What Happened to Ritchie Valens Family After His Death

American guitarist (1941–1959)

Ritchie Valens
Born	Richard Steven Valenzuela (1941-05-xiii)May 13, 1941 Pacoima, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	February three, 1959(1959-02-03) (anile 17) Articulate Lake, Iowa, U.S.
Crusade of expiry	Airplane crash
Resting place	San Fernando Mission Catholic Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
Other names	Ritchie Valens[1] [2]
Occupation	Guitarist vocalist songwriter
Years active	1957–1959
Musical career
Genres	Rock and roll Chicano rock
Instruments	Guitar vocals
Associated acts	Waylon Jennings Buddy Holly
Musical creative person
Website	www.ritchievalens.com
Signature

Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed in a airplane crash viii months into his music career.^[3]

Valens had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which he had adapted from a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and trounce, and information technology became a striking in 1958,^{[iv] [5]} making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and scroll movement. He also had an American number-ii striking with "Donna".

On February 3, 1959, on what has get known as "The Day the Music Died", Valens died in a plane crash in Iowa, an accident that also claimed the lives of young man musicians Buddy Holly and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, equally well as airplane pilot Roger Peterson. Valens was 17 at the time of his death. In 2001, Valens was inducted into the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life [edit]

Valens was born as Richard Steven Valenzuela in Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. His parents, José Esteban Valenzuela (1896–1952) and Concepción "Concha" Reyes (1915–1987), were from Mexico. He had two brothers Roberto "Bob" Morales (1937–2018) and Mario Ramirez. His older brother Bob had an alcohol and drug addiction problem. Bob went on downward spiral after turning to alcohol. After giving upwards alcohol he successfully shell prostate cancer.^[6] Bob rode motorcycles and sported a tough, leather-jacket-clad outside.^{[vii] [8]}

He also had ii younger sisters, Connie and Irma.

Valenzuela was brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, likewise as flamenco guitar,^[ix] R&B, and jump dejection. Valenzuela expressed an interest in making music of his ain by the age of five. He was encouraged by his father to take upwardly guitar and trumpet, and after taught himself the drums. Though Valenzuela was left-handed, he was so eager to learn the guitar that he mastered the traditional right-handed version of the instrument.

Valenzuela was a 15-yr-former student at Pacoima Junior High Schoolhouse at the fourth dimension of the 1957 Pacoima mid-air standoff. He was not at school that solar day because he was attending the funeral of his father.^{[x] [11]} Recurring nightmares of the disaster led to Valens' fear of flying.^[12]

Past the fourth dimension Valenzuela was attending Pacoima Junior High Schoolhouse (now Pacoima Eye School), he would bring his guitar to school and sing and play songs to his friends on the bleachers.^[xiii]

When he was xvi years old, he was invited to join a local band, The Silhouettes (non to be confused with the group of the same name famous for its hit song "Get a Job"). He began as a guitarist, and when the master vocalizer left the group, Valenzuela assumed the position. On October 19, 1957, he fabricated his performing debut with The Silhouettes.

Valenzuela besides attended San Fernando High School.^[14]

Career [edit]

A self-taught musician, Valenzuela was an accomplished vocalizer and guitarist. At his appearances, he often improvised new lyrics and added new riffs to popular songs while he was playing.

Bob Keane, the possessor and president of small record label Del-Fi Records in Hollywood, was given a tip in May 1958 past San Fernando High School student Doug Macchia about a young performer from Pacoima by the proper noun of Richard Valenzuela. Kids knew the performer equally "the Piddling Richard of San Fernando". Swayed by the Little Richard comparison, Keane went to see Valenzuela play a Saturday-morning matinée at a movie house in San Fernando. Impressed by the performance, he invited the youth to audition at his home in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where he had a minor recording studio in his basement. His recording equipment comprised an early stereo recorder (a two-track Ampex 601-2 portable) and a pair of Neumann U-47 condenser microphones.

Later this first audition, Keane signed Valenzuela to Del-Fi on May 27, 1958. At this signal, the musician took the name "Ritchie" because, as Keane said, "In that location were a bunch of 'Richards' around at that time, and I wanted it to be different." Similarly, Keane recommended shortening his surname to "Valens" from Valenzuela to widen his appeal beyond whatsoever obvious indigenous grouping.^[xv] Valens was fix to enter the studio with a full ring backing him. The musicians included René Hall, Carol Kaye, and Earl Palmer. The first songs recorded at Gold Star Studios, at a single studio session 1 afternoon in July 1958, were "Come On, Let'southward Become", an original, credited to Valens/Kuhn (Keane'due south existent name), and "Framed", a Leiber and Stoller melody. Pressed and released within days of the recording session, the record was a success. Valens's next record, a double A-side, the last record to exist released in his lifetime, had the song "Donna" (written nearly a real girlfriend Donna Ludwig^[xvi]) coupled with "La Bamba". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc past the Recording Manufacture Clan of America.^[17]

By the autumn of 1958, the demands of Valens' career forced him to driblet out of high schoolhouse. Keane booked appearances at venues across the United States and performances on television set programs.

Death [edit]

After the Feb 2, 1959, performance in Clear Lake, Iowa (which concluded around midnight), Holly, Richardson, and Valens flew out of the Mason City airport in a small airplane that Holly had chartered. Valens was on the aeroplane because he won a coin toss with Holly's backup guitarist Tommy Allsup. Holly's bassist, Waylon Jennings, voluntarily gave upwardly his seat on the airplane to J.P. Richardson, who was ill with the flu.^[eighteen] Around 12:55 am on Feb 3, 1959, the four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza, (N3794N), departed for Fargo, North Dakota, and crashed a few minutes afterwards takeoff for reasons still unknown. The crash killed all three passengers and pilot Roger Peterson instantly upon touch. As with Holly and Richardson, Valens suffered massive and unsurvivable head injuries forth with blunt-force trauma to the breast. At but 17 years old, Valens was the youngest to die in the crash.

The tragedy inspired singer Don McLean to write his 1971 hit "American Pie", immortalizing February 3 as "The Day the Music Died". Valens'south remains were buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California.

Legacy [edit]

Photograph of the wreckage from the aeroplane crash in Iowa

Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock and Latin stone, and inspired many musicians of Mexican heritage. He influenced the likes of Los Lobos, Los Solitary Boys, and Carlos Santana, equally he had become nationally successful at a time when very few Latinos were in American rock and popular music. He is considered the offset Latino to successfully cross over into mainstream stone.

"La Bamba" proved to be his about influential recording, not only past becoming a popular nautical chart hitting sung entirely in Spanish, but also because of its successful blending of traditional Latin American music with rock. Valens was the offset to capitalize on this formula, which was later adopted by such varied artists every bit Selena, Caifanes, Café Tacuba, Circo, El Gran Silencio, Aterciopelados, Gustavo Santaolalla, and many others in the Latin alternative scene. Ironically, the Valenzuela family spoke only English at abode, and he knew very little Castilian.^{[ disputed – discuss ]} Valens learned the lyrics phonetically to record "La Bamba" in Spanish. In 2019, the Valens version of "La Bamba" was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically meaning".^{[nineteen] [xx]}

"Come On, Let's Go" has been recorded by Los Lobos, the Ramones and the Paley Brothers (the Ramones on guitar, bass, and drums and the Paley Brothers on vocals), Tommy Steele, the Huntingtons, Girl in a Coma, and the McCoys. Johnny Rebb and his Rebels recorded the song for Leedon/Canetoad Records in Australia. "Donna" has been recorded by artists equally various every bit MxPx, Marty Wilde, the Youngbloods, Clem Snide, Cappadonna, and Misfits.

Robert Quine has cited Valens' guitar playing every bit an early influence on his style. Valens also inspired Jimi Hendrix, Chan Romero, Carlos Santana, Chris Montez, and Keith O'Conner Murphy, among others.

Valens' mother, Concha, who died in 1987, is cached aslope him.^[21]

Representation in other media [edit]

• Valens has been the subject of several biopic films, including the 1987 film La Bamba. Primarily set in 1957–1959, it depicted Valens from age 16 to 17. It introduced Lou Diamond Phillips equally Valens. Los Lobos performed most of the music in the motion-picture show.
• Valens was portrayed by Gilbert Melgar in the final scene of The Buddy Holly Story.
• Lil' Libros has an upcoming book based on Valens' life.^[22] (2019)

Tributes and filmography [edit]

Monument in front of Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa

In 1989, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, erected a stainless-steel monument depicting a guitar and a set of three records begetting the names of each of the three performers killed in the accident. It is located on private farmland, well-nigh 1.25-mile (two.01 km) w of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Artery, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Clear Lake. He also created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians that was installed most the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.^[23]

Paxton Park in Pacoima was renamed in retentivity of Valens in the 1990s. A city council fellow member representing Pacoima proposed the renaming to accolade Valens so residents would "call up his humble background and emulate his accomplishments."^[24]

Musician Tommy Allsup started a gild, "Tommy's Heads Up Saloon", in Dallas in 1979. The club was named for the fateful coin toss between Valens and him xx years prior.^[25]

"Boogie with Stu" from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album was inspired past Valens' vocal "Ooh, My Caput". It did not credit Valens or Bob Keane, instead crediting Valens' mother. Somewhen, a lawsuit was filed by Keane, and half of the accolade went to Valens' mother, although she was not role of the adapt.^[26]

On May eleven, 1990, a star bearing his proper noun was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star toll $iii,500, which was paid for with money raised in his proper noun past family unit and friends. His star permanently resides at 6733 Hollywood Boulevard in front of Artisan'due south Patio mini mall.^[27]

On February 2, 2009, Surf Ballroom held a 50th ceremony honoring the last concert of Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and Valens. The upshot lasted one calendar week and had performances that honored the memories of the three men. Family unit members and friends of the stars made appearances. Their legacies live on through events such as these.^[28]

Many murals have been painted around Pacoima in accolade of the tardily Valens. In 1985, artist Manuel Velasquez (assisted by 25 students) created a 12- by 20-ft (3.6- past 6.ane meters) mural, which was painted on the side of a classroom edifice at the one-time Pacoima Junior High (now Pacoima Middle Schoolhouse) depicting Valens's image, records labeled with some of his greatest hits, and the newspaper article near the airplane crash that took his life.^[29] Some other mural went up in 2012 at the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and Amboy Avenue, which was painted by Hector Ponce. A second one was painted in 2012 by Levi Ponce and is located on Van Nuys Boulevard and Telfair Avenue. A monument has besides been congenital as a tribute. It was put on display in 2013, and is located at Ritchie Valens Park at 10731 Laurel Canyon Boulevard.^[30]

A department of the Interstate 5 State highway in the northeast San Fernando Valley has been named after Valens. The Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway is located betwixt the 170 and 118 freeways.^[31] On August 25, 2018, a celebration was held in his honour to commemorate his legacy. The unveiling ceremony was held at Ritchie Valens Park, located at 10731 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Pacoima. Replicas of the freeway sign were revealed at the celebration. The event was open up to the public and free to attend. A few relatives of Valens played live performances as a tribute to the late vocalizer. Leaders from the community and state gathered for the festivities.^[30]

A movie was fabricated fabricated is his memory called La Bamba in 1987 biographical film written and directed past Luis Valdez that follows the life and career of Chicano rock 'n' roll star Ritchie Valens. The pic stars Lou Diamond Phillips equally Valens, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck, and Joe Pantoliano.

Discography [edit]

Studio albums [edit]

Live albums [edit]

Main compilation albums [edit]

• Note: At that place are numerous Valens compilation albums.

Singles [edit]

Twelvemonth	Titles (b/w indicates B-side track) Both sides from aforementioned album except where indicated	Tape characterization	Peak chart positions			Album
			U.s. Billboard [32]	U.s. Cashbox	AUS [33]
1958	"Come up On, Let's Become" b/w "Framed"	Del-Fi 4106	42	51	53	Ritchie Valens
	"Donna" b/due west "La Bamba"	Del-Fi 4110	2 22	2 49	4
1959	"Fast Freight" b/w "Large Baby Blues" Original pressings shown as "Arvee Allens"; later pressings shown as "Ritchie Valens"	Del-Fi 4111	—	—	N/A	Ritchie
	"That's My Little Suzie" b/w "In a Turkish Town"	Del-Fi 4114	55	43	Due north/A	Ritchie Valens
	"Little Girl" b/due west "We Belong Together" (from Ritchie Valens)	Del-Fi 4117	92	93	N/A	Ritchie
	"Stay Beside Me" b/w "Big Baby Blues"	Del-Fi 4128	—	—	N/A
1960	"The Paddiwack Vocal" b/due west "Cry, Cry, Weep" The higher up three singles were issued on gold Valens Memorial Serial labels. Del-Fi 4117 was as well issued with picture sleeve.	Del-Fi 4133	—	—	N/A
1987	"La Bamba '87" b/w "La Bamba" (original version from Ritchie Valens)	Del-Fi 1287	—	—	89	Non-album track
1998	"Come On, Let's Become" b/w "La Bamba"	Del-Fi 51341	—	—	—	Come On, Let's Go!

Meet also [edit]

• La Bamba (picture show)

References [edit]

1. ^ "Arvee Allens – Big Baby Dejection / Fast Freight". Discogs.com . Retrieved October 26, 2017.
2. ^ "Del-Fi Album Discography". Bsnpubs.com . Retrieved October 26, 2017.
3. ^ "Ritchie Valens - the Pioneer of Rock and Curlicue". EF News International. Dec 16, 2011. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.
4. ^ Letivan, Corey (July 5, 2005). "Latino rockers no longer lost in translation". Daily Cakewalk. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
5. ^ "TEMAS | Stone en Venezuela" (in Spanish). Mipunto.com. Archived from the original on Feb 13, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
6. ^ "What Happened to Ritchie Valens' Brother, Bob Morales?". Elpachuco.com . Retrieved January 25, 2022.
7. ^ "Bob Morales, older brother of rock legend Ritchie Valens, dies at 81". Dailynews.com. September 20, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
8. ^ "Bob Morales - History". MotorTrend.com. March 4, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
9. ^ City News Service (May 13, 2016). "LA declares Ritchie Valens Mean solar day on 75th anniversary of his birth". Los Angeles Daily News (LDN). Los Angeles Daily News (LDN). Retrieved November 25, 2018.
10. ^ CECILIA RASMUSSEN (January 28, 2007). "The day fiery disaster fell from the sky". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May fifteen, 2021.
11. ^ Allen, David (February nineteen, 2021). "Childhood pal recalls Ritchie Valens as 'sweet,' 'tough' from California habitation". Retrieved May xv, 2021.
12. ^ Kahler, Karl (December 29, 1988). "On Pacoima Playground With Ritchie Valens : Grief Moves Him to Salvage Lives". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 15, 2021. One pupil adult an intense fear of flying afterwards the accident--Ricardo Valenzuela, who later adopted the proper name Ritchie Valens.
13. ^ Bob Keane (October six, 2006). The Oracle of Del-Fi. Del-Fi International Books. ISBN978-0976810513.
14. ^ "San Fernando High School Alums | i am san fernando". iamsanfernando.com . Retrieved February vii, 2018.
15. ^ "Valens, Ritchie." Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th ed. Ed. Colin Larkin. Oxford Music Online. Oxford Academy Press. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.
16. ^ McIntosh, Barbara (September 4, 1987). "The Reveries of Valens' Donna". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 30, 2020.
17. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 108. ISBN0-214-20512-half dozen.
18. ^ Lehmer, Larry. The Solar day the Music Died: The Last Bout of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, Omnibus Press (April 1, 2004), ch. eight.
19. ^ Andrews, Travis Thousand. (March 20, 2019). "Jay-Z, a speech communication by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and 'Schoolhouse Rock!' among recordings deemed classics past Library of Congress". The Washington Post . Retrieved March 25, 2019.
20. ^ "Ritchie Valens' 'La Bamba' Inducted Into National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress". Billboard.
21. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burying Sites of More than Than fourteen,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland. p. 766. ISBN9781476625997.
22. ^ The Life of - La Vida de Ritchie. ASIN 1947971352.
23. ^ Hashemite kingdom of jordan, Jennifer (April 11, 2007). "The Day the Music Died". ArticlesTree. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.
24. ^ "Ritchie Valens Park". Metropolis of Los Angeles Section of Recreation & Parks. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
25. ^ Larry Lehmer (2004). The 24-hour interval the Music Died: The Final Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. Music Sales Group. ISBN978-0-8256-7287-3.
26. ^ Lehmer, Larry. The Solar day the Music Died: The Last Bout of Buddy Holly, the Large Bopper and Ritchie Valens (2004): 166.
27. ^ Starr Spencer (1990). "Ritchie Valens Finally Gets His Star". Chicago Tribune.
28. ^ PR Newswire (2008). "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Surf Ballroom & Museum to Honor l Year Anniversary of Wintertime Trip the light fantastic Political party". PR Newswire Association.
29. ^ "Richie Valens – Landscape Salvation of Los Angeles". Muralconservancy.org . Retrieved October 26, 2017.
30. ^ ^{a b} Dalia Espinosa (2018). "Pacoima is prepare to celebrate The Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway in ane more reminder of the late Chicano rocker's legacy". Los Angeles Daily News.
31. ^ Patrick McGreevy. "Ritchie Valens, belatedly stone star and local hero, gets a stretch of the 5 Superhighway in the Valley named after him". Los Angeles Times.
32. ^ "Ritchie Valens Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard . Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
33. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.Due south.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 319. ISBN0-646-11917-half-dozen.

External links [edit]

• Ritchie Valens at IMDb
• Official Ritchie Valens webpage
• "Ritchie Valens". Rock and Whorl Hall of Fame.
• RAB Hall of Fame: Ritchie Valens
• Profile, history-of-rock.com
• Profile, tsimon.com
• Tribute: The Solar day the Music Died, angelfire.com

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie_Valens

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