Ritchie Valens

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
Genre(s) Rock and roll
Occupation(s) Singer
Instrument(s) Guitar
Years active 1957–1959
Label(s) Del-Fi Records

Ritchie Valens (Richard Steven Valenzuela; May 13, 1941  – February 3, 1959) 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, however, he scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958,[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 in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

Contents

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

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. 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, in order to broaden his appeal to White Americans.

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.[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 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 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 broke down and Buddy Holly 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 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 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 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, 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 tragic 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' guitar playing as an early influence on his style.

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

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.

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 Connie, who died in 1987, is buried alongside him.[6]

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 on the film 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.

Valens was portrayed by Gilbert Melgar in the final scene of The Buddy Holly Story and Valens will also be depicted in the upcoming 2009 film The Day the Music Died. Valens will be portrayed by Joseph Thornhillas in the 2009 film Lives and Deaths of the Poets.

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.[7] 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.[8]

A park in Pacoima was renamed in Ritchie Valens' 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 at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

Original albums

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
Featuring hits, outtakes, rare photos, and a 20 minute narrative of Ritchie by manager Bob Keane
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

Original pressings shown as "Arvee Allens", later pressings shown as "Ritchie Valens"
The above three singles were issued on gold "Valens Memorial Series" labels

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. 

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