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La Bamba

Valens, Richie

Listen to Richie Valens:

Richard Valenzuela was born of Mexican and American Indian descent on May 13, 1941 in Los Angeles. Growing up a minority in this city meant that Valenzuela was less privy to the host of amenities that surrounded him, but he found enough strength in his heritage to succeed anyway and proved himself equal to the task of being famous. Bob Keene, the owner of the Keen record label that recorded Sam Cooke, heard in Valens a marketable talent and in March, 1958, Valens recorded "Come On, Let's Go", which peaked on the charts in November at #42. His follow-up single, "Donna", peaked at #2, which suddenly gave Valens national exposure and earned him cameo appearances on television and in movies. The B side of "Donna" was "La Bamba", a knockoff performance of a slightly bowdlerized traditional Mexican folk song, which nonetheless charted at #22 in February 1959. To say that "La Bamba" lacked the ingredients of the standard pop-hit formula is an understatement, but its infectious rhythm and carefree delivery made it not only a hit, but a rock and roll staple.

Valen’s sudden fame made him a likely prospect for an album release. It also earned him a place on the "Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Dion and the Belmonts, and the Big Bopper. In one of rock and roll's most publicized and tragic accidents, Valens was killed on February 3, 1959, when the single-engine plane he shared with Buddy Holly and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) crashed near Fargo, North Dakota. He was seventeen years old. Holly had chartered the plane so he could arrive with enough time before the next show to do his laundry. The two remaining seats went to Valens and Richardson, who wanted to avoid the grueling bus ride and had to convince Holly's bass player, Waylon Jennings, to surrender his seat on the plane.

As corny as it may sound, it is also very true to say that Valens’s career could be likened to a shooting star on a summer night. If you blinked, you missed it, but his immortality has far outlasted his own short life span.