Origin of Songs..Pt 2, A Nostalgic Flash Back.

This post continues from the previous post with the 1990 Newsclip as point reference. Who was that girl who inspired that great Beatles hit " SOMETHING" ? That song was written by George Harrison about this pretty girl here. Her name Patti Boyd. She later became his wife and much later left him for Eric Clapton.

SOMETHING ( The lyrics )
Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how....

Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around now, it may show
I don't know, I don't know


Patti Boyd - The inspiration behind the song

George Harrison and Patti Boyd

Ritchie Valens was the 1st Latino Rock and Roll superstar. He was basically and musically untrained in voice and guitar style. From an early age of 9, he had this natural, raw talent for singing and wanting to play a guitar. Coming from a poor home, he picked up discarded parts from trash and built his own guitar! Still in his teen years, his singing and entertainment around his hometown at San Fernando, California soon caught the eye of a record producer who signed him on.

His very 1st song was " Come On, let's Go " released in the summer of 1958. It sold half a million single records! A few months later, Ritchie wrote the song " DONNA", a ballad he wrote for his high-school sweetheart, Donna Ludwig. On the flip side of the record was that famous Mexican folk song " LA BAMBA". The record was released in October 1958 and became a huge success.

In an interview, after the tragic and untimely death of her then sweetheart Ritchie in that plane crash of February 1959, she recalled the very first time she heard the song.

Donna said, " I was driving down the street with a few of my girl friends when all of a sudden the song came on the radio. I had to pull over because I was crying. "

After his death, other teen idols appeared ...Fabian, Frankie Avalon and others.

Ritchie Valens was a huge influence and an inspiration to other Latino rockers like Los Lobos, Freddy Frender, Trini Lopez, The Midnighters and Sunny and the Sungloves.

Ritchie Valens [ 1941 - 1959 ]

Donna in 1959 with Valens' manager

Do any of you still remember some of the lyrics of the song?

" I had a girl, Donna was her name

Since she left me, I've never been the same

Cause I love my girl, Donna where can you be?

Where can you be?

Now that you're gone, I'm left all alone

All by myself to wander and roam....

........

oh Donna, oh Donna, oh Donna, oh Donna... "

Donna Fox today