La Bamba (26) has its origin in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. 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 on the Victor label 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 magazine, 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 in Mexico City. It became popular, Hermanos Huesca re-recorded the song for RCA Victor in 1947, and the same year the song featured as a production number in the MGM musical Fiesta, performed by a group called Los Bocheros.
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.
Another version, “somewhat bowdlerized”, was recorded by Cynthia Gooding on her 1953 Elektra album, Mexican Folk Songs.
In 1958, Ritchie Valens recorded a rock and roll version of “La Bamba”. Valens was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. In addition, the song was listed at number 354 in the 500 Greatest Songs of all Time by Rolling Stone magazine, being the only non-English language song included in the list. 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’s100 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.
In 1998 Los Lobos recorded a version. The music video foor which was directed by Sherman Halsey. won the 1988 MTV Video Music Award for the best Videoo from a Film, also Lou Diamond Phillips, actor who played Valens in the 1987 film namesake participated in the video. The song was also the fourth wholly non-English language song to top the Billboard Hot 100.
