The “Peggy Sue” singer decided to charter a plane to his next tour stop because their bus had been having some mechanical problems. What made Jennings change his mind about taking a seat on Holly’s final flight? And what were the last words he spoke to his friend before he got on that ill-fated plane? (L) Buddy Holly | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images (R) Waylon Jennings | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Buddy Holly’s bus broke down in freezing weatherĪs Jennings would later recall, he was playing in Holly’s band on tour in the winter of 1959. And he was even supposed to have a seat on the plane that went down with the beloved singer and other stars on board. Ritchie Valens’ star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6733 Hollywood Blvd.When country singer and “Outlaw” legend, Waylon Jennings, was still early in his music career, he played in Buddy Holly’s band. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. ![]() There is the Ritchie Valens Recreation Center and several local San Fernando murals depicting Ritchie and/or “The Day the Music Died.” Two of them are within close proximity of each other at 13663 Van Nuys Blvd and 13433 Van Nuys Blvd. He was honored on a 29¢ stamp (1993) as now he’s getting a post office renamed after him. A stretch of the 5 Freeway running through Pacoima is called the Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway (between the 118 and the 170). “ Soy Capitan” is a cola named after Ritchie Valens. The Internet Movie Cars Database () documents a staggering amount of classic cars appearing in the film. And in 2017, the Library of Congress added it to the U.S. The tragedy inspired Don McLean’s “American Pie” (1971), immortalizing Feb 3rd as “ The Day the Music Died.” The hugely popular biopic about Ritchie, La Bamba (1987), starring Lou Diamond Phillips, was a Golden Globe nominee for Best Motion Picture. The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly Valens “won” a coin toss with Holly’s guitarist, Tommy Allsup, to board the three-passenger Beechcraft with Holly and The Big Bopper, which departed for Fargo, North Dakota at 12:55am and crashed a few minutes after takeoff for reasons still unknown. In the only live footage of Ritchie playing, he would appear in a diner scene with Chuck Berry in Alan Freed’s Go, Johnny, Go! (1959) singing “Ooh! My Head.”ĭubbed “The Winter Dance Party,” he joined an ill-fated Midwest tour with Buddy Holly, Dion and the Belmonts, and The Big Bopper. Bob Keane remembers Dick Clark saying he believed Ritchie was the most talented young artist he’d ever had on his show. Nudie Cohn would make heavily embroidered and studded suits for Hank Williams, Roy Rogers, Elvis, and later, even more flamboyant ones for Elton John, Jimmy Page, and Gram Parsons. He bought his first suits from Nudie’s in North Hollywood for the performances. ![]() Valens would perform twice on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Elvis would later take Donna out on a date in order to learn everything he could about Ritchie Valens. Ritchie swooped in, taking advantage of the opportunity to sing her “ We Belong Together.” It became their song. Donna’s date had passed out from drinking too much beer. The song was not only a huge hit, but also groundbreaking, proving that a rock & roll hit song needn’t be sung in English.ĭonna Ludwig and Ritchie Valens first met the summer before their sophomore year at an Igniters (car club) party. He learned the words to the Mexican folk song “ La Bamba,” applying his rock rhythm and style. Ritchie grew up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, as well as flamenco guitar, R&B, and jump blues, but only English was spoken in his house, not Spanish. ![]() His next record, the double A-side: “La Bamba / “Donna” (1958), would sell over a million copies. His first song, later covered by the New York punk band The Ramones, was “ Come on Let’s Go” (1958). Keane signed him and changed his name to Ritchie (too many Richards) Valens (to widen his appeal beyond any obvious ethnic group). Swayed by the comparison to Little Richard, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records went to see Valenzuela play a Saturday morning matinée at a movie theater in San Fernando. In a freak accident, two airplanes would collide over his junior high killing some of his friends and classmates. Richard expressed interest in making his own music at the age of five and was playing for his friends as early as junior high school. He wrote a song for his high school sweetheart, " Donna," the teenage girl who would sneak out her bedroom window to meet Ritchie for sodas at Bob’s Big Boy Burbank. Born and raised in Pacoima, Richard Steven Valenzuela went to San Fernando High and quickly became known as the " The Little Richard of San Fernando."
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