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 Ritchie Valens
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
Ritchie Valens (1959) Ritchie (1959)
Singles from Ritchie Valens
"Come On, Let's Go" Released: August 1958 "Donna" Released: November 1958 "That's My Little Suzie" Released: March 1959

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.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Track listing

All songs written by Ritchie Valens, except where indicated.

Side 1

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

2. "In a Turkish Town" – 2:16
3. "Come On, Let's Go" – 2:00
4. "Donna" – 2:28
5. "Boney-Moronie" (Larry Williams) – 2:46
6. "Ooh, My Head" – 1:48

Side 2

7. "La Bamba" (Traditional; adapted by Ritchie Valens) – 2:06
8. "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" (Ersel Hickey) – 1:45
9. "Hi-Tone" (Al Hazan) – 2:06
10. "Framed" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 2:13
11. "We Belong Together" (Robert Carr, Johnny Mitchell, Hy Weiss) – 1:57
12. "Dooby-Dooby-Wah" (Valens, Kuhn) – 1:53

Charts

Album

Chart (1959)	Peak position
Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200)	23

External links

• Ritchie Valens at Discogs (list of releases)