50 years ago: “La Bamba” hit the charts

La Bamba Ritchie Valens

Writer(s): William Clauson, Ritchie Valens (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 24, 1958 Peak: 22 US, 49 CB, 23 GR, 49 HR, 49 UK, 14 CN, 87 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 43.76 video, 106.89 streaming

La Bamba Los Lobos

First Charted: June 27, 1987 Peak: 13 US, 12 CB, 12 GR, 12 RR, 4 AC, 11 AR, 1 CO, 12 UK, 17 CN, 17 AU, 6 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 3.03 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 117.29 video, 155.58 streaming

Awards (Valens): Click on award for more details.

Awards (Los Lobos): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “La Bamba” is a traditional folk tune which, according to Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos, the song “probably goes back 200 years.” FB It has been attributed to slaves who chanted the names of their African villages, one of which was Mamamba. That chant became the wedding song “La Bamba” when it travelled to Mexico. KL The lyrics varied greatly since performers usually improvised, but the music stayed largely the same. WK The title is presumably based on the Spanish verb “bambolear,” which means “to sway, shake, or wobble.” WK It may have been recorded as early in 1908, but the earliest confirmed recording was in 1939 by Alvaro Hernández Ortiz, known as El Jarocho. It gained popularity in 1945 when Miguel Alemán Valdés, a Mexican presidential candidate, used it in his campaign. The Huesca brothers recorded it that year and two years later it emerged in the musical film Fiesta, performed by Los Bocheros. Subsequent versions were recorded by Swedish-American folk singer William Clauson in the early ‘50s, Cynthia Gooding in 1953, and Juanita Linda in 1956. WK In 1958, the song was recorded by Ritchie Valens, born Richard Steven Valenzuela. His sister, Connie, said he heard the song performed at family gatherings and learned to sing it in Spanish even though he never spoke the language. FB He “adapted the time signature and added electric bass and guitar to the sound” TC to create “the first Spanish rock & roll song.” TC Sadly, he was only 17 when he was killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, which also took the lives of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. After his death, his song “Donna” reached #2. The flip side, “La Bamba,” peaked at #22 the day before he died. The song became iconic, with subsequent versions recorded by Harry Belafonte, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond, and Trini Lopez. However the most successful version was recorded by “Los Lobos, an innovative California-based band who play a wide range of music from Tex-Mex to their own original songs.” DJ Their #1 version, which was recorded for the 1987 biopic La Bamba about Valens’ life, was the first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 by a Hispanic act. TC Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ritchie Valens DMDB encyclopedia entry for Los Lobos FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 675. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 560-1. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 114. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 325. WK Wikipedia First posted 3/29/2021; last updated 7/11/2023.

Taylor Swift’s Fearless released

Fearless Taylor Swift

Released: November 11, 2008 (Original Version) Released: April 9, 2021 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 111 US, 135 CW, 5 UK, 11 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 0.3 UK, 12.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country/pop

Song Title (Writers) [Time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Tracks (Original Album): Fearless (Swift, Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey) [4:01] (11/1/08, 9 US, 69 CN, sales: 1 million) Fifteen [4:54] (11/29/08, 23 US, 10 CW, 34 AA, 19 CN, 48 AU, sales: 1.5 million) Love Story [3:55] (9/27/08, 4 US, 1 CW, 1 AC, 3 AA, 2 UK, 4 CN, 1 AU, sales: 8.1 million worldwide, airplay: 0.6 m) Hey Stephen [4:14] (11/29/08, 94 US) White Horse (Swift, Rose) [3:54] (11/29/08, 13 US, 2 CW, 60 UK, 43 CN, 41 AU, sales: 2 million) You Belong with Me (Swift, Rose) [3:51] (11/22/08, 2 US, 1 CW, 1 AC, 2 AA, 30 UK, 3 CN, 5 AU, sales: 4.9 million, airplay: 0.5 m) Breathe (with Colbie Caillat) (Swift, Caillat) [4:23] (11/29/08, 87 US) Tell Me Why (Swift, Rose) [3:20] You’re Not Sorry [4:21] (11/15/08, 11 US, 11 CN, sales: 0.7 million) The Way I Loved You (Swift, John Rich) [4:03] (11/29/08, 72 US) Forever & Always [3:45] (11/29/08, 34 US) The Best Day [4:05] (5/23/09, 56 CW, gold single) Change [4:39] (8/30/08, 10 US, 57 CW) Tracks (Platinum Edition): Jump Then Fall [3:57] (11/14/09, 10 US, 59 CW) Untouchable (Swift, Carly Barlowe, Nathan Barlowe, Tommy Lee James) [4:27] (11/14/09, 19 US) Forever & Always (piano version) [4:27] (4/24/21, 65 US) Come in with the Rain (Swift, Rose) [3:57] (11/14/09, 30 US) Superstar (Swift, Rose) [4:23] (11/14/09, 26 US) The Other Side of the Door [3:58] (11/14/09, 23 US) Tracks (Taylor’s Version): Today Was a Fairy Tale [4:01] (1/19/10, 2 US, 19 RR, 21 AC, 21 A40, 41 CW, 57 UK, 1 CN, 3 AU) You All Over Me (with Maren Morris) (Swift, Scooter Carusoe) [3:40] (3/26/21, 51 US, 52 UK, 34 AU) Mr. Perfectly Fine [4:37] (4/7/21, 30 US) We Were Happy (Swift, Rose) [4:04] That’s When (with Keith Urban) (Swift, Brad Warren, Brett Warren) [3:09] Don’t You (Swift, James) [3:28] Bye Bye Baby (Swift, Rose) [4:02] Total Running Time (Original Version): 53:41 Total Running Time (Taylor’s Version): 106:20

Rating: 3.643 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Swift’s sophomore album did anything but slump. Once you count five charted songs from the 2009 re-release known as the platinum edition, Fearless was responsible for landing an astonishing 17 hits on the charts. 16 of those made it on the U.S. Hot 100 and five of those were top 10 hits. It was “the first album in music history to produce thirteen top forty hits. Swift now holds the record for most singles on the Hot 100 at the same time by a female artist with nine.” WK “The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 592,304 copies in its first week, the best first-week sales for a female artist in 2008. Fearless became the first album to sell one million copies in 2009.” WK In addition to 11 non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, giving it the most weeks at #1 since Santana’s 1999 Supernatural album. “The album has spent 45 weeks in the top ten on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest run for a country album in the top ten since Shania Twain’s Come On Over, which had 53 weeks from 1997-1999.” WK The album also spent 35 non-consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. WK The album also cleaned up on awards. It is the only album in history to take home the Country Album of the Year prizes from the Academy of Country Music, American Music Award, Country Music Assocation, and the Grammys. It also won the Grammy for Album of the Year. It wasn’t just that the album was a success based on awards and sales, though. It was also a display of her growth as an artist. She “abandons any pretense that she’s a teen…which isn’t to say that she suddenly tarts herself up, running away from her youth in a manner that’s all too familiar to many teen stars. Swift’s maturation is deliberate and careful, styled after the crossover country-pop of Shania Twain and Faith Hill before they turned into divas. Despite the success of her self-titled 2006 debut, there’s nothing at all diva-like about Swift on 2008’s Fearless: she’s soft-spoken and considerate, a big sister instead of a big star.” STE “There may be a hint of youthfulness to her singing but that’s the only hint of girlishness here; her writing – and she had a hand in penning all 13 tracks here, with six of them bearing her solitary credit – is sharply, subtly crafted and the music is softly assured, never pushing its hooks too hard and settling into a warm bed of guitars and keyboards. Like many country-pop albums of the 2000s, the pop heavily outweighs the country – there aren’t fiddles here, there are violins – yet Fearless never feels garish, a crass attempt at a crossover success. It’s small-scale and sweetly tuneful, always seeming humble even when the power ballads build to a big close. Swift’s gentle touch is as enduring as her songcraft, and this musical maturity may not quite jibe with her age but it does help make Fearless one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2008.” STE The album’s first official single, Love Story, “was her first song to achieve commercial success outside the United States; it reached number one in Australia [and Canada] and number two in the United Kingdom.” WK The song also won CMT’s Video of the Year award. “White Horse was the second official US single from Fearless” WK but “like its predecessor, …became successful before its single release.” WK “You Belong with Me was the third official US single from Fearless.” WK It “has become the biggest hit of Swift’s career domestically, and became the highest charting country single since 2005, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.” WK It won Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. “Controversy ensued while during Swift’s acceptance speech for the award, rapper Kanye West stole her microphone away from her, and said that Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’, which was one of the videos ‘You Belong With Me’ beat out, deserved to win the award…Beyoncé, after winning the award for Video of the Year for ‘Single Ladies’, invited Swift to the stage to finish her acceptance speech, instead of delivering her own.” WK Fifteen, which was one of the many album tracks to chart when the album was released, “was announced to be the fourth official US single from Fearless.” WK The song is “a kind warning for a teen to watch her heart sung from the perspective of a woman who’s perhaps twice that age – a sly trick for the 18-year-old Swift.” STE “On the chart week of November 14, 2009, Swift set a record for the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a female artist at the same time with eight singles from the re-release of her 2008 album Fearless.” WK Three of those had previously charted or were still on the charts from the previous week, but with a non-Fearless song (Boys Like Girls’ ‘Two Is Better Than One’, which featured Swift) also debuting that week, Swift also had “six debuts in one week, the biggest number of debuts by any female artist of all time. It also lifts the number of her simultaneously-charting songs to nine, setting another record for the biggest number of charting songs by the same female artist in the same week.” WK That same week, Swift became the artist with the most number of Top 20 debuts in her career. WK Notes: The platinum edition of the album added five new songs. In 2021, Taylor re-recorded and re-released the entire album, including the tracks on the Platinum Edition, plus eight more songs.

Resources and Related Links: STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia page for Original Version WK Wikipedia page for Taylor’s Version Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 11/30/2009; last updated 4/21/2022.