Ritchie Valens

From Free net encyclopedia

Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13 1941 – February 3 1959), better known as Ritchie Valens, was a pioneer of rock and roll and, as a Mexican-American born in Los Angeles, California, became the first Mexican–American rock and roll star.

1 Career
2 Death
3 Legacy
4 Tribute
5 Sample
6 See also
7 External links

[edit]

Career

The professional career of Ritchie Valens lasted a mere eight months, during which time he recorded some of the greatest and most influential songs of the 1950s. While attending Pacoima Jr. High School, his proficiency on the guitar was first noticed by his classmates, and he soon gave almost daily concerts during the lunch break.

A completely self-taught musician, Valenzuela was an accomplished singer and guitarist. At his appearances he often made up new lyrics for and added riffs to popular songs and on the spot. 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. Valenzuela, then aged sixteen, was already making waves in a local band named The Silhouettes.

Keane, swayed by the Little Richard connection, went to see Valenzuela play a Saturday morning matinee at a movie theater in San Fernando. Impressed by the performance, he invited Valens 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.

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 in 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 Valenzuela 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".

While continuing to perform with his band, Valenzuela, who began using the professional name of Ritchie (with a "t") Valens at the suggestion of Keane as a means to make the Latino rock and roll artist "more palatable" to prospective listeners, also played solo at parties and other social events.

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 such as 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 1958 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 line-up of the Crickets, 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 the Crickets 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 frostbitten feet, and several others (including Valens and The Big Bopper) caught colds. The performances, however, were deemed to be some of the greatest in rock and roll history. The show was split into two acts, with Ritchie closing the first act. After Bunch was hospitalized, a member of the Belmonts had some drumming experience and 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.

[edit]

Death

Buddy Holly, fed up with the conditions on the buses, decided to charter a small plane for himself and the Crickets to get to the next show on time, get some rest, and get their laundry done. After the February 2 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 into a blinding snowstorm and crashed into farmer Albert Juhl's cornfield, mere miles after takeoff. The crash ended the lives of all three passengers, as well as the 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".

[edit]

Legacy

Ritchie 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.

The 1987 biopic film La Bamba introduced Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens and co-starred Esai Morales as his older half-brother Bob Morales.

Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock and influenced the likes of Chris Montez and Carlos Santana.

[edit]

Tribute

Image:HollyMonument.jpg 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.

[edit]