Jr High by a tall chain link fence. (The Golden State Fwy occupies that location now). My class was just getting back from a field trip to a dairy, and we were walking to our classroom. I heard airplanes and looked up, just as they collided. There was a blue flame, and seconds later a loud boom and a cloud of black smoke rising from the ground. There was a building between us and the crash site, so that's all I saw. I ran in panic, and a little later, returned to my classroom. I went inside and found a hole in the roof, a plane engine on the floor, and broken desks and milk bottles. If we had gotten back five minutes earlier, I or my classmates might have been additional casualties of the crash.] Valens was not in school that day as he was attending his grandfather's funeral. He eventually succeeded in overcoming his fear. One of his first stops was Philadelphia to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand on October 6, where he sang "Come On, Let's Go". In November, Ritchie travelled to Hawaii and performed alongside Buddy Holly and Paul Anka among others. Valens found himself a last-minute addition on the bill of Alan Freed's Christmas Jubilee in New York City in December, singing with some of those who had greatly influenced his music, including Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran and Jackie Wilson. December 27th 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.
Conditions for the performers on the tour buses that were used were abysmal, and the bitter 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.
The Day The Music Died
Buddy Holly, fed up with the conditions on the buses, decided to charter a small plane for himself and his back-up band (The Crickets name was surrendered to Buddy's former bandmates Jerry Allison and Joe Mauldin) to get to the next show on time, get some rest, and get their laundry done. After the February 2, 1959 performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly, Richardson (who pleaded with Waylon Jennings for his seat because he was stricken with flu), and Valens (who had won Tommy Allsup's seat after a coin toss), were taken to Clear Lake airport by the manager of the Surf Ballroom.
The plane, a four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza, departed for Fargo, North Dakota into a blinding snowstorm bound and crashed into farmer Albert Juhl's cornfield shortly after takeoff. The crash ended the lives of all three passengers, as well as that of the 21 year-old pilot, Roger Peterson. This event is often said to have inspired singer Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad "American Pie", and immortalized February 3 as "The Day the Music Died". The event also inspired the Eddie Cochran song "Three Stars", which specifically mentions Holly, the Big Bopper, and Valens.
Legacy
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. 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. Ritchie's mother died in 1987 and is buried alongside him.
The 1987 biopic film La Bamba 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 a pioneer of Chicano rock, Spanish language rock and roll, and influenced the likes of The Blazers; Chris Montez, Phil Escobedo & The Allusions, Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, and Carlos Santana.
"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, and The Misfits among many others.
"La Bamba" would prove to be his most influential recording as by not only performing a rock song in Spanish but blending traditional Latin American music with rock he would be the first to use a formula that would be used by such artists as Selena, Caifanes, Cafe Tacuba,Circo, El Gran Silencio, Aterciopelados, Gustavo Santaolalla and many others in the Latin Alternative scene.
Ritchie's 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.
Tribute
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. 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 his honor.
Original albums
- Ritchie Valens (1959) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1201 (US #23)
- Ritchie (1959) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1206
- In Concert at Pacoima Jr. High (1960) -- 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 (1963) -- Del-Fi DLFP-1225
- Originally released with black cover, reissued later the same year with different cover (in white) and retitled "His Greatest Hits"
- His Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1964) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1247
- The Ritchie Valens Story (1987) -- Rhino/Del-Fi RNLP-2798
- Box set replicating the three original albums plus booklet
- The Best Of Ritchie Valens (1987) -- Rhino 70178 (US #100)
- 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
- 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
- La Bamba '87/La Bamba (original version) -- Del-Fi 1287 (1987)
- Come On, Let's Go/La Bamba -- Del-Fi 51341 (1998)
Sample
See also
External links
- American rock musicians
- American singer-songwriters
- American child singers
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
- Rock en Español
- People from Los Angeles
- People from the San Fernando Valley
- Plane crash victims
- Mexican American singers
- Accidents and incidents in general aviation
- 1941 births
- 1959 deaths