Ritchie Valens (album)
Ritchie Valens is the first album by Ritchie Valens, posthumously released by Del-Fi Records in March 1959, one month after his death in a plane crash. It is his only studio album entirely composed of master tracks recorded at Gold Star Studios. The album peaked at #23 on the Billboard album chart.
| Ritchie Valens | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1959 | |||
| Recorded | 1958–59 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 25:15 | |||
| Label | Del-Fi Records DFLP-1201 | |||
| Producer | Robert Keane | |||
| Ritchie Valens chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Ritchie Valens | ||||
| ||||
The LP yielded four U.S. chart singles: "Come On, Let's Go" (#42), "Donna" (#2), and "La Bamba" (#22), and "That's My Little Suzie" (#55).
The original pressings are black and sea green with circles around the outer edge. The print font for the track listings on these labels is the same font used on the back of the album cover. Later pressings feature black labels with gold and sea green diamonds around the outer edge. The album has been reissued over the years, featuring different album covers.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
Track listing
All songs written by Ritchie Valens, except where indicated.
- Side 1
- "That's My Little Suzie" (Valens, Robert Kuhn) – 1:52
- Original album covers show the title as "I Got A Gal Named Sue", corrected on later pressings
- "In a Turkish Town" – 2:16
- "Come On, Let's Go" – 2:00
- "Donna" – 2:28
- "Boney-Moronie" (Larry Williams) – 2:46
- "Ooh, My Head" – 1:48
- Side 2
- "La Bamba" (Traditional; adapted by Ritchie Valens) – 2:06
- "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" (Ersel Hickey) – 1:45
- "Hi-Tone" (Al Hazan) – 2:06
- "Framed" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 2:13
- "We Belong Together" (Robert Carr, Johnny Mitchell, Hy Weiss) – 1:57
- "Dooby-Dooby-Wah" (Valens, Kuhn) – 1:53
Charts
Album
| Chart (1959) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) | 23 |
