VA: - Jungle Fever - The Del-Fi Records Story 2CD

Tuotetiedot

• Condition New
• Type CD
• Vendor One Day Music
• SKU 5060255182031
• Artisti VA:
• Lyhyt kuvaus The Del-Fi story was written by Bob Keane, the former jazz clarinettist turned Los Angeles music mogul (born Robert Verril Kuhn in 1922) who discovered soul star Sam Cooke. Just as his Keen record label was the springboard for Cooke’s leap from gospel singer to hot pop property, so Del-Fi will be remembered for launching ‘Chicano’ star Ritchie Valens. Valens made a big impact in his brief, bright career, which was cut short by a plane crash in February 1959. Yet Del-Fi would continue for some years beyond that, and in Chan Romero’s ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’, released the same year, delivered a classic to stand up alongside Valens classics like ‘La Bamba’ and ‘Come On, Let’s Go’. The first single Del-Fi released was ‘Caravan’ by Henri Rose; this attracted major label Warner Brothers who purchased Rose’s contract, giving Keane in turn the funds to buy out a business partner and run the company himself. We feature singles two and three, ‘Hey Then, There Now’ by Jackie Burns (4102) and ‘Lonesome Drifter’ by Jericho Brown (4103). Sixth on the release schedule was Ritchie Valens, and the rest was history. Sixteen year-old guitarist and lead vocalist Richard Valenzuela had been spotted fronting local group the Silhouettes. His high-energy performances wowed female fans and earned him the nickname ‘The Little Richard of the Valley’, but he was far from the finished article. ‘He had little riffs and stuff,’ said Keane, ‘he couldn’t put a song together but I said to myself if I can put this guy on record, and get the girls like this, I’m gonna have something.’ Keane realised that the re-named Valens’ ethnic background could help tap into a new record-buying market. The first fruits of the partnership came in the shape of ‘Come On Let’s Go’, a single that peaked just two places outside the Billboard Top 40 in September 1958. Tommy Steele covered the track for UK consumption, while punk foursome the Ramones would record it two decades later in inimitable style. It would take just two more months for Valens’ name to be projected worldwide. The single, ‘Donna’ soared to Number 2 in the US chart, but early in 1959 DJs were flipping the platter to play the B-side, ‘La Bamba’. This rocked-up version of a Mexican folk song reached Number 22 in its own right, and nearly three decades later would title a bio-pic of Valens’ life. Re-recorded by Los Lobos, it reached the top of the UK and US charts in 1987. Having recorded his first album at Gold Star Studios, Valens signed up to star alongside Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, Dion and Frankie Sardo in the Winter Dance Party tour of the Midwest in early 1959. The plane went down between gigs in Iowa and North Dakota, giving Don McLean the inspiration to write ‘American Pie’ about ‘the day the music died’. More was to come from the Chicano music scene despite the loss of its leading light. Chan Romero was among those who continued Valens’ work, but in truth ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’ would have to wait until 1964 when the Swingin’ Blue Jeans covered it to become known worldwide. A further cover by the Georgia Satellites would grace the 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail, while Paul McCartney performed the song live with the Beatles in their early years. Other artists to grace the label included Everly soundalikes the Addrisi brothers, who did little on Del-Fi but were belated US hitmakers in the Seventies, and the Gallahads, whose ‘Lonely Guy’ just missed the Hot 100 in 1960. The following year saw Del-Fi back near the top of the chart when ‘Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me Of You)’ from LA R&B quintet Little Caesar and the Romans peaked at Number 9. Johnny Crawford, an ex-Disney Mouseketeer best known as star of US TV series The Rifleman, proved the label’s most consistently successful artist; ‘Cindy’s Birthday’, ‘Rumors’ and ‘Your Nose Is Gonna Grow’ all made the Top 20 in 1962. Canadian Bobby Curtola also scored minor hits with ‘Fortune Teller’ and ‘Aladdin’. Keane’s open-door policy ensured anyone could walk in to his offices and get a hearing. Among those who did in later years was a young Frank Zappa, while soul star-to-be Barry White was hired as an A&R talent scout and producer in the mid Sixties. The Donna label had been started in 1959 as a sister to Del-Fi and would nurture the early career of Bobby Fuller (of ‘I Fought The Law’ fame). But Fuller’s mysterious death in 1966 put an end to Bob Keane’s record releasing. He resurrected Del-Fi after Quentin Tarantino used some songs in his cult movie Pulp Fiction in 1994, but sold out to Warner Brothers in 2003 and died six years later, age 87. While Ritchie Valens, whose recording career lasted a brief eight months, will forever remain Del-Fi’s shining star, there was more to savour, as this compilation confirms.
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