Ritchie Valens:

The First Mexican American Rock and Roll Star

by Erika Cox

On February 3, 1959, the music world lost three prominent stars, one of them was Ritchie Valens. Along with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, Valens was instantly killed in a plane crash. Forever known as “The Day the Music Died”, Valens was just beginning his promising career and his life when both were abruptly cut short.

Although, his career had just started Ritchie was reaching superstar status and had made a name for himself in the music industry. Ritchie Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13, 1941 in Los Angeles, California.

At nine years old he got his first guitar and several relatives taught him how to play the instrument. The many Mexican folk songs he heard and sung by his relatives and the country songs he listened to on the radio influenced him to seek a music career. In school, he would play for students taking his guitar with him everywhere he went. Also, while in school he also made a guitar out of scrap lumber and used electrical parts. During his junior year in high school, he joined a band called the Silhouettes, the only local Rock and Roll band in the area.

They became local stars and in January 1958 while the band was playing at a party a local scout taped their act. The scout then forwarded the tape to Bob Keane, the owner of Keen Records and president of Del Fi Records. Keane liked what he heard and wanted to hear more, so he invited Ritchie to an audition at Keane Records where Ritchie recorded his first single, “Come On Let’s Go”, it became a huge success selling over a half million copies.

Ritchie Valens was still a teenager at the time and he instantly became a huge success with teenagers. Not only was he a teenager, but he also had the energy, style, and the looks to become a true teen idol.

Around this time, he changed his name to Ritchie Valens as a public image move. There had never been a Latino artist, so his manager, Jerry Capehart, wasn’t sure his birth name would go over well with mainstream America. Shortly after, Ritchie recorded another song called “Donna” after his high school girlfriend and it was also a huge hit on the charts. The song became his biggest hit and a million dollar seller. The flip side of the record was a song called “La Bamba” that Ritchie sang in Spanish but incorporated a Rock and Roll beat. It was another big hit and a million dollar seller.

Around the Mexican community in Los Angeles, Ritchie became known as the “Little Richard of the Valley” because of the energy and excitement he brought to his music. He was the first Mexican American star and the first to hit it big in Rock and Roll, so that definitely made him a big hero in his hometown and to fellow Mexican Americans. He continued to make appearances in schools, shows and on the American Bandstand.

His rise to stardom was quick. He was extremely popular and one would believe he would reach superstar status in just a matter of time. Unfortunately, time was not on Ritchie’s side. His growing popularity got him a ticket to perform with the now infamous “The Winter Dance Party”.

The groups performing on this tour of the Midwest included Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Tommy Ulsip, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. The groups performed throughout the Midwest at various spots almost every night then traveled non-stop to the next performance. However, the bus broke down while heading to another city and Buddy Holly decided to rent a four-passenger airplane to get him, Waylon Jennings and Tommy Ulsip to Fargo, North Dakota, the next city on the tour.

After hearing this, Ritchie and the Big Bopper convinced Jennings and Ulsip to flip a coin to decide who will get the two additional seats. Ritchie called “heads” he won the toss but lost his life. Flying in a heavy snowstorm the airplane crashed in an open field killing everyone on board. Ritchie was the youngest of the three, just seventeen years old. His success was short lived but his influence lives on. He not only influenced many Latino artists but other artists as well. Ritchie’s “La Bamba” inspired the Isley Brothers “Twist and Shout” and his voice and guitar style influenced the garage band sound of the 60’s.

Eddie Cochran wrote a song about Ritchie Valens and Don McLean wrote a song called “American Pie” in 1971, which was inspired by the plane crash. In 1987, Ritchie was the main subject of a movie named after his song, “La Bamba”. In 1990, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2001 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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