THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED - RITCHIE VALENS - and LINK TO RITCHIE VALENS OFFICIAL

FROM OUR ARCHIVES OCTOBER 6, 2007  THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED!

RITCHIE VALENS died in that plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.

Alan Freed, a pioneer in Rock and Roll, who held big stage shows in New York City where many of my peers performed, got ahold of Richie Valens and asked him to appear. Ritchie was just a kid with a chaperone, but we all wanted to meet him and considered him part of our Rock and Roll family. I was there when Ritchie performed in New York, and he was a total pro at 17. Everyone wanted to meet him. We didn't care that he was Mexican-American, not at all. Among us he was one of the firsts who came out of California - Los Angeles - The San Fernando Valley - a place that would become more important to many of us as the years went on! We might have been more curious about him on that basis! We were a lot of Southern boys there in the Big Apple!

Ritchie had the hit "Donna,"a soft ballad, in 1958, and there's been a movie made about his life, "La Bamba."

NEW LINK RITCHIE VALENS OFFICIAL


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NEW VIDEO!
 

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED - BUDDY KNOX AND BUDDY HOLLY AND THE CRICKETS AND ME (part one)

FROM OUR ARCHIVES OCTOBER 6, 2007  THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED!

Many of you have heard the song called "American Pie," also known as The Day The Music Died song, performed and written by singer-songwriter Don Mclean. The lyrics which are a bit of a puzzle to the uninitiated are meant to honor three early Rock n' Rollers whose influence was profound, and who were killed in a small plane crash over Mason City, Iowa.

On February 3, 1959, Buddy Knox and I were traveling on tour. After a late night we got up and went to breakfast. I ran to get the newspaper and was shocked to see the headline. Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson also known as JP), and Ritchie Valens had been killed in a plane crash. The three men had been trying to make time on their own road tour. Buddy Knox ran for the men's room and threw up his breakfast.

Buddy Knox and Buddy Holly had been good friends in New York and the had Texas roots and musical influences in common. Buddy Knox had sent the song "That'll Be The Day" over to Buddy Holly rather than record it himself, and was happy when Buddy Holly had a hit with it.

I'd met Buddy Knox and some of the other Crickets in New York City. I thought of Buddy Holly as a zany guy. On this tour he had left the Crickets behind.

Friends, there's no way we can honor all three Rock n Rollers on just one blog entry, so we're going to post separately, one for Buddy Holly, one for JP, and one for Ritchie. Stick with us! We're having a great time posting our blog, we're excited about it, and we know those of you who aren't familiar with my era are getting a real lesson - we hope a fun one - out of it.



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RITCHIE VALENS : SMITHSONIAN HONORED HIM WITH AN EXHIBIT : NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE HONORED

RITCHIE VALENS OFFICIAL SITE link here!  (The family is involved in this site and has an interesting news portion!)

Smithsonian Exhibit for Ritchie Valens


"The National Museum of The American Indian presented "Up Where We Belong" an Exhibit of Native Americans who have contributed to American Music, This exhibit sponsored by the Smithsonian in New York City, presented a wonderful tribute. Congratulations to all the inductees. Connie and Irma Ritchie's sisters attended along with Irma's husband Randy.

On loan to the Museum are Ritchie's Gold Records, Donna and La Bamba, there is also a nice poster on dispaly with Ritchie's photo and information on his achievements. The Museum also opened an inter-active video area where visitors can view footage on all the indectees. For Ritchie there is short documentary with Ritchie's siblings speaking about Ritchie's music and archival photos..

Ritchie's mother would have been proud that her Indian Heritage has been honored through her son and his music."

BUDDY HOLLY HAS INSPIRED GENERATIONS

OFFICIAL BUDDY HOLLY SITE  link here!

“Buddy did everything he could to make sure that talented young
musicians and songwriters got a real chance,” says Maria Elena Holly.

“He even started his own label – he called it ‘Prism’ – to make this
possible. He would be especially thrilled, as I am, that so many
outstanding artists are part of this effort to honor his personal

commitment to recognize and help great young musical talent.”

What's "new" about Buddy.  In May of 2012 there was a special celebration and tribute album.  It was Buddy's 75th birthday...

Here's the sound sampler...

BUDDY KNOX INTRODUCED ME TO BUDDY HOLLY

I met Buddy Holly in New York City in the late 1950's.  Buddy Knox, who I went on tour with for a couple years,  introduced us first. 

You can pull up older posts on this blog by using the Google Search feature.  Try the words BUDDY HOLLY or BUDDY KNOX!

GRAHAM NASH PLAYS ON BUDDY HOLLY'S OLD GUITAR

Graham NASH mentions the guitar cover inspired by Elvis's guitar cover. Buddy hand tooled the leather cover himself!  See our post about Rick Nelson's guitar cover... use the Google search feature... and AL SHELTON or RICK NELSON to bring up that older post!

BUDDY HOLLY : EVERYDAY

THE BIG BOPPER : FROM OUR ARCHIVE 2007

The Big Bopper, J.P. Richardson, is best known for his hit record "Chantilly Lace."

I never met J.P. so I have little personal to say about him. He's part of the history of rock and roll and Elvis and I did love "Chantilly Lace," that part about "a wiggle in her walk..."

The thing about people at the height of their fame who die unexpectedly is that you never know what they would have become if they had lived. The death of JP, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly had Buddy Knox and me wondering about our own mortality.

RITCHIE VALENS : WE BELONG TOGETHER : 1956

BUDDY HOLLY THE BIG BOPPER RITCHIE VALENS POSTER FOR THE LAST PERFORMANCE

SEE OUR PREVIOUS POSTS ABOUT THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED - Part of WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC HISTORY! Use the Google Search This Blog Feature!