Harmony and Heartbreak In the Life of Richie Valens

Every now and then, an artist emerges whose talent and charisma redefine an era; Richie Valens was such a figure. We trace the arc of Valens's remarkable but all-too-brief journey from the vibrant streets of Pacoima to the pinnacle of rock and roll fame. His fusion of rock with Latino rhythms not only produced timeless hits like "La Bamba" and "Donna" but also laid groundwork for future generations of Latino artists to follow. Yet, as we celebrate Valens's extraordinary contributions, we also revisit the somber notes of his life's symphony, culminating in the winter night that claimed his life, along with fellow legends Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

The episode continues with a solemn look at the events of that fateful day, dissecting the poignant details of the tour that brought these icons together and the twist of fate that led Valens to board the plane after a coin toss. As we pay homage to these trailblazers, we also pivot toward the promise of our upcoming series, "Let's Find Them." Here, we dedicate ourselves to amplifying the stories of missing children, particularly within the Black community, who are often left in the media's margins. Join us as we not only memorialize the stars of yesterday but also ignite a beacon of hope for the unseen and unheard, ensuring that their stories too are told.

Website: https://moorewineandmusic.com
Email: moorewinemusic@gmail.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Good evening everybody. This is Harriette Westmore with the More Wine and Music podcast, the podcast where I discuss different music genre over a glass of wine. We are on episode number 27. We are in season three of the music genre, and this music genre for season three is the early 50s, which means we are talking about early rock and roll. Today's episode I'm going to be talking about the young and very short-lived of his music career, and that's Richie Valens. So stay tuned, as I do my countdown and we'll get started All right. Well, barak, if you haven't already hit that subscribe, hit that share button. Go to wwwmorewineandmusiccom and see past videos and audio of the last two seasons of the music genre. Also, if you don't mind, if you want to buy me a coffee, you can go on buymeacoffeecom backslash more wine music. Ok, so let's get started. This is about Richie Valens, and he was one of the youngest and short lived. It was is very sad, short-lived. It was very sad. This young man just started. He was at the height, just the cusp of his career blowing up, and unfortunately it ended rather quickly. But who was he? I know if any of us remember. Of course I wasn't alive during the 50s, but I'm sure many like my mom and other people out there was and probably remember who Ritchie Valens. But let's start by trying to get to know him before he became a quote unquote.

Speaker 1: 2:54

Famous Richie Valens, who was actually named Richard Valenzuela, was born on May 13th 1941 in Pacoma, california, which is a suburb of LA LA. So he was born to the father, the father. His father's name was Joseph Steve Valenzuela, who was a tree surgeon and a miner and a horse trainer. His mother's name was Concepcion or Connie, and she worked in a munitions plant. Richie had, he had a half brother and two sisters. He was very close with his father. His father was a you know he. He had a bond with his dad and unfortunately his dad died when Richie was 13 from diabetes related complications.

Speaker 1: 4:10

During the time of his childhood he grew to love music and, being in a suburb where it was culturally integrated and culturally mixed, he was able to listen to all types of music and so his music, his love for music, stemmed from his admiration to people like Bo Diddley, who I talked about last week, chuck Berry, elvis Presley, among others. But his main, his main, main person that he really loved and wanted to emulate was Little Richard. So he really, really had an admiration for Little Richard. At the age of 16, he joined his first little band. It was called the Silhouettes. Their group played local gigs and such as you know sock hops play local gigs and such as you know sock hops, church functions and things like that, and Valens was spotted as one of the performances. At one of the performances he was spotted by a promoter and a manager name who was named by Robert Keene and Robert Keene was the head of the Delphi record label and so he saw a potential in this young man, even though Richie really admired and wanted to emulate Little Richard. He was not as wild in his playing as Little Richard was but nevertheless he kind of patterned after his songs or his stage presence after Little Richard, though he was not as wild as Little Richard was. So Bob Keene saw a potential in this and you know, as Richie being the first Latino musician at that time, I mean that was a big deal. It was a big deal. So he kind of paved the way for future Latino artists to come to pattern after him. So Richie was kind of the pioneer of that.

Speaker 1: 6:30

But Bob Keene also wanted Richie to cross over into mainstream America. So he wanted Richie to kind of shorten his name. He couldn't. You know the name, richard Valenzuela, just you know, obviously for and what, what, just you know, kind of a racist thing. But he wanted the opera, you know, richie to have the opportunity to cross over to mainstream America. So he asked you know he decided to, that, told Richie that you got to shorten your name and don't use the, you know, don't use Valenzuela. How about using? For Richard, just use Richie and for Valenzuela just use Valenz. So henceforth he's been known as Richie Valenz.

Speaker 1: 7:36

Richie, being a Mexican-American, was very true to his culture, although he did not speak a lick of Spanish, was very true to his culture, although he did not speak a lick of Spanish. He did not speak Spanish, he was born in LA, so he kind of gravitated towards the, the customs of the LA, customs of California. So he did not, you know, he didn't speak a word of Spanish, a word of Spanish. He recorded one of the first early recordings of his music that really made a difference was his single Come On, let's Go, which was the first recording with Delphi Records, which was the first recording with Delphi Records, and that was a minor hit. He also recorded the song which we all know, la Bamba, and from what I understood, he had to actually learn how to speak Spanish in order to sing, you know, to record that song Because, again, he did not know how to speak Spanish, he didn't speak Spanish. So when he record that La Bamba, you know that was, that wasn't something that was natural to him, to you know to sing, that he had to learn the Spanish language in order to learn to play and record La Bamba.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Another hit of his was Donna. He wrote that song after a girlfriend that he, you know, really had. He was really loved. This girl named Donna, and actually she was a. Her name was Donna Ludwig and she was a high school friend of his. At school and you know they dated. He really he really loved Donna and Donna cared for him. But unfortunately, because you know he had, you know he was Mexican, you know her father really did not like the fact that she was dating a MexicanAmerican man, so they snuck around and would see each other as much as they could.

Speaker 1: 10:13

But Richie was kind of blowing up in the music business. He started playing out of town through Bob Keene was able to get him gigs out of California, so he started to get a little bit popular and the song, especially La Bamba, became popular among the teenagers during that time and that was one of the songs that kind of put him, you know, kind of put him over the top as far as spreading his talent across the mainstream. He made an appearance on American Bandstand in December of 1958, and he also appeared on Alan Freed's Christmas show around the same time. In January 1959, he went on the road With the Winter Dance Party Tour, which was with another famous, two other famous acts of that time, who was Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, jp Richardson, the Belmonts and Richardson, who was the Big Bopper in Richardson, who was the big bopper.

Speaker 1: 11:49

And aside from that or aside from, you know, that tour was kind of a. It was a, I don't know, like a premonition, because I would have to. In order for me to kind of explain about that tour itself, I would do a separate episode about the three of them Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper and Richie Valens in the actual tour, specifically, specifically. But one thing people didn't who around them they knew, but what. People didn't realize that Richie wasn't, he was kind of afraid to fly, but they were for this tour. I mean they were touring the Midwest, which was Minnesota, iowa, where else? Wisconsin, you know, and they were doing I mean it was a reallyacherous tour because they had this raggedy bus that they were touring on and you know the bus would break down and we're talking about dead of winter in the Midwest and if anybody who's from the Midwest, as I am, it could be brutal because you have the blizzards, you have snow and it can be very treacherous and that tour was very treacherous on the road.

Speaker 1: 13:30

So the actual tour, the winter festival tour, party tour, it was put together by Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly was basically the main headliner. Richie Valens was a part of that tour as a way of promoting him because he was basically on the cusp of breaking out into actually fame and stardom. So it was a good idea, actually fame and stardom. So it was a good idea, I mean business-wise, it was a good idea to have him link with someone who's already established, such as somebody like Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. But Buddy Holly was the one who actually put this tour together, put this tour together and so, um, he was, he was a part of that uh tour and, again, like I said, it was very, it was a very hard. Uh, it was a hard ride. It was a hard um tour because of um, the amenities were very um slim.

Speaker 1: 14:41

They couldn't even I mean they, you know, stopped from city to city to city. I mean the whole book date of January was just booked up and they had to do shows back to back to back to back from city to city to city throughout the Midwest. And you know, as anybody who's a entertainer, when you're doing, you know, tours like that, it is very, very exhausting and very treacherous and very vigorous. And obviously these young, you know people on the bus they were they try to deal with it the best they can. But, like I said, I forgot where, in what part of the Midwest, that the bus broke down. It said it was like 40 degrees below zero, the bus didn't have any heat and so they would try to huddle up and try to get warm and stay warm. So obviously, when you're riding and touring and then trying to put on shows to entertain people, that is a lot, that is a lot. So February 3rd came February 2nd. Let me take that back. Let's go back to February 2nd of 1959.

Speaker 1: 16:16

The Winter Dance Party toured and played at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, iowa, and then after that they were set to perform in Moorhead, minnesota. So they were to leave from Iowa and then go to Minnesota. And again, aside, aside, bar from that, the way whoever put the tour together itself, they, they, the logistics was just, it was just backwards because they would have to go, okay, like saying, going to Iowa, then you got to backtrack and go to Minnesota, then you, you know, go back and forth. I mean, it was just the, the whoever routed did the route and the logistics of touring. It was just so, it was just, it was just wrong. The, the tour, I mean the way, the routes that they were taken, it was just, it just didn't make sense because it was like they had to go back, you know, a couple hundred miles, or where they were staying was like you know, hours away from the actual venue, to where they were supposed to perform, and so it was just a bumbling mess. But you know, again, they did the best they could with what they had.

Speaker 1: 17:46

And so that day, on February 2nd of 59, they, like I said, they were in Clear Lake, iowa, and they were set to leave and move on to the next city, which was Moorhead, minnesota, and by this time Buddy Holly, he just pretty much had it. He pretty much had it with the traveling in that raggedy bus. It was cold, they were cold, they were, you know the guys were, the band, everybody, you know it was, everybody was just irritable because I mean it was cold and and just not able to rest. Well, they've been on the road for like 21 days straight and not able to change their clothes, so to speak. So they're so at least you know.

Speaker 1: 18:36

Holly wanted to get to a destination, to where it ahead of, and you know, get there to be able to to the next city, to be able to do laundry. So he asked, he asked the, the owner of the surf ballroom Was there. Is there a way that they can charter a plane so some of them can go ahead of the rest? Buddy wanted to just get there to the next destination first so he can have some time to regroup and to wash clothes. Like I said, they were in suits that they've been in for days and not when they haven't been really able to have clean clothes. So can you imagine being on a road touring and performing and have to, you know, have the same suits on for, you know, days on end without you know being able to really change or wash the suits that you're performing in. So you know, buddy Holly, he just pretty much, you know, he pretty much had it at that point. So he's, you know, asked is there a way that we can charter a plane and some of us can go get you know a step ahead, you know, get there to Minneapolis or Minnesota the next day. That way I can find a laundromat, wash some clothes, get some rest and then I can be able to perform that night. So the manager of the surf ballroom he made some phone calls and was able to find a charter plane made some phone calls and was able to find a charter plane. So now it was a question of, well, who gets to ride the plane and who gets to, you know, stay on that raggedy bus and have to travel on the bus. Well, of course, I mean, there was no question that Buddy Holly was going to be on the plane, because he's the one that suggested it. This is his tour, this is his show, so he's the headliner, so of course he was going to be on there. So that wasn't even the question.

Speaker 1: 21:17

Now the Big Bopper. He was sick, he was fighting the flu for the last week or so. He was fighting the flu, he wasn't feeling well, but he would perform anyway. So he asked another. He asked who turned out to be the bass player that Buddy Holly had hired, who was Waylon Jennings. And Waylon Jennings, who is now one of the legendary country stars, but then he was playing early rock and roll and he was playing with Buddy Holly. So Waylon Jennings decided to give up his seat because he knew that the Big Bopper was ill. He was, you know, he had the flu. So he did it and you know Waylon had told Buddy about it. He said well, since the Big Bopper is not feeling well, I'll volunteer, I'll just ride the bus and I will, and I will, and he can take my seat and, and you know, and he can take my seat.

Speaker 1: 22:47

And Holly was, like you know, he kind of teased Waylon. He said well, ok, I hope you know you freeze to death on that bus. You know they were bantering back and forth. And Waylon Jennings said well, you know what? I hope your plane crashed. And you know they were bantering back and forth. Little did they know, little did he know, and that kind of haunted him for years after that for him saying that, but he was saying it and they were joking back and forth, and so that was. You know, that was a foreboding thing to say, you know, even though he didn't know that, but you know to say that. And but anyway, so here's Richie, richie.

Speaker 1: 23:57

Richie went up to I think it was a guitarist, holly's guitarist, who was named Tommy Alsop, and he, you know, richie asked Tommy well, are you going to let me ride the plane? Are you going to let me ride the plane? Are you going to let me take your seat? And Tommy said well, you know what, let's flip forward. So, richie, you know, he took out a coin, he took out a quarter and let's flip forward. So, you know, he told Richie to call it out, call it. So Richie called heads. And guess what? It was heads. So Richie was the one. He was the last one getting on that plane. That night the charter plane was ready for the three passengers. Who was Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Now, mind you, richie was only 17 years old, he was just getting into the music game, he just starting to get his hits, he was getting ready. I mean, this was his tour. This was his chance to really get people promoting his new songs, the songs that he's been playing and promoting, to gain more audience and gain more fans and people. I mean they love the teenagers. I mean, I'll tell you, just looking at some of the videos and stuff, the teenagers that were very a part of this whole genre of the early 50s. They just absolutely went crazy and wild over Ritchie Valens. So I mean that alone, you know, just you know, made him hype.

Speaker 1: 25:55

He was young and you know this was an adventure for him, even though he was afraid of, you know, getting on the planes. But he did. He, for some reason, he wanted to get on that plane tonight. He just couldn't take the bus ride anymore, he just couldn't take it either. So he flipped forward with Tommy Alsup and he won. So he was the last one that board on that plane.

Speaker 1: 26:18

And so the manager of the surf's ballroom, he saw the plane, he got them on, he wished everybody well. And the pilot of the plane was actually he was only 21 or 22 years old, he was young and, truth be told, obviously did not have enough experience flying a plane. That happened, you know. That was. You know, there was snow, it was in the dead of winter, he just didn't have enough flying hours. But at that time, you know, nobody really thought about that. But that, but he, I mean, he was a young kid himself, he was only 21 years old, but he was the one he was the pilot for that plane he was going to. You know, he was on the charter. I mean he, they found him and he was willing to take them to the next destination, which was in Minnesota.

Speaker 1: 27:29

So, like I said, from what the manager of the surf ballroom, he claimed that it was a clear night. It was cold, it was very, very cold, but he wished everybody well and good luck. So he did. He said he watched, he looked up, he saw the plane, it took off, it ascended up in the air and he kind of thought for a minute he's like it didn't take the plane long before it disappeared in the sky. It just like, all of a sudden you saw the lights. But then the lights, I mean you couldn't see the plane anymore. He didn't think more. You know he didn't think anything about it, he just thought, wow, that was quick. You know, usually, as Usually as the plane is when you're going up and you're ascending, you at least see the lights of the plane. But it didn't take long. Next thing, you know, the plane was like gone. So to him he said that was kind of odd, but he didn't think more about it.

Speaker 1: 28:49

And those who stayed back, who was on the road? There was a snowstorm All of a sudden. At first it wasn't snowing or anything, but as they were driving, I mean it was like a blizzard, everything like turned white to where you know. The headlights, I mean. All you saw was just snow coming down. You couldn't even see that far, you know, in front of you. And so it was. That was kind of unusual.

Speaker 1: 29:28

The next day, which was February 3rd 1959, the next day, they, the people who they were supposed to perform in Moorhead, had made a phone call back to Iowa, or made a phone call to the managers who were taking care of the ground, the people who were on the ground driving in. They said, well, ok, where's Buddy Holly and Richie Valens and the Big Bopper? And they were like, what do you mean? Where are they? They took off on the plane. They should be there. Well, we haven't heard anything from them. We haven't heard anything from them.

Speaker 1: 30:18

And so in the meantime it came on the radio that there was a plane crash, that there was a plane crash and back in Iowa there was a plane crash and but nobody knew who that was at the time. They said it was a plane crash. We don't know what happened. You know they're still investigating. And then the manager of the surf ballroom where they played that night before he received the call that it was Buddy Holly, richie Valens and Big Boppers, that was their aircraft, that was in the crash, that was in the crash and apparently the pilot I don't know he kind of miscalculated his bearing, he lost his bearings or something, and the plane, from what you know after investigating the plane wasn't even up long. Investigating the plane wasn't even up long, I mean, it wasn't even in the air long before it did a nosedive and it landed like 100 miles an hour, nosedive straight down into a cornfield in Iowa and obviously there were no survivors.

Speaker 1: 31:45

So and it was the surf ballroom, the manager had to go identify the bodies and if you go online on YouTube and you see some documentaries about it, they do show. I mean they don't show, they just show the crash site itself, crash site itself they found Richie Valens and a couple of hundred yards away was Buddy Holly, now the big bopper. He was thrown clear over across and he was like far away, into another, into the cornfield, farther away from the crash site. So he was thrown overthrown, you know, several hundred yards away from everybody, you know from the other two, but the other two was, you know, pretty much near each other and the plane. You can see the picture of it. The wings are up and the front end, the nose, its nose, dives straight into the ground and it is. You know, the plane was obviously demolished.

Speaker 1: 32:57

So at age 17, you know, richie Valens was basically on the verge or on the cusp. He was right there, he was getting ready to blow up. He was promoting his songs, his new songs, and the audience was just, you know, from what they knew of him and they loved him. And you know he was just blowing up and his life was cut short at the age of 17. He was only in the music business, so to speak, for only eight months, so it wasn't even a year, and his life was taken, you know, just like that.

Speaker 1: 33:41

So in tribute to the three Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. There was a song and everybody who knows it, called the Day the Music Died by Don McLean, american Pie. That song was in dedication of them and I think, and what people have said, that was in 1959, that crash kind of changed the whole dynamic of rock and roll during that period. It just changed the whole mindset. From that point After that a lot of musicians they just I mean, it just wasn't the same, it wasn't the good old everybody you know, good old, happy, go lucky, everybody just having a good time going to sock, hops and everything. It just kind of just changed from that point. Now I think that was pretty much the end of the era of the fifties and the rock and roll era was when that, when that plane crash, so, but we still got some other musicians during that fifties that we still need to talk about.

Speaker 1: 35:03

But I just wanted to bring about Richie Valens because Richie Valens was a. He was one of the first pioneers for the Latino community to open the door for crossing over from as a back then we would call a person of color to play and it was so young and so talented and was just taken so soon. That's the week episode of Richard Stephen Valenzuela, also known as Richie Valens. All right, next week I'm going to do Eddie Cochran. That's another person, not to I mean people know who that, who he is but Again, he's part of the early 50s, so I'm going to portray him. Next week we're going to talk about him.

Speaker 1: 36:10

So, again, if you haven't go to wwwmorewineandmusiccom, listen to past history of different genres the blues and the jazz. Also, if you want to buy me a coffee, click on buymeacoffeecom. Backslash more wine and music. And also I want to promote a new upcoming podcast that me and another podcaster has partnered up with. What we're going to do, and it's called let's Find them.

Speaker 1: 36:49

What we're going to do, and it's called let's Find them, and it is a missing persons true crime, missing persons podcast that will showcase and portray our missing children, our children, meaning those who are not being profiled as much or at all in mainstream media, contrary to what people believe. We do care about our missing children. I see Black young kids are being missing every day and we want to make sure they get their voice out, there to be their stories heard and to be. You know. Hopefully we can get their cases and find them or at least give closure to the family. So stay tuned in the future for the let's Find them podcast. All right, so stay tuned for next week for the episode number 28 for Eddie Cochran, and stay safe and talk to you soon. Bye.