Ritchie Valens Greatest Hits
Being an anvid fan of Ritchie Valens, I find this to be a relic to my Valens collection. This CD is a great copy of the original LP Record, that was released in the late 50's. You won't find a better release than this one.
Long Live the music of Ritchie Valens,
Julian.
No HiTone
Valens did a great job on these, especially if you are a fifties music affectionato.
The album is great for the song content.
The plastic outer case was broken on the album I received.
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A Definite "Must Have"
His guitar playing is unlike anything I've ever heard. Can't say enough good things about this CD! The late Ritchie Valens was an up and coming super star whose life tragically ended at age 17 in the plane crash, along with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. He could really make that guitar talk, especially on songs like "Ooh, My Head" and the instrumental piece "Fast Freight". His adaptation of the classic folk song "La Bamba" is a timless piece that will never lose it's appeal. The love ballad, "Donna", that he wrote for his girlfriend is just precious and the always uplifting "Come On, Let's Go" is a favorite. The two demos at the end, of "That's My Little Suzie" and "In A Turkish Town" are a great addition. Speaking of the song "In A Turkish Town". . . . it is so beautiful and exquisite that upon reading the liner notes, I saw that Ritchie wrote the song. All I could say was "Wow. "
And that voice! Such a strong, tenor he was. I'd have to say he had one of the most unique voices in rock music. Right up there with the likes of Robert Plant or Freddie Mercury.
It is so tragic to have lost such a gifted young man but I can imagine, he's up in Heaven jammin' away!
Rest in peace Ritchie. Thank you for sharing your talent with the world.
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The best single-disc Ritchie Valens collection
THIS is the disc. There's been a number of Ritchie Valens re-issues over the years, but for most, one solid disc should do the trick. Valens only had three, maybe four hits, the best being "La Bamba," "Donna," and "Come On Let's Go," and you get all that here plus every good studio recording he cut during his short career.
As everyone says, this is a hybrid SACD so it'll play on all CD players, and those with SACD players are treated to a hi-resolution DSD mastering with even better sound. BUT, I've got to warn you, these are NOT hi-fidelity recordings. Still, these were taken from the best tapes, and this is the best they will ever sound.
As for the complaints regarding 'bad' sound, first of all, these were originally recorded in MONO. No true stereo mixes will ever exist from these recordings.
Some recommended the soundtrack to the 1980's "La Bamba" movie, or recalled that the music sounded better on that soundtrack. It's not a bad CD, but those are RE-RECORDINGS. The great L. A. band Los Lobos were asked to re-record Ritchie Valens's recordings for that film, and their new recordings were used for the soundtrack. Los Lobos's re-recordings were recorded on better studio equipment in stereo, thirty years after the fact. THAT is why they sound a lot better. In other words, they are not the originals, so if you want to hear the original versions done by Ritchie himself, THIS disc by Audio Fidelity is the one to get.
BUY THIS DISC NOW!!!!
The sound is phenomenal. If you have any interest in Ritchie Valen's music at all, this is the disc to get. Since this disc has two layers of music, the regular CD layer as well as the SACD layer, this disc will be forward compatible with all of tommorows stereos. But there is more to this disc than just two layers of music. This disc was remastered straight from the original vault tapes using the most modern DSD (direct stream digital) technology by Steve Hoffman. DSD technology closely mathces the high quality analog equipment that this music was originally recorded on. This ultra-high tech DSD technology gives Ritchie Valen's music a real warm feeling, a realistic feel that this 50's music really utilizes to it's fullest potential. Buy this disc before they are all gone, you won't be disappointed.
You can see a complete list of all Ritchie Valens discography, or go back to the Ritchie Valens tabs
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