Donna (Ritchie Valens song)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Donna"
doo wop
Length2:20
LabelDel-Fi 4110
Songwriter(s)Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens singles chronology
"Come On, Let's Go" / "Framed"
(1958) 		"Donna" / "La Bamba"
(1958) 		"Fast Freight" / "Big Baby Blues"
(1959)

"Donna" is a song written by Ritchie Valens,[1] featuring the '50s progression.[2] The song was released in 1958 on Del-Fi Records.[3] Written as a tribute to his high school sweetheart Donna Ludwig, it was Valens' highest-charting single, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year. ("Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price was at number one.)[4]

Valens' version

The song was recorded on September 16, 1958, at the

Rene Hall, Irving Ashby, and Carol Kaye
on guitars.

"Donna", the second Ritchie Valens single released, was the A side of the influential song "La Bamba". This single was only one of four, along with the previous single ("Come On, Let's Go"/"Framed" – Del-Fi 4106) and the follow-up ("Fast Freight"/"Big Baby Blues" — Del-Fi 4111) and ("That's My Little Suzie"/"In a Turkish Town – Del-Fi 4114) ever released in Valens' lifetime. Original Del-Fi pressings of "Donna"/"La Bamba" include black and sea green labels with circles, later replaced with solid sea green or solid dark green labels. Early 1960s pressings have black labels with sea green "sawtooth" outer edge.

Valens' version was positioned at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles in October 1958. Three weeks before Valens' death, the song peaked at No. 2. On the Hot R&B Sides chart, "Donna" went to No. 11.[6]

Chart performance

All-time charts

Chart (1958-2018) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 457

Other versions

  • The song was notably covered by Los Lobos for the soundtrack to the 1987 film La Bamba which portrayed the life story of Ritchie Valens. In one scene, Valens is shown singing it to his girlfriend Donna Ludwig on the telephone and in another scene Valens is shown recording the song in the recording studio, and in a third scene he is shown performing the song on American Bandstand. Stourbridge (UK) band Stormboys (previously known as Kayran Dache) also released a version in Europe around the same time. Despite national radio plays it was outsold by the Los Lobos version that went Top 30 in France and Belgium and to #83 in the UK.
  • Donny Osmond covered the song in 1972 on the album Too Young.
  • Gary Glitter covered the song in 1972 on the album Glitter.
  • It was a #3 UK hit in May 1959 for Marty Wilde.[8]
  • Give a Little Bit More in the US and Rock 'n' Roll Silver in the UK. The later version was released as a single in the US during 1984 and peaked at 17[9][10]
    on the Adult Contemporary chart.
  • Swedish group
    Kvällstoppen and Tio i Topp that year.[12][13] "Donna", despite being the B-side, still managed to chart on Kvällstoppen, staying on the week for the week of August 17, 1965 at a position of number 14.[14] A live version was released on their live album Hep Stars on Stage.[15]
  • Yugoslav rock band Siluete recorded a cover which was a title track on their 1967 EP Dona.[16]
  • Yugoslav rock band Crveni Koralji recorded a cover of the song for their 1988 album Ja sam tvoj čovjek (I'm Your Man).[17]

Answer song

Within days of the death of Valens, in February 1959 Brooklyn songwriters and record producers Bob Feldman and Jerry Goldstein recorded and released (as The Kittens[18]) "A Letter to Donna" (Unart UR2010),[19] that used Valens' tune but with new lyrics they wrote themselves with "John Ottowa" (a pseudonym of Jack Lewis[20]), that sent a message to Valens' girlfriend, Donna Ludwig.[21]

Samples and other uses

References

  1. ^ "Rockin' Country Style". Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. ^ Hirsh, Marc (December 31, 2008). "Here's an easy way to see if a song uses the Sensitive Female Chord Progression - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  3. ^ Neely, T: "Goldmine Price Guide To 45RPM Records"
  4. ^ "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  5. ^ Ritchie Valens , “Ritchie Valens in Come On. Let’s Go” Del-Fi Records, CD liner notes
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 600.
  7. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  8. ^ "officialcharts.com". Official Charts. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  9. Allmusic
    . Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  10. ^ "Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart - Cliff Richard". Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  11. ^ "The Hep Stars - Farmer John". www.thehepstars.se. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  12. OCLC 165178200
    .
  13. OCLC 186200204.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  14. ^ "Donna by Hep Stars". NostalgiListan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  15. ^ "The Hep Stars - Hep Stars On Stage". www.thehepstars.se. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  16. ^ Janjatović, Petar (2007). EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960–2006. Belgrade: self-released. p. 207.
  17. ^ Janjatović, Petar (2007). EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960–2006. Belgrade: self-released. p. 49.
  18. ^ "THE KITTENS / EZRA & THE IVIES / BOBBIE & THE BEAUS" (March 10, 2013).
  19. ^ "45 Discography for Unart Records". globaldogproductions.info. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  20. ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office, Catalog of Copyright Entries (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960):291.
  21. ^ Beverly Mendheim, Ritchie Valens: The First Latino Rocker (Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, 1987):115, 153.
  22. ^ "Non-Existent Domain". donnamercadokim.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
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