"La Bamba" () is a Mexican

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

, originally from the state of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, also known as "La Bomba". The song is best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

hit in the U.S. charts. Valens's version is ranked number 345 on '' Rolling Stone magazine''′s list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine '' Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 i ...

. "La Bamba" has been covered by numerous artists, notably by

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cu ...

whose version was the title track of the 1987 film '' La Bamba'', a bio-pic about Valens; their version reached No. 1 in many charts in the same year.

Traditional versions

"La Bamba" is a classic example of the '' son jarocho'' musical style, which originated in the Mexican state of

, and combines Spanish, indigenous, and African musical elements. The song is typically played on one or two arpa jarochas (harps) along with

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

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, which remains almost the same through most versions. The name of the dance referenced within the song, which has no direct English translation, is presumably connected with the Spanish

verb A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...

"bambolear", meaning "to sway", "to shake" or "to wobble". In one traditional version of this dance performed at weddings and ''

ballet folklórico Baile folklórico, "folkloric dance" in Spanish, also known as ballet folklórico, is a collective term for traditional cultural dances that emphasize local folk culture with ballet characteristics – pointed toes, exaggerated movements, highly ...

'' shows, couples utilize intricate footwork to create a bow signifying their union.

Early recordings

"La Bamba" has its origin in the state of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. The oldest recorded version known is that of Alvaro Hernández Ortiz, who recorded the song with the name of "El Jarocho". His recording was released by Victor Records in Mexico in 1938 or 1939, and was reissued on a 1997 compilation by Yazoo Records, ''The Secret Museum of Mankind Vol. 4''. According to a 1945 article in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'', the song and associated dance were brought "out of the jungle" at Veracruz by American bandleader Everett Hoagland, who introduced it at Ciro's

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. It became popular, and the song was adopted by Mexican presidential candidate

Miguel Alemán Valdés Miguel Alemán Valdés (; 29 September 1900 – 14 May 1983) was a Mexican politician who served a full term as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952, the first civilian president after a string of revolutionary generals. His administr ...

who used it in his successful campaign. Later in 1945, the music and dance were introduced at the

Stork Club Stork Club was a nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. During its existence from 1929 to 1965, it was one of the most prestigious clubs in the world. A symbol of café society, the wealthy elite, including movie stars, celebrities, showgirls, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

by Arthur Murray. A popular version by Andrés Huesca (1917–1957) and his brother Victor, billed as Hermanos Huesca, was issued on Peerless Records in Mexico around 1945–46. Huesca re-recorded the song for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in 1947, and the same year the song featured as a production number in the MGM

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

'' Fiesta'', performed by a group called Los Bocheros. The song was featured in the 1946 Mexican movie ''Rayando el Sol'' starring

Pedro Armendáriz Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings (May 9, 1912 – June 18, 1963) was a Mexican film actor who made films in both Mexico and the United States. With Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars ...

. The Swedish-American folk singer William Clauson recorded the song in several languages in the early and mid-1950s. He claimed to have heard the song in Veracruz, and in performance slowed down the tempo to encourage audience participation.Mats Johansson, Magnus Nilsson, "William Clauson", ''sunkit.com''
Retrieved April 13, 2015 Biography, William Clauson official site
Retrieved April 13, 2015 Another version, "somewhat

bowdlerized Expurgation, also known as bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is a pejorative term for the practi ...

", was recorded by

Cynthia Gooding Cynthia Gooding (August 12, 1924 – February 10, 1988) was an American folk singer who recorded traditional songs from various countries for Elektra Records in the 1950s and 1960s. Judy Collins wrote that she had been "inspired" by her. Life ...

on her 1953 Elektra album, ''Mexican Folk Songs''.

Ritchie Valens version

Ritchie Valens learned the song in his youth, from his cousin Dickie Cota. In 1958 he recorded a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

flavored version of "La Bamba", together with session musicians Buddy Clark (string bass); Ernie Freeman (piano);

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye began pla ...

(acoustic rhythm guitar); René Hall ( Danelectro six-string baritone guitar); and Earl Palmer (drums and claves). It was originally released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "

Donna Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People *Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), Ita ...

", on the

Del-Fi Del-Fi Records was an American record label based in Hollywood, California and owned by Bob Keane. The label's first single released was "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958, but the label was most famous for signing Ritchie Valens. Valens' fi ...

label.María Herrera-Sobek , ''Celebrating Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions'', ABC-CLIO, 2012, p.651
/ref> 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. The song ranked No. 98 in VH1's ''100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll'' in 1999, and No. 59 in VH1's ''100 Greatest Dance Songs'' in 2000. Furthermore, Valens' recording of the song was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame. The song was listed at number 354 in the

by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine, being the only non-English language song included in the list. It was also included in

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings published in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981). Valens was inducted posthumously into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

in 2001. In 2019, Valens' version was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservat ...

for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 500 songs that were influential in shaping rock and roll.

Charts

Los Lobos version

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

directed by

Sherman Halsey Sherman Brooks Halsey (February 22, 1957 – October 29, 2013) was an American music video and television director, producer, and artist manager. Sherman Halsey produced and directed hundreds of television shows and music videos for artists ...

won the 1988

MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film The 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 beca ...

, also the

had the participation of Lou Diamond Phillips, the actor who played Valens in the 1987 film namesake. The song was also the fourth wholly non-English language song to top the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was later featured in the game '' Guitar Hero World Tour''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Other notable versions

*In 1960,

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

's live version of the song was released on his album '' Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall''. His previously recorded but unreleased studio version from 1958 was included in a 2001 compilation, ''Very Best of Harry Belafonte'', under the title "Bam Bam Bamba". *In 1965,

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...

covered the song for her second album, ''

Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty ''Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty'' is the second studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, released on Philips Records in the UK in 1965. Springfield's 1964 debut album, '' A Girl Called Dusty'', sold well enough to make her Philips Records' top- ...

''. It was also included on ''

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (originally a 1965 Italian song, '"Io che non vivo (senza te)", by Pino Donaggio and Vito Pallavicini) is a 1966 hit recorded by English singer Dusty Springfield that proved to be her most successful single, ...

'' in 1966, which was more or less an American re-issue of the previous album. *In 1985, Canadian children's singer Charlotte Diamond released a cover of the song that is perhaps best known for appearing in the children's television series '' Ants in Your Pants''. *A song from a Bosnian pop-rock band

Crvena jabuka Crvena jabuka () is a pop rock band formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1985. Since then they had great success and are still very popular. They were a part of the New primitives movement that started during the 80s. Biography Th ...

"Sviđa mi se ova stvar" released in 1988, is heavily influenced by "La Bamba". *Texas rock band

Los Lonely Boys Los Lonely Boys are an American musical group from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll," combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown-eyed soul, country, and Tejano. The band consists of ...

have frequently performed "La Bamba" in concert. They cite Valens as an influence in their music. *A '' Star Academy 3'' version of "La Bamba" reached No. 3 in France on December 13, 2003, In January 2004, it reached No. 5 in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. *

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...

and

Dora the Explorer ''Dora the Explorer'' is an American children's animated television series and multimedia franchise created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner that premiered on Nickelodeon on August 14, 2000, went on hiatus on June 5, 20 ...

in the 2010 Mega Music Fest on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

References

Traditional versions

Early recordings

Ritchie Valens version

Charts

Los Lobos version

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Other notable versions

See also

References