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Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. A rock & roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted eight months, as it abruptly ended when he died in a plane crash.[SUP][3][/SUP]
<tbody style="font-size: 14.4px; display: flex; flex-flow: column nowrap;">
</tbody>
Signature
During this time, he had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which he had adapted from a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and beat, and it became a hit in 1958,[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP] 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 plane crash in Iowa, an accident 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.
[h=2]
Contents[/h]
[h=2]
Early lifeEdit[/h]Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela in Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. His parents were Joseph Steven Valenzuela (1896–1952) and Concepcion Reyes (1915–1987); he was of Mexican descent and the second of five siblings with older brother Bob Morales, younger sisters Connie and Irma, and younger brother Mario Ramirez. Ritchie Valenzuela was brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, as well as flamenco guitar,[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] R&B, and jump blues. Valenzuela expressed an interest in making music of his own by the age of five, and he was encouraged by his father to take up guitar and trumpet, and later taught himself the drums. Though Valenzuela 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 Valenzuela was attending junior high school, he brought the guitar to school and would sing and play songs to his friends on the bleachers.[SUP][6][/SUP] When he was 16 years old, he was invited to join a local band, the Silhouettes (not the group famous for its hit song "Get a Job"), as a guitarist, and when the main vocalist left the group, Valenzuela assumed the position. On October 19, 1957, he made his performing debut with the Silhouettes. Valenzuela attended Pacoima Junior High School (now Pacoima Middle School) and San Fernando High School.[SUP][7][/SUP]
[h=2]
CareerEdit[/h]A 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.
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 San Fernando". Swayed by the Little Richard comparison, Keane went to see Valenzuela play a Saturday morning matinée at a movie theater in San Fernando. Impressed by the performance, he invited the youth to audition at his home in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where he had a small recording studio in his basement. His recording equipment comprised an early stereo recorder (a two-track Ampex 601-2 portable) and a pair of Neumann U-47 condenser microphones.
After this first audition, Keane signed Ritchie to Del-Fi on May 27, 1958. At this point, the musician took the name "Ritchie" because, as Keane said, "There were a bunch of 'Richards' around at that time, and I wanted it to be different." Similarly, Keane recommended shortening his surname to "Valens" from Valenzuela to widen his appeal beyond any obvious ethnic group.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Valens demonstrated several songs in Keane's studio that he later recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. The demos primarily consisted of Valens singing and playing guitar, but some of them also featured drums. These originals can be heard on the Del-Fi album, Ritchie Valens – The Lost Tapes. 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 two other preliminary versions of the song were made, both available on The Lost Tapes), and the other was an instrumental entitled "Ritchie's Blues".
After several songwriting and demonstration recording sessions with Keane in his basement studio, Keane decided that Valens was ready to enter the studio with a full band backing him. The musicians included René 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's next record, a double A-side, the final record to be released in his lifetime, had the song "Donna" (written about a real girlfriend) coupled with "La Bamba". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.[SUP][9][/SUP]
By the autumn of 1958, the demands of Valens' career forced him to drop out of high school. Keane booked appearances at venues across the United States and performances on television programs. Valens had a fear of flying due to a freak accident at his junior high schoolwhen, on January 31, 1957, two airplanes collided over the playground, killing or injuring several of his friends.[SUP][10][/SUP] Valens had been at his grandfather Frank Reyes' funeral that day, but was upset about the loss of his friends.
He eventually overcame his fear enough to travel by airplane for his career. He went to Philadelphia to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show on October 6, where he sang "Come On, Let's Go". In November, Valens flew to Hawaii, where he performed alongside Buddy Holly and Paul Anka. Valens was added to 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, Keith O'Conner Murphy, and Jackie Wilson. On December 27, he returned to Philadelphia and American Bandstand, this time performing "Donna".
After returning 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. Between the live appearances, Valens 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 multiple-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 the flu. The show was split into two acts, with Valens closing the first act. After Bunch was hospitalized, Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts took over the drumming duties. When Dion and the Belmonts were performing, the drum seat was taken by either Valens or Buddy Holly. A surviving color photograph shows Valens at the drum kit. Black and white photos found in 2014 taken by Mary Gerber on February 2, 1959, which are on display at the Surf Ballroom show Buddy Holly playing drums for Dion as Dion's drummer had frostbitten feet.
[h=2]
DeathEdit[/h]Main article: The Day the Music Died
Grave of Ritchie Valens and his mother Concepcion at San Fernando Mission Cemetery
After the February 2, 1959, performance in Clear Lake, Iowa (which ended around midnight), 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 Holly's backup guitarist Tommy Allsup. Holly's bassist, Waylon Jennings, voluntarily gave up his seat on the plane to J.P. Richardson, who was ill with the flu.[SUP][11][/SUP] Just after 1:00 am on February 3, 1959, the three-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza departed for Fargo, North Dakota, and crashed a few minutes after takeoff for reasons still unknown. The crash killed all three passengers and pilot Roger Peterson instantly upon impact. As with Holly and Richardson, Valens suffered massive and unsurvivable head injuries along with blunt force trauma to the chest. At just 17 years old, Valens was the youngest to die in the crash.
The tragedy inspired singer Don McLean to write his 1971 hit "American Pie", immortalizing February 3 as "The Day the Music Died". Valens's remains were buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California.
[h=2]
LegacyEdit[/h] Photo of the airplane crash in Iowa
Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock and Latin rock and inspired many musicians of Mexican heritage. He influenced the likes of Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, and Carlos Santana, as he had become nationally successful at a time when very few Latinos were in American rock and pop music. He is considered the first Latino to successfully cross over into mainstream rock.
"La Bamba" proved 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 was later 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 he knew very little Spanish. Valens learned the lyrics phonetically to record "La Bamba" in Spanish.
"Come On, Let's Go" has been covered by Los Lobos, the Ramones and the Pale 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. In Australia, Johnny Rebb and his Rebels on Leedon/Canetoad Records covered the song. "Donna" has been covered by artists as diverse as MxPx, Cliff Richard, the Youngbloods, Clem Snide, Cappadonna, and Misfits.
Robert Quine has cited Valens's guitar playing as an early influence on his style. Valens also inspired Jimi Hendrix, Chan Romero, Carlos Santana, Chris Montez, and Keith O'Conner Murphy, among others.
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 and is managed by C3 Entertainment, a company that specializes in retro brands.
Valens' mother, Connie, who died in 1987, is buried alongside him.[SUP][12][/SUP]
[h=2]
Representation in other mediaEdit[/h]
[h=2]
TributesEdit[/h] Monument at crash site in 2003
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 killed in the accident. It is located on private farmland, about one-quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Clear Lake. He also created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians that was installed near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.[SUP][13][/SUP]
A park in Pacoima was renamed in Ritchie Valens' honor in the 1990s. Originally named Paxton Park, a city council member representing Pacoima, proposed the renaming to honor Valens so residents will "remember his humble background and emulate his accomplishments."[SUP][14][/SUP]
In 1985, artist Manuel Velasquez (assisted by 25 students) created a 12 foot by 20 foot mural which was painted on the side of a classroom building at the former Pacoima Junior High (now Pacoima Middle School) depicting Ritchie Valens' image, records labeled with some of his greatest hits, as well as the newspaper article about the plane crash that took his life.[SUP][15][/SUP]
Musician Tommy Allsup started a club, "Tommy's Heads Up Saloon", in Dallas in 1979. The club was named for the fateful coin toss between Valens and him twenty years prior.[SUP][16][/SUP]
"Boogie with Stu" from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album was inspired by Valens' song "Ooh, My Head". It did not credit Valens or Bob Keane, instead crediting Valens' mother. Eventually, a lawsuit was filed by Keane, and half of the reward went to Valens' mother, although she was not part of the suit.[SUP][17][/SUP]
A section of the 5 Freeway in the northeast San Fernando Valley will be named after Valens. The Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway will be located between the 170 and 118 freeways.[SUP][18][/SUP]
[h=2]
DiscographyEdit[/h][h=3]Original albumsEdit[/h]
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</tbody>
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See alsoEdit[/h]
[h=2]
ReferencesEdit[/h]
[h=2]
External linksEdit[/h]
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Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. A rock & roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted eight months, as it abruptly ended when he died in a plane crash.[SUP][3][/SUP]
| Ritchie Valens | |
|---|---|
| |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Richard Steven Valenzuela |
| Also known as | Ritchie Valens[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][2][/SUP] |
| Born | May 13, 1941 Pacoima, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 3, 1959(aged 17) Clear Lake, Iowa, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock and roll, Chicano rock |
| Occupation(s) | singer, songwriter and guitarist |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1957–1959 |
| Website | ritchievalens<wbr>.com |
<tbody style="font-size: 14.4px; display: flex; flex-flow: column nowrap;">
</tbody>
SignatureDuring this time, he had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which he had adapted from a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and beat, and it became a hit in 1958,[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP] 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 plane crash in Iowa, an accident 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.
[h=2]
Contents[/h]
[h=2]
Early lifeEdit[/h]Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela in Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. His parents were Joseph Steven Valenzuela (1896–1952) and Concepcion Reyes (1915–1987); he was of Mexican descent and the second of five siblings with older brother Bob Morales, younger sisters Connie and Irma, and younger brother Mario Ramirez. Ritchie Valenzuela was brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, as well as flamenco guitar,[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] R&B, and jump blues. Valenzuela expressed an interest in making music of his own by the age of five, and he was encouraged by his father to take up guitar and trumpet, and later taught himself the drums. Though Valenzuela 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 Valenzuela was attending junior high school, he brought the guitar to school and would sing and play songs to his friends on the bleachers.[SUP][6][/SUP] When he was 16 years old, he was invited to join a local band, the Silhouettes (not the group famous for its hit song "Get a Job"), as a guitarist, and when the main vocalist left the group, Valenzuela assumed the position. On October 19, 1957, he made his performing debut with the Silhouettes. Valenzuela attended Pacoima Junior High School (now Pacoima Middle School) and San Fernando High School.[SUP][7][/SUP]
[h=2]
CareerEdit[/h]A 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.
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 San Fernando". Swayed by the Little Richard comparison, Keane went to see Valenzuela play a Saturday morning matinée at a movie theater in San Fernando. Impressed by the performance, he invited the youth to audition at his home in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where he had a small recording studio in his basement. His recording equipment comprised an early stereo recorder (a two-track Ampex 601-2 portable) and a pair of Neumann U-47 condenser microphones.
After this first audition, Keane signed Ritchie to Del-Fi on May 27, 1958. At this point, the musician took the name "Ritchie" because, as Keane said, "There were a bunch of 'Richards' around at that time, and I wanted it to be different." Similarly, Keane recommended shortening his surname to "Valens" from Valenzuela to widen his appeal beyond any obvious ethnic group.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Valens demonstrated several songs in Keane's studio that he later recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. The demos primarily consisted of Valens singing and playing guitar, but some of them also featured drums. These originals can be heard on the Del-Fi album, Ritchie Valens – The Lost Tapes. 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 two other preliminary versions of the song were made, both available on The Lost Tapes), and the other was an instrumental entitled "Ritchie's Blues".
After several songwriting and demonstration recording sessions with Keane in his basement studio, Keane decided that Valens was ready to enter the studio with a full band backing him. The musicians included René 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's next record, a double A-side, the final record to be released in his lifetime, had the song "Donna" (written about a real girlfriend) coupled with "La Bamba". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.[SUP][9][/SUP]
By the autumn of 1958, the demands of Valens' career forced him to drop out of high school. Keane booked appearances at venues across the United States and performances on television programs. Valens had a fear of flying due to a freak accident at his junior high schoolwhen, on January 31, 1957, two airplanes collided over the playground, killing or injuring several of his friends.[SUP][10][/SUP] Valens had been at his grandfather Frank Reyes' funeral that day, but was upset about the loss of his friends.
He eventually overcame his fear enough to travel by airplane for his career. He went to Philadelphia to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show on October 6, where he sang "Come On, Let's Go". In November, Valens flew to Hawaii, where he performed alongside Buddy Holly and Paul Anka. Valens was added to 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, Keith O'Conner Murphy, and Jackie Wilson. On December 27, he returned to Philadelphia and American Bandstand, this time performing "Donna".
After returning 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. Between the live appearances, Valens 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 multiple-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 the flu. The show was split into two acts, with Valens closing the first act. After Bunch was hospitalized, Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts took over the drumming duties. When Dion and the Belmonts were performing, the drum seat was taken by either Valens or Buddy Holly. A surviving color photograph shows Valens at the drum kit. Black and white photos found in 2014 taken by Mary Gerber on February 2, 1959, which are on display at the Surf Ballroom show Buddy Holly playing drums for Dion as Dion's drummer had frostbitten feet.
[h=2]
DeathEdit[/h]Main article: The Day the Music Died
Grave of Ritchie Valens and his mother Concepcion at San Fernando Mission Cemetery
After the February 2, 1959, performance in Clear Lake, Iowa (which ended around midnight), 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 Holly's backup guitarist Tommy Allsup. Holly's bassist, Waylon Jennings, voluntarily gave up his seat on the plane to J.P. Richardson, who was ill with the flu.[SUP][11][/SUP] Just after 1:00 am on February 3, 1959, the three-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza departed for Fargo, North Dakota, and crashed a few minutes after takeoff for reasons still unknown. The crash killed all three passengers and pilot Roger Peterson instantly upon impact. As with Holly and Richardson, Valens suffered massive and unsurvivable head injuries along with blunt force trauma to the chest. At just 17 years old, Valens was the youngest to die in the crash.
The tragedy inspired singer Don McLean to write his 1971 hit "American Pie", immortalizing February 3 as "The Day the Music Died". Valens's remains were buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California.
[h=2]
LegacyEdit[/h] Photo of the airplane crash in Iowa
Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock and Latin rock and inspired many musicians of Mexican heritage. He influenced the likes of Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, and Carlos Santana, as he had become nationally successful at a time when very few Latinos were in American rock and pop music. He is considered the first Latino to successfully cross over into mainstream rock.
"La Bamba" proved 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 was later 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 he knew very little Spanish. Valens learned the lyrics phonetically to record "La Bamba" in Spanish.
"Come On, Let's Go" has been covered by Los Lobos, the Ramones and the Pale 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. In Australia, Johnny Rebb and his Rebels on Leedon/Canetoad Records covered the song. "Donna" has been covered by artists as diverse as MxPx, Cliff Richard, the Youngbloods, Clem Snide, Cappadonna, and Misfits.
Robert Quine has cited Valens's guitar playing as an early influence on his style. Valens also inspired Jimi Hendrix, Chan Romero, Carlos Santana, Chris Montez, and Keith O'Conner Murphy, among others.
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 and is managed by C3 Entertainment, a company that specializes in retro brands.
Valens' mother, Connie, who died in 1987, is buried alongside him.[SUP][12][/SUP]
[h=2]
Representation in other mediaEdit[/h]
- 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. 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.
- He was also featured 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 by Ron De Christiforo of the film Grease (1978) is set around the time of Valens' death. In one of the earlier chapters, the gang sits around in the character of Sonny's basement, upset at the death of some of their favorite stars in the plane crash.
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TributesEdit[/h] Monument at crash site in 2003
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 killed in the accident. It is located on private farmland, about one-quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Clear Lake. He also created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians that was installed near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.[SUP][13][/SUP]
A park in Pacoima was renamed in Ritchie Valens' honor in the 1990s. Originally named Paxton Park, a city council member representing Pacoima, proposed the renaming to honor Valens so residents will "remember his humble background and emulate his accomplishments."[SUP][14][/SUP]
In 1985, artist Manuel Velasquez (assisted by 25 students) created a 12 foot by 20 foot mural which was painted on the side of a classroom building at the former Pacoima Junior High (now Pacoima Middle School) depicting Ritchie Valens' image, records labeled with some of his greatest hits, as well as the newspaper article about the plane crash that took his life.[SUP][15][/SUP]
Musician Tommy Allsup started a club, "Tommy's Heads Up Saloon", in Dallas in 1979. The club was named for the fateful coin toss between Valens and him twenty years prior.[SUP][16][/SUP]
"Boogie with Stu" from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album was inspired by Valens' song "Ooh, My Head". It did not credit Valens or Bob Keane, instead crediting Valens' mother. Eventually, a lawsuit was filed by Keane, and half of the reward went to Valens' mother, although she was not part of the suit.[SUP][17][/SUP]
A section of the 5 Freeway in the northeast San Fernando Valley will be named after Valens. The Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway will be located between the 170 and 118 freeways.[SUP][18][/SUP]
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DiscographyEdit[/h][h=3]Original albumsEdit[/h]
- Ritchie Valens (March 1959) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1201 (US #23)
- Ritchie (October 1959) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1206
- In Concert at Pacoima Jr. High (December 1960) -- Del-Fi DFLP-1214
- 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
- The Very Best of Ritchie Valens (1999) -- Repertoire RT-4217
| Year | Titles (A-side, B-side) <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">Both sides from same album except where indicated</small> | Record Label | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">US Billboard</small> | <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">US Cashbox</small> | ||||
| 1958 | "Come On, Let's Go" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "Framed"</small> | Del-Fi 4106 | 42 | 51 | Ritchie Valens |
| "Donna" / "La Bamba" | Del-Fi 4110 | 2 22 | 2 49 | ||
| 1959 | "Fast Freight" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "Big Baby Blues" Original pressings shown as "Arvee Allens"; later pressings shown as "Ritchie Valens"</small> | Del-Fi 4111 | - | - | Ritchie |
| "That's My Little Suzie" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "In A Turkish Town"</small> | Del-Fi 4114 | 55 | 43 | Ritchie Valens | |
| "Little Girl" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "We Belong Together" (from Ritchie Valens)</small> | Del-Fi 4117 | 92 | 93 | Ritchie | |
| "Stay Beside Me" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "Big Baby Blues"</small> | Del-Fi 4128 | - | - | ||
| 1960 | "The Paddiwack Song" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "Cry, Cry, Cry" The above three singles were issued on gold Valens Memorial Series labels. Del-Fi 4117 was also issued with picture sleeve.</small> | Del-Fi 4133 | - | - | |
| 1987 | "La Bamba '87" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "La Bamba" (original version from Ritchie Valens)</small> | Del-Fi 1287 | - | - | Non-album track |
| 1998 | "Come On, Let's Go" <small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none;">b/w "La Bamba"</small> | Del-Fi 51341 | - | - | Come On, Let's Go! |
<tbody>
</tbody>
[h=2]
See alsoEdit[/h]
[h=2]
ReferencesEdit[/h]
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"Arvee Allens - Big Baby Blues / Fast Freight". Discogs.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"Del-Fi Album Discography". Bsnpubs.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation news" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"Ritchie – the Pioneer of Rock & Roll, He is American and Spanish". EF News International. December 16, 2011. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation news" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Letivan, Corey (July 5, 2005). "Latino rockers no longer lost in translation". Daily Breeze. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"TEMAS | Rock en Venezuela" (in Spanish). Mipunto.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2013.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation book" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Bob Keane (October 6, 2006). The Oracle of Del-Fi. Del-Fi International Books. ISBN 978-0976810513.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"San Fernando High School Alums | i am san fernando". iamsanfernando.com. Retrieved 7 February 2018.</cite>
- ^ "Valens, Ritchie." Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th ed. Ed. Colin Larkin. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.
- ^ <cite class="citation book" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 108. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"The Pacoima Plane Crash". Angiejim.homestead.com. January 31, 1957. Retrieved September 12, 2013.</cite>
- ^ Lehmer, Larry. The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, Omnibus Press (April 1, 2004), ch. 8.
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"Photo left for Ritchie Valens". Find a Grave. Retrieved September 12, 2013.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Jordan, Jennifer (April 11, 2007). "The Day the Music Died". ArticlesTree. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"Ritchie Valens Park". City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks. Retrieved September 12, 2013.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"Richie Valens - Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles". Muralconservancy.org. Retrieved 26 October 2017.</cite>
- ^ <cite class="citation book" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Larry Lehmer (2004). The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0-8256-7287-3.</cite>
- ^ Lehmer, Larry. The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens (2004): 166.
- ^ <cite class="citation news" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Patrick McGreevy. "Ritchie Valens, late rock star and local hero, gets a stretch of the 5 Freeway in the Valley named after him". Los Angeles Times.</cite>
[h=2]
External linksEdit[/h]
- Ritchie Valens on IMDb
- Ritchie Valens at Find a Grave
- Official Ritchie Valens webpage
- <cite class="citation web" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; word-wrap: break-word;">"Ritchie Valens". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.</cite>
- RAB Hall of Fame: Ritchie Valens
- Profile, history-of-rock.com
- Profile, tsimon.com
- Tribute: The Day the Music Died, angelfire.com
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