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Colt1861Navy

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Re: Colt1861Navy post# 895

Wednesday, 07/17/2002 6:30:04 AM

Wednesday, July 17, 2002 6:30:04 AM

Post# of 1767
Rock 'n' Roll Artists A-Z...Ritchie Valens

http://www.ritchievalens.net/

http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RitchieValens.html

http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/7879/

http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Opry/2485/

Donna

Donna, where can you be? Where can you be? Oh oh, dear, I love you; ooo I do, ooo oh I do, mmm Well now that you're gone, I'm left all alone Never do have ha ha oh oh oh (instrumental) Since she left me, I've never been the same 'Cause I love my girl, Donna was her name Oh yeah, Donna was her name, name.

Boney Maronie

Well I got a girl named Boney Maronie & she's as skinny as a stick of macaroni Oughta see her rock & roll with her blue jeans on She's not very fat, just skin & bone CHORUS: Well I love her, she loves me Oh how happy now we can be Makin' love underneath the apple tree Well I told her mama & I told her papa too Exactly what we're gonna do Get married on a night of June & rock & roll beneath the silvery moon (chorus) (instrumental) She's my one & only, she's my heart's desire She's a real upsetter, she's a real live wire Everybody turns when my baby goes by She's somethin' to see that really catches the eye (chorus).

Ritchie Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13, 1941, in Pacomia, CA. Ritchie was the 2nd child out of five. At the age of five, Ritchie put together his own guitar out of a cigar box and string.

As time went on, Ritchie would sing during recess for all of the school kids. Kids would often gather around to listen to Ritchie sing and play his guitar. Teachers had often thought that a fight had broken out because so many kids would gather.

When Ritchie was young his parents split up and Ritchie went to go live with his father. At age 10, Ritchie's father passed away due to complications of diabetes. After his death, Ritchie went to go live with his uncle because he had gotten out of control. Ritchie's mother thought that his uncle could straighten him out. When Ritchie returned to his mother, he returned a different boy.

In Junior High, Ritchie's mother bought Ritchie an old guitar from Sears and he fixed it up in Wood Shop class and he painted it green and white. He then found an old amp, thus setting his heart into rock 'n roll, earning him the name "Hitone" and "Little Richard of the San Fernando Valley." And yes, he carried this guitar everywhere he went.

Ritchie got his big break in the summer of 1958, when Bob Keane, owner of Del-Fi Records spotted Ritchie at a local gig. Bob offered Ritchie a recording contract and became his manager. His first single, "Come On Let's Go" sold 750,000 copies and earned him quite a reputation among teenagers all over the country.

Shortly after this, Ritchie wrote a song for his high school sweetheart, Donna Ludwig (Fox). The song "Donna" was recorded and rapidly made the 1958 hit charts. It became his biggest hit, selling over one million copies, which didn't take long to climb to #1. "Donna" was a two-sided hit with "LaBamba" as the flipside. "LaBamba" was a traditional Spanish wedding song that Ritchie gave a Rock 'n Roll beat to. That song was also a million dollar seller.

Next came the Winter Dance Party (WDP) traveling through the Midwest. Buddy Holly had been headlining the tour along with other acts such as Dion and the Belmonts, J.P. Richardson (aka. The Big Bopper), Frankie Sardo, and Ritchie Valens. The group had been performing throughout the Midwest traveling four, five, or six hundred miles to successive dates trying to fight off the sub-zero temperatures.

When they reached Clear Lake, IA on Feb. 2, 1959, Buddy decided that he would charter an airplane to their next gig, for himself and his two guitar players (Waylong Jennings and Tommy Alsup) to make further arrangements. When Ritchie heard about this he asked Tommy Alsup if he would give up his seat. Tommy didn't want to but he decided he would flip Ritchie for it. Well, Ritchie called heads, and heads it was. "First coin toss I ever won," Ritchie told Tommy. Waylon had given his seat up to J.P. Richardson because J.P. was suffereing from a severe cold. Well, the three men left the Surf Ballroom on that snowy night not to return again.

The three stars arrived at the Mason City Airport around 12:40 a.m. and met up with their 21-yr-old pilot, Roger Peterson and Jerry Dwyer, owner of the plane. It was a little before 1:00 a.m. when the singel engine aircraft took off. Peterson told the men at the tower that he would give his flight plan once he was up in the air. It has been rumored that Peterson was inexperience with some of the equipment involved with flying by instruments. Well, the men working at the airport tower never did hear from Peterson that night. When Dwyer didn't hear any news of the men making it to Fargo, ND, he went out searching himself for the lost plane.

The wreckage was spotted at approximately 9:35 a.m. The planewasn't recognizable and the one thing that help them spot the wreckage was the bright yellow coat that Buddy Holly had been wearing that night. Buddy and Ritchie laid 20ft from the plane while J.P. was thrown 40ft. from the plane, and the pilot remained inside the plane.

Ritchie was only 17, Buddy 22, J.P. 28, and Roger 21. On this day, Feb. 3, 1959 has been known to everyone as the "DAY THE MUSIC DIED."

Ritchie's body was sent back by train to San Fernando and laid to rest in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

"In American Pie" by Don McLean "the day the music died" refers to the 1959 plane crash which killed Ritchie Valens,
Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper.

Maybe it didn't quite die with those guys, but it sure got sick for awhile. Buddy Holly was the most prolific and the biggest

hitmaker so he was the most eulogized at the time.

It was only in the mid 1980s that the focus swang over to Ritchie. To say it was over due is putting it mildly, for you see, Ritchie's death at seventeen in that snowy corn field just outside Clear Lake, Iowa was more ridden with musical loss then even Buddy's (the Big Bopper was a one hit dee-jeejay at the time of his death), because Ritchie was on a rocket ride up while Holly's career was wobbling. Ritchie was at the onset of an explosive and propulsive career.

Had Ritchie lived, he might have saved rock & roll from the doldrums it was careening into.

Richard "Valens" Valenzuela was born May 13, 1941 in Pacoima, a Chicano section of LA's San Fernando Valley.

Ritchie grow up listening to all kinds of music including Jazz, Pop, and Spanish language huapangos, and when rock & roll arrived, like most kids he dreamed of becoming a rock & roll star.

In 1957, Ritchie joined the band the Sillouttes, the leader of the band Gil Rocha gave Ritchie his start to fame

And also meet his love Donna (Ludwig) Fox, at Gil Rocha's home at one of the gigs that the Sillouttes were doing.

I can remember his aunt, Ernestine telling me of the time Ritchie's mom went to Sears and bought a guitar for Ritchie, and he fixed it up at his school in Pacoima. She went on to say he (Ritchie) would play for anyone that would listen. He even played at lunch time for the kids at Pacoima Jr. High.

In July, 1958, two months after his seventeenth birthday, Ritchie was "discovered" by L.A. record producer Bob Keane, who signed Ritchie to his fledgling Hollywood label, Del-Fi records.

Ritchie is missed by family, friends and you fans.

http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/7879/bio.html

Ritchies Guitar

One Year after Ritchie's Death, this guitar was found.
It was laying in the living room floor of Ritchie's sister Connie, sometime in late 1959.

This 1957 Chrysler Green Guitar was lost till late 1986, a friend heard that the family was looking for it.

This Guitar was later given to Ritchie's aunt.

In 1986 it was givin to Pat Wortnik to get fixed.

*NOTE* Ritchie's did sign this guitar.

This 1957 Chrysler Green Guitar now lays in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame.

Where Ritchie Is Now Apart Of.

Discography

http://www.ritchievalens.net/discog/rvdiscog1.html

Lyrics

http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/7879/lyrics.html

Photos

http://www.ritchievalens.net/photos/photos.html

http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/7879/Pictures.html

http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Opry/2485/pictures.html

Real Audio Of Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, And The Big Bopper

http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/7879/pr.html



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