Richard Steven Valenzuela — The Kid Who Made Chicano Music Cool

To be labelled the godfather of Chicano rock music at 17 is quite something

Grave of Ritchie Valens and his mother in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery. Image by ArthurDark CC-ASA-4.0 via Wikimedia

This month marks the 80th birthday of the late Ritchie Valens, yet his music is timeless.

My first reaction to hearing Ritchie Valens’ ‘La Bamba’, was that it made me smile and feel happy. I considered it another American rock classic, in the same league as those by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Elvis. I’d never seen a photo of him; had no idea of his ethnicity. Why would it matter? He rocked. Another thing: it’s sung in Spanish. Did I know what the words meant? No. It still rocked.

“Yo no soy marinero
Yo no soy marinero, soy capitán
Soy capitán, soy capitán”

I heard this song everywhere in the UK in the 1960s. Played at dances, in amusement arcades, on fairground rides, it seemed to be blasting out the radio all through that decade’s summers. Any self-respecting pub rock band had to include it in their set list.