"
La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of
VeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
, best known from a 1958 adaptation by
Ritchie ValensRitchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs. Valens' version of "La Bamba" is ranked number 345 on
Rolling Stone magazine′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and is the only song on the list not sung in English.
"La Bamba" has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by
Los LobosLos Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
, whose version was the title track of the 1987 film
La BambaLa Bamba is a 1987 American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The picture features Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck, and Joe Pantoliano...
and reached #1 in the U.S. and UK singles charts in the same year. The
music videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for Los Lobos' version, directed by
Sherman HalseySherman Halsey is an American music video and television director, producer, and artist manager. Sherman Halsey has produced and directed hundreds of television shows and music videos for artists such as Tim McGraw, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, BB King, Michael Bolton, Dwight Yoakam, and many...
, won the 1988
MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a FilmThe MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film was first awarded in 1987, recognizing the best videos whose songs were a part of a movie soundtrack or featured in a film. As time went on, though, music videos taken from movie soundtracks became more rare, and so the last of this award was...
.
Traditional origins
La Bamba is a classic example of the
Son JarochoSon Jarocho is a traditional musical style of Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico. It evolved over the last two and a half centuries along the coastal portions of southern Tamaulipas state and Veracruz state, hence the term jarocho, a colloquial term for people or things from the...
musical style which originated in the Mexican state of
VeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
and combines
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
,
indigenousMexico, in the second article of its Constitution, is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it, and in which the indigenous peoples are the original foundation...
, and African musical elements. The song is typically played on one or two
arpas jarochasThe arpa jarocha is a harp from Veracruz, Mexico, used in conjunto jarocho music.It is a wooden harp with 32-36 strings tuned diatonically over five octaves. The performer plays a bass line on the low strings with one hand and with the other supplies arpeggiated melodies on the higher strings...
(harps) along with
guitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
relatives the
jarana jarocha and the
requinto jarocho. Lyrics to the song vary greatly, as performers often improvise verses while performing. However, versions such as those by musical groups Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan and Los Pregoneros del Puerto have survived because of the artists' popularity. The traditional aspect of "La Bamba" lies in the tune itself, which remains almost the same through most versions. The name of the dance, which has no direct English translation, is presumably connected with the Spanish verb
bambolear, meaning "to shake" or perhaps "to stomp".
The traditional "La Bamba" is often played during weddings in
VeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
, where the bride and groom perform the accompanying dance. Today this wedding tradition is not done as frequently as in the past, but the dance is still popular, perhaps through the popularity of
ballet folklórico. The dance is performed displaying the newly-wed couple's unity through the performance of complicated, delicate steps in unison as well as through creation of a bow from a
listón, a long red ribbon, using only their feet.
The "arriba" (literally "up") part of the song suggests the nature of the dance, in which the footwork, called "
zapateado", is done faster and faster as the music tempo accelerates. A repeated lyric is "Yo no soy marinero, soy capitán", literally meaning "I am not a sailor, I am a captain"; Veracruz is a maritime locale.
Valens' version
The traditional song inspired
Ritchie ValensRitchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
'
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
version "La Bamba" in 1958. Valens' "La Bamba" infused the traditional tune with a rock drive, in part provided by session drummer
Earl PalmerEarl Cyril Palmer was an American rock & roll and rhythm and blues drummer, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
and session guitarist
Carol KayeCarol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
, making the song accessible to a much wider record audience and earning it (and Valens) a place in rock history (inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001). The song features a simple verse-chorus form. Valens, who was proud of his Mexican heritage, was hesitant at first to merge "La Bamba" with rock and roll but then agreed. Valens obtained the lyrics from his aunt Ernestine Reyes and learned the Spanish lyrics phonetically, as he had been raised from birth speaking English. The song ranked #98 in
VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's
100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll and #59 in VH1's
100 Greatest Dance Songs of Rock and Roll, both done in 2000.
"La Bamba" was performed as a production number in the 1947 movie
FiestaFiesta was an American Technicolor musical-drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1947, starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalbán, Mary Astor and Cyd Charisse. The film was directed by Richard Thorpe and written by George Bruce and Lester Cole...
.
- "La Bamba" was recorded by Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
in 1956 and 1960 at Carnegie Hall (LSO6007).
- "La Bamba" was also recorded by the East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
punk group, The Plugz The Plugz were a Mexican-American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California that formed in 1977. They and The Zeros were among the first Chicano punk bands, although several Latino garage rock bands, such as Thee Midniters and Question Mark & the Mysterians, predated them...
, with slightly altered lyrics.
- In 1979, singer Antonia Rodriguez recorded a version which hit number thirty-four on the American disco chart.
- The song was rewritten and recorded as "La Bomba," with a humorous anti-nuclear lyric in Spanish, in 1983, by Tonio K. on Capitol records. The version is also included on "La Bamba's Greatest Hits" a cd by reissue label, Rhino Records.
- "La Bamba" is featured in the 1987 movie La Bamba
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The picture features Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck, and Joe Pantoliano...
.
- Greek artist Tzimis Panousis
Tzimis Panousis is a Greek musician and stand-up comedian born in Athens on February 12, 1954, where he has spent most of his life. His fans often refer to him as “Tzimakos”...
released a greek version of "La Bamba" called "Psofia Glossa" (Ψόφια Γλώσσα) on his 1987 album "Ximia kai Terata" (Χημεία και Τέρατα).
- A few lines of "La Bamba" were sung by Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
and Dinah ManoffDinah Beth Manoff is an American stage, film and television actress and television director best known for her roles as Elaine Lefkowitz on Soap, Marty Maraschino in the film Grease, Libby Tucker in both the stage and film adaptations of I Ought to Be in Pictures, for which she won a Tony award,...
in the 1978 movie GreaseGrease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
. It was also played on Frosty Palace's Jukebox.
- Super Dave Osborne
Super Dave Osborne is a character created and played by comedian Bob Einstein. He is a naive but optimistic stuntman who is frequently injured when his stunts go wrong.-Appearance history:...
sang "La Bamba" on his show in 1987.
- The Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
cover is a playable track on the 2008 music video game Guitar Hero: World Tour.
- In 1991, Indian film music composer Bappi Lahiri
Bappi Lahiri or Alokesh Lahiri , born 27 November 1952, is a music director in the Hindi film industry. He pioneered the use of disco music in Indian cinema and sang some of his own compositions. He was popular in the 1980s with films like Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal and Sharaabi among others.-Early...
adapted the track without permission and with only minor alterations (new HindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
lyrics were written) for their song "Aashiq Deewana Hoon, Pagal Parwana Hoon" from the soundtrack to the BollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
movie Afsana Pyaar KaAfsana Pyaar Ka is a 1991 released Bollywood movie starring romantic pair of Aamir Khan and Neelam Kothari. People had a lot of expectations from the movie especially after the music of the film became a hit especially the song 'Tip tip barish suru ho gai'. Moreover Aamir was coming after giving...
.
- "La Bamba" was recorded by the popular folk group, The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
parodied "La Bamba" as "Lasagna""Lasagna" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "La Bamba", a traditional song popularized by Ritchie Valens and Los Lobos.-Track listing:The following tracks are on the single:# "Lasagna" – 2:45# "Velvet Elvis" – 4:27...
.
- Japanese hip hop group Dragon Ash
are a Japanese Rap metal group founded in 1996 by Furuya "Kj" Kenji and Sakurai Makoto. They are an icon in Japan and were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. They brought a western flavor to Japanese music and helped to turn rap music mainstream, with a mixture of reggae, rap,...
released a version of "La Bamba" on their 2009 album Freedom.
- The song has also been covered in recordings by Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
, The Blues ImageBlues Image was a critically acclaimed late 1960s rock band. Their most successful song was "Ride Captain Ride" in the last half of 1970, which reached #4 on the both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian RPM magazine charts. Blues Image was a well-respected band among their peers...
, Bobby DarinBobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Trini LopezTrini Lopez is an American singer, guitarist and actor.-Career:Lopez was born in Dallas, Texas, on Ashland Street in the Little Mexico neighborhood. He began his entertainment career in Dallas playing at the Vegas Club, a nightclub owned by Jack Ruby...
, Nashville Teens (1964), Nana MouskouriNana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...
, The SandpipersThe Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio/quartet, who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera", which became a transatlantic Top 10 hit in 1966, and their Top 20 hit "Come Saturday Morning" from the soundtrack of the film The...
, SelenaSelena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...
, Leon Thomas IIILeon G. Thomas III is an American actor, singer, songwriter, musician and dancer who plays the role of Andre Harris on the Nickelodeon series Victorious.-Broadway:...
(for the soundtrack for August RushAugust Rush is a 2007 drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis.-Plot:...
), Dusty SpringfieldMary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, The VenturesThe Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
, Clay WalkerErnest Clayton "Clay" Walker Jr. is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You," which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, as did its follow-up, 1994's "Live Until I Die." Both singles were included on...
, Wyclef JeanWyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, Johnny RiversJohnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
and Deer Tick.
- The song is featured in the 2009 direct-to-DVD film American High School
American High School is a 2009 direct-to-DVD coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Sean Patrick Cannon and starring Jillian Murray, Aubrey O'Day, Talan Torriero and Martin Klebba. It was released on April 7, 2009 in the US...
, sung by Trini Lopez.
Charts
| Chart (1959) |
Peak
position |
| U.S. Billboard Pop Singles The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
22 |
| UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
|
49 |
| Chart (1987) |
Peak
position |
| Australian Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
|
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...
|
3 |
| French Singles Chart |
1 |
| Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
|
1 |
| Italian Singles Chart |
1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart |
1 |
| Dutch Singles Chart The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...
|
2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...
|
4 |
| Swedish Singles Chart |
3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart |
1 |
| UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
|
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks |
57 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
|
11 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
|
4 |
Music Video
The music video for Los Lobos' version of the song was directed by
Sherman HalseySherman Halsey is an American music video and television director, producer, and artist manager. Sherman Halsey has produced and directed hundreds of television shows and music videos for artists such as Tim McGraw, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, BB King, Michael Bolton, Dwight Yoakam, and many...
and was the winner of the 1988
MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a FilmThe MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film was first awarded in 1987, recognizing the best videos whose songs were a part of a movie soundtrack or featured in a film. As time went on, though, music videos taken from movie soundtracks became more rare, and so the last of this award was...
.
Advertising
The tune of "La Bamba" was used to promote 101, a
cigaretteA cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
that was
ChesterfieldChesterfield is a brand of cigarette made by Altria. It was one of the most recognized brands of the early 20th century, but sales have declined steadily over the years. It was named for Chesterfield County, Virginia. Chesterfield is still being made today; it is still popular in Europe, but has...
's extra-long brand. To emphasize its difference from the other extra long brands which were all 100 mm long, commercials in the late 1960s for 101 cigarettes used the phrase "a silly millimeter longer" sung to the tune of "La Bamba".
The tune of "La Bamba" can also be heard in the background of Old El Paso Taco Commercials.