Ritchie Valens

INCLUDES 4 BONUS TRACKS

During the course of his brief life, the legendary Ritchie Valens fused numerous musical genres together to form his own remarkable style. He left a lasting impact on rock & roll with his classic rocker “La Bamba” – a highenergy reworking of an old Mexican wedding song that Valens learned from his cousin. Ritchie put a rock & roll spin on this spirited folk tune, juicing it up with garage-rock riffing and a raw, enthusiastic solo. In essence, he invented Latino rock with this two-minute rock & roll classic. Its driving simplicity foreshadowed garage-rock, frat-rock and punk-rock. Ironically, “La Bamba” was the B-side of “Donna”, a dedication to Valens’ girlfriend that rose to number 2 on Billboard’s singles chart. “La Bamba” also charted, but only climbed as high as number 22. This double-sided smash marks one of the greatest rock & roll singles of the Fifties.

Long unavailable on vinyl, this quintessential collector’s edition presents his classic self-titled debut album, Ritchie Valens, originally released by Del-fi Records in March 1959. It contains the only truly finished work that Valens recorded at Gold Star Studio in L.A. His adolescent longing and playful, exuberant energy can be felt on such songs as “Come on, Let’s Go” and his big hit, “La Bamba”, as well as its flip side, “Donna” (which was actually the A-side of the single even though “La Bamba” has emerged over time as Valens’ signature tune). The album also includes a halting, beautiful version of “Bluebirds over the Mountain”, and the oddly haunting “In a Turkish Town”. In addition, this quintessential LP release includes 4 bonus tracks from the same recording sessions.

PERSONNEL:

RITCHIE VALENS, vocals & rhythm guitar, plus:

René Hall (lead guitar and six-string bass guitar)
Carol Kaye (rhythm guitar)
Buddy Clark or Red Callender (bass)
Ernie Freeman (piano)
Earl Palmer (drums and woodblock)

Arranged by Ernie Freeman and René Hall. Produced by Bob Keene.

Recorded at Goldstar Studio and Bob Keene’s home studio, Los Angeles, California, between June and September, 1958.

SIDE 1
1. THAT’S MY LITTLE SUZIE
2. IN A TURKISH TOWN
3. COME ON, LET’S GO
4. DONNA
5. BONY-MORONIE
6. OOH MY HEAD
7. CRY, CRY, CRY*
8. HURRY UP*

SIDE 2
1. LA BAMBA
2. BLUEBIRDS OVER THE MOUNTAIN
3. HI-TONE
4. FRAMED
5. WE BELONG TOGETHER
6. DOOBY-DOOBY-WAH
7. LITTLE GIRL*
8. ROCK LITTLE DARLING (demo)*

* BONUS TRACKS