| | Ritchie Valens CD Ritchie Valens Discography of CDs
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Ritchie Valens was only 17 when he died in 1959 in the same plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, and he had only been working in a recording studio for about seven months when the tragedy occurred; thus, his musical legacy rests on about an album and a half of completed studio material, a poorly recorded high-school concert, and a handful of demos and rehearsal tapes. This set is a straight reissue of Valens' first album for Bob Keane's Del-Fi label, and it presents essentially the only truly finished work Valens recorded. It includes Valens' big hit, "La Bamba"; its flip side, "Donna" (which was actually the A-side, but "La Bamba" has emerged over time as Valens' signature tune); a halting, beautiful version of "Bluebirds Over the Mountain"; and the oddly haunting "In a Turkish Town." Valens' output is so sparse that it is probably best to pick up something like Rhino's Best of Ritchie Valens, which has all the key tracks from this first album plus the highlights from his patched-together second album, Ritchie. It is impossible to know the kind of artist Valens would have developed into, but this set suggests that the loss to music on that fateful day in 1959 may have been even greater than many realize. ~ Steve Leggett
Personnel: Ritchie Valens (vocals).
Ritchie Valens Music Review Average Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)  Forgotten Talent
Ritchie Valens' untimely death in a plane crash, just as he was reaching musical stardom, eclipsed a promising career almost before it had really begun. Likewise, the death of his more famous fellow passenger - Buddy Holly - somehow seemed to overshadow Valens' own fame, so that many music fans today have no idea who he was. I don't know how accurately his movie biography, starring Lou Diamond Phillips, portrayed his real life story, but this CD certainly showcases his budding sound: pure, joyous, rock 'n' roll magic. The whole album seems to capture a moment in the fifties, like a black-and white photo of some cool cats cruising in a '57 Chevy. Unlike some of his famous contemporaries, Valens wrote many of the songs on this first studio recording, and many of them were gems. The rocking "Come On, Let's Go" for example, sounds like something the Everly Brothers would have performed in their heyday. Valens' writing also showed a depth and creativity well beyond his teenage years: "La Bamba" may be his most famous song, but check out also the haunting "Donna" - as prototypical a ballad of love lost as ever was penned - or sung.
Submitted by tiger12 (Edmonton, AB, Canada) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful. VALENS REVIEW
JUST GREAT MUSIC, THE QUALITY IS JUST EXCEPTIONAL
Submitted by thomas.pailes (BANGOR, MAINE)
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Purchase Ritchie Valens CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Chills Kaleidoscope World CD (1986) (Import) Import; Australia
Ritchie Valens album
 $23.75
KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD contains 10 bonus tracks and represents everything the band recorded through early 1986, including all of the LOST EP, and the I LOVE MY LEATHER JACKET/THE GREAT ESCAPE 12"
KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD, The Chills' 18-track compilation culled from The Chills early and mid-'80s EPs and singles, is highlighted by the song "Pink Frost."
The Chills' Martin Phillipps mixes up melodic pop with elements of garage rock and punk, creating songs with a sweet melancholy all their own. Phillipps has always been the focus of the Chills, writing and singing the band's songs. His group has also rivaled Menudo in its sheer number of personnel changes. In a just world, the Chills would have sold just as many records.
KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD showcases the shifting line-ups and many moods of the early to mid-'80s Chills. "Rolling Moon" captures a mood of shambling joy, its simple, repeated keyboard riff sounding like a distant ...
| | Ritchie Valens Ritchie CD (1963)
Ritchie Valens CD music
$9.69
Ritchie Valens was only 17 when he died in 1959. His musical legacy rests on about an album and a half of completed studio material, a poorly recorded high-school concert, and a handful of demos and rehearsal tapes, all of which meant Bill Keane was facing a problem when it came time to release a second album of Valens material on Keane's Del-Fi label. The resulting LP, Ritchie, actually turned out better than perhaps it had a right to, and while it didn't yield any huge ...
| | Killing Floor CD (1995) (Import) With Book; Limited Edition; Digipak; Germany
Ritchie Valens music CDs
$18.79
The sheer toughness -- and overall derivative -- nature of Killing Floor's debut album, issued six months after Led Zeppelin's debut in 1969 on the Spark label, is a wondrous contrast to the overly slick treatment American blues were given by British artists. All of these tunes, with the exception of one, are revamped versions of songs from the blues canon with different words. The lone "cover" in the set was written by Willie Dixon titled "Woman You Need Love," the tune Zep ripped for "Whole Lotta Love." Despite the fact that this set was issued before by Repertoire, the Akarma version is definitive in that it features the original cover artwork in a heavy cardboard gatefold sleeve, and killer sound. This is a raw, immediate, overdriven, psychedelic blues record that offers an interesting historical counterpoint to the immediate impact of Page and Plant and Co., but it also ...
| | Danny Kirwan Second Chapter CD (1975) With Book; Limited Edition; Digipak
Ritchie Valens songs
$19.79 
The first solo album from Fleetwood Mac singer/songwriter Daniel David Kirwan has the future producer for Human League and Buzzcocks, Martin Rushent, utilizing those skills here, as well as engineering. The sound is crystal clear, and a feather in the cap for Rushent as well as Kirwan. It starts off with an uncharacteristic "Ram Jam City," which has more Lindsey Buckingham sounds than one would expect, especially since the two guitarists come from two different musical worlds. "Odds and Ends" is more lighthearted, the kind of music Paul McCartney toyed with on The White Album's "Rocky Raccoon." What Second Chapter immediately sets forth is the importance of Kirwan as a pop artist, and how, despite Fleetwood Mac's success after he left, his sounds could still have been beneficial to that supergroup. "Hot Summers Day" is a fine example of that, a beautiful song that could offset Buckingham's gritty ramblings. It would have made a nice counterpoint as Stevie Nicks complemented Christine ...
| | Legend CD (2007) (Import) With Book; Limited Edition; Digipak; Germany
Ritchie Valens album
$18.75
In some circles, Mickey Jupp is something of a minor legend, a roots rocker with excellent taste and a cutting wit, best heard on the songs "Switchboard Susan" and "You'll Never Get Me Up in One of Those," both covered by Nick Lowe. Basher's endorsement is a clear indication that Jupp is a pub rocker, a guy who specializes in laid-back good times, so it shouldn't come as a great surprise that his first band, Legend, was proto-pub, an unabashed celebration of old-time rock & roll, filled with three-chord Chuck Berry rockers and doo wop backing vocals. Nevertheless, listening to their 1970 LP is a bit of a shock, as it's completely disassociated with anything that was happening in 1970, even with Tony Visconti enlisted as their producer. Legend's sensibility is ahead of its time in its retro thinking, pointing the way to the rock & roll revival of the late '70s and not even that similar to the country-rock of Eggs Over Easy or Bees Make Honey, as this has little of the rustic feel of the Band: it's just straight-up oldies rock, a trait emphasized by those incessant doo wop harmonies that are on almost every ...
| | Steamhammer Mountains CD (1970) (Import) With Book; Bonus Tracks; Digipak; Germany
Ritchie Valens CD music
$22.79
| | Slowdive Souvlaki CD (1993)
Ritchie Valens music CDs
$8.85    
Though not as big and swirling as Just for a Day, there's more of an attempt to put advanced song structure and melody in place rather than just craft infinitely appealing, occasionally thunderous mood music. Everything is simplified, as if Brian Eno's presence on two songs -- he contributes keyboards and treatments and co-wrote one tune after turning down the band's invitation to produce -- hammered home the better aspects of "ambient" music. This is no Music for Airports though. On the opening "Alison," the largely uplifting "When the Sun Hits," and the darkly blissful "Machine Gun," Slowdive are still capable of mouth-opening, spine-tingling flourishes. They've found a way to be ...
| | Masters Apprentices Hands Of Time CD (1980) Import
Ritchie Valens songs
$27.95
Legends on the Australian rock scene, the Master's Apprentices has a selection of material spanning the years 1965 through 1972 on this heavily psychedelic compilation.
This 24-song compilation covers the group's most popular recordings from 1965-1972. The eight Mick Bower-penned cuts from 1965-1967 are the clear highlights; most of the rest, like much of the Australian rock of the time, is extremely derivative of British progressive rock trends. Includes excellent detailed history by renowned Australian rock archivist Glenn A. Baker. ~ Richie Unterberger
Originally issued ...
| | Chelsea Metallic Fo CD (2002) (Import) United Kingdom
Ritchie Valens album
$23.65
METALLIC FO contains Chelsea's first live set at CBGB's in New York City and a bonus live set recorded at Tramps, New York City in 1999.
METALLIC F.O. is a live recording of British punk band Chelsea performing in New York in 1999 during their Social Choas tour and includes "No Admission" and "Right To Work."
Titled and packaged in glorious emulation of the legendary Iggy Pop and the Stooges' 1974 ...
| | Some Other Place To Be Continued CD (2005) (Import) Czech Republic
Ritchie Valens CD music
$13.49
| | Mary Stallings Remember Love CD (2005)
Ritchie Valens music CDs
$13.85
| | 1960S Happy Days (Cat #51168) CDs (2005)
Ritchie Valens songs
$10.09
| | Local H Comes Alive CD (2005)
Ritchie Valens album
$11.59
"The guys play their greatest hits -- only faster! Louder! Harder!" Well, that's the joke on the inside artwork to this collection of live tapes from Local H's post-Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? road trip (along with amusing graphic parodies of both Frampton ...
| | Aron Dees Self Title Album CD (2007)
Ritchie Valens CD music
$11.15
| | Chasing Dreams CD (2007)
Ritchie Valens music CDs
$16.45
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