Search - Ritchie Valens :: Rockin' All Night: The Very Best of Ritchie Valens

All His Hits And Their B-Sides Are Here

Timothy Wittman | 10/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One reviewer asks the question that has been debated since his tragic death at age 17, along with Buddy Holly and J. P. Richardson (The Bog Bopper) on February 3, 1959. And I suppose it will go on endlessly.



The fact is, you'd have to think he would at least have been more successful than his protege Chris Montez, whose own success was modest in the face of the changing times. By 1960 the original R&R, which had been a distinctive blending of Rockabilly/R&B, had begun to change with the arrival of the ubiquitous "Bobbies" (Rydell, Darin, Vee, Vinton, Curtola, Lewis, et al), followed in 1964 by the British Invasion.



Would Ritchie have been able to change at the same time? Gene Vincent couldn't and never had another hit after 1957, and Eddie Cochran was already fading from the scene when he died in that 1960 automobile accident. One thing Valens did have going for him was that he wrote most of his hits and it's nice to think that that combined talent would have seen him through the 1960s and beyond, much like it did for Paul Anka.



As to this release from Del-Fi, it has all five hits he registered in his young life in 1958/59 for that label, plus the three ubcharted B-sides, beginning with self-penned Come On, Let's Go which reached # 27 R&B/# 42 Billboard Pop Top 100 in the fall of 1958 b/w the Lieber & Stoller tune, Framed. Then came his biggest hit, a double-sided smash that was still climbing up the charts the day he died - Donna (# 2 Billboard Pop Hot 100/# 11 R&B) b/w La Bamba (# 22 Hot 100).



Whether a reaction to the shock of his sudden death we'll never know for certain, but in April That's My Little Suzie could only manage to get to # 55 Hot 100 b/w In A Turkish Town, while in July, Little Girl fared even worse, managing only a # 92 b/w We Belong Together. And that would be it insofar as hits were concerned, although his unreleased material would continue to appear on the market occasionally over the next few years.



This release has excellent sound quality and with the insert are four pages of background notes written in 1994 by R&R historian Art Fein along with several nice photos of Ritchie and some poster/record reproductions. Judge for yourself whether any of the other material included here would have been commercial successes had he lived. I think it would have."

Rock N' Rollin' Teenager - What If he had Lived

Vincent D. Guillen | Albuquerque,NM | 09/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of all the Bob Keen re-packaging of Ritchie Valens material this is the best single CD compiliation. The cuts are digitally remastered for the best sound to date, of all previous Valens re-issues, especially pay close attention to La Bamba. Carol Kays' Dan Electro Bass Intro will astound you, You have never heard La Bamba like this before. This package also includes "Fast Freight" by Arvee Allens (aka Ritchie Valens). All 5 charted hits are included, as is his movie (GO JOHNNY GO)entry "Ooh! My head." He was heavily enfluenced by Little Richard as is evidenced by his gravely shouting style on Bonie Maronie and Ooh my head, pay close attention to the background music on "We belong together" ,the Beatles lifted it ,note for note, for their recording of "That Boy". When listening to this CD remember he was only seventeen yrs old when he recorded this, what could he have accomplished had he lived. Bob Keene has to be credited with alot of the final Ritchie Valens sound. As a classically trained musician he was responsible for all the final arrangements, the originals were pretty rough. In closing remember Rithie Valens needs to be in the Rock n" Roll Hall of Fame!!!! Ritchie Valens lives, this CD sez it all, ..."