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Ritchie Valens: La Bamba
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Ritchie Valens was the first Chicano rock star. He recorded the sentimental ballad "Donna" in 1958, but it was the flip side, "La Bamba," which became a more memorable hit. In 1959, at the age of 17, he was killed in the same plane crash that killed fellow stars Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. In 1987 the movie La Bamba resurrected the legend of Valens (with Lou Diamond Phillips playing the singer); a new version of the title song became an even bigger hit than the original.
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Ritchie Valens spent some of his youth in migrant worker camps, eventually settling with his mother in the suburbs of Los Angeles. While in high school he began recording, and released “Come on, Let’s Go,” which reached number 42 on the charts. His next record, “Donna,” with the flipside of that single being “La Bamba” catapulted him into national prominence, with “Donna” ultimately reaching number 2 on the Billboard top 100. It is hard to assess his impact, although the band Los Lobos cites him as a major influence. Certainly he did not have the same effect in musical terms that Buddy Holly has had, but the fact that he was a Latino and crossed over into the rock and roll genre helped to bring people of different backgrounds together in a common musical bond.
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Ritchie Valens fue el primer star chicano de rock. Nació Richard Steven Valenzuela, sus padres se divorciaron cuando tenía 3 años. Ritchie entonces vivía con su padre, quien lo animaba con su interés musical. Cuando tenía 13 años, Ritchie construyó una guitarra de pedazos de madera y materiales electrónicos usados para un proyecto en su clase de obreras. A la edad de 16 años, se reunió con el grupo ‘the Silhouettes’, cuyos miembros fueron una mezcla de latinos, afro-americanos y japoneses. Fue entonces que escribió una de sus canciones más populares, ‘Donna’, para su novia, Donna Ludwig.
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Ritchie's only known biography, Ritchie Valens: The First Latino Rocker by Beverly Mendheim, was first published in 1987 by Bilingual Press. A second printing of the book was published in April 1996. More awards on Valens' behalf keep coming. As recently as October of 1997, he was inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk during a special ceremony attended by hundreds of fans, family and members of the press. Hollywood's RockWalk is the only sidewalk gallery dedicated to honoring those musicians who have made a significant contribution to the evolution of rock 'n' roll as a universal artform. Bob Keane accepted a commemorative plaque on Valens behalf, and spoke at length to the loudly cheering crowd.
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In January of 1959 Buddy Holly, Dion and the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper set out on a twenty-four day tour of the mid-western United States. Making the closely booked appearances by bus this tour was torture for the its performers. Several degrees below zero, and a bus with a broken heating system, caused many to receive frostbite. This infamous tour is known as "The Winter Dance Party." and is reconstructed at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, every year to remember Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson, and Buddy Holly.
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In 1987, new interest in Ritchie Valens was sparked by the release of the Columbia Pictures bio-pic on his life and music, La Bamba, and by the release of the film's soundtrack. Los Lobos' version of the title song - virtually a note-for-note copy of Ritchie's - went to #1 on the pop music charts in 1987, its highest position ever. A new generation began hearing Ritchie's music, some of them for the first time, in multiplex theaters across the country, and La Bamba once again made Valens an international figure, creating a firestorm of interest in Ritchie that continues to this day.
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