''La Bamba" was originally released as the B-side of 'Donna' on the Del-Fi label. Valens was proud of his Mexican heritage and was hesitant at first to merge "La Bamba" with rock 'n' roll, but then agreed.
The song features a simple verse-chorus form. The recording along with Valens has the session musicians Buddy Clarke (string bass); Ernie Freeman (piano); Carol Kaye (acoustic guitar); René Hall (Danelectro six-string baritone guitar); and Earl Palmer (drums and claves)
"La Bamba" reached No:18 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No:15 on the Billboard Latin Singles chart, & No:18 in the UK Singles chart.
In early 1959 Ritchie Valens was part of a multi-act Rock 'n' Roll tour dubbed "The Winter Dance Party", with him were Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Dion and The Belmonts. Holly chartered a plane from local pilot Roger Paterson to take them to the next town, Valens was on the plane because he won a coin toss with Tommy Allsup, Wayne Jennings gave up his seat to J.P. Richardson (Big Bopper) who was ill with the flu.
At 12.55 a.m. on February 3rd 1959, the plane departed from Fargo, North Dakota, in poor wintery conditions, it crashed a few minutes after take off for reasons still unknown. All three passengers and the pilot were killed instantly on impact. Ritchie Valens was 17 years old.
The crash was famously referred to as "The Day The Music Died' in Don McLeans 1972 song "American Pie"
"La Bamba" is listed at 354 in the 'Greater Songs of All Time ' by Rolling Stone magazine, the only non-English language on the list. It is also included in the "Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame's" list of 500 songs that were influential in shaping rock and roll.
In 2000, Valens' recording of the song was induced into 'The Grammy Hall of Fame' and in 2013 was also inducted into the 'Latin Grammy Hall of Fame'.
In 2001, Ritchie Valens posthumously inducted the 'Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame'.
In 2018, Valens' La Bamba was selected by the Library of Congress for the preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
Richard Steven Valenzuela aka Ritchie Valens (May 13th 1941-February 3rd 1949)
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19 сен 2024
