Ritchie Valens, La Bamba

[appalachiablue]

The late, great Ritchie Valens.

- Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – Feb. 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter, & guitarist. A rock & roll pioneer & a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed in a plane crash 8 months into his recording career. Valens had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", adapted from a Mexican folk song.

Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm & beat, and it became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock & roll movement. He also had an American number-two hit with "Donna".

On Feb. 3, 1959, on what has become known as "The Day the Music Died", Valens died in a plane crash in Iowa, an accident that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly & J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as pilot Roger Peterson. In 2001, Valens was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie_Valens

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Sang It At A Battle Of Bands

We went 3 years to what I'll describe as an IROC race for musicians.
Pick 3 songs off their list, 3 weeks in advance.
Show up with nothing but picks & sticks.
We have to use their instruments, their pedals, their amps, their mics, their soundguy.
One year our second song was La Gamba.
A friend of the band was dating an Hispanic woman, and she said she really liked it, but she needed to know if I knew what the words meant. When I gave her the first verse in English, she gave us her seal of approval!
BTW: we won all 3 years, the third year as a three piece with me on bass. Fun days.

[Bo Zarts]

2. As a trained airline accident investigator, my hobby is looking at other accidents

Mainly accidents that killed rockers or movie stars. I don’t always have all the info I need, but it is interesting. Lots of common denominations.

But the 2/3/59 accident that killed Holly, Richardson, and Valens bordered on criminality. Pilot lack of experience and qualifications, aircraft unsuited to the flight conditions, and horrible icing conditions. Sad beyond believe.

[appalachiablue]

3. In HS I saw Don McLean perform

American Pie at a college, what a tragic loss of life and talent that accident was. Others from the music field lost that way I've come across recently incl. John Denver, SRV. All exceptional musicians and so young.

In Del. we were at a beach resort in summer years back when the main property exec. d. in a helicopter flight there with a pilot out of Richmond. Crashed in a nearby cornfield.

I didn't catch the cause but in many smaller accidents you hear plenty about pilot error and weather as you say, and maybe drugs. I'll never forget the horrible 1982 Air Florida Flt. 90 crash in snowy weather and following it on live TV in DC.