"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song possibly going back to the late 17th century and closely connected to the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, 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.

Besides multitudes of Mexican Bolero, Trios, Mariachi and Son Jarocho ensembles it's also been covered by many international artists. To name "a few": Ritchie Valens (1957), Bobby Darin, Mike Berry (1963), The Speakers (1964), Dean Reed (1965), Unit 4 + 2 (1965), The Sandpipers (1966), The Ventures (1966, instrumental), Willie Bobo (1967), Los Yetis (1967), The Walflower Complextion (1967), Trini López (1966), Dusty Springfield (1968), Neil Diamond (1966), The Merrymen (1966), Antonia Rodríguez (1978, Disco version), Baccara (1978), The California Raisins (1987), Selena (1988), Gipsy Kings, Los Lobos (1987), Rory Gallagher (1993-1994 tour), The Tokens, Allsortz (2000), Marco Da Silva (2000), Clay Walker (2001), Helmut Lotti 2000, Wyclef Jean feat. Ro-K & Gammy (2004), Lila Downs (2004), Yum!Yum!ORANGE (2005), Bubba Hernández and Alex Meixner aka Polka Freak Out feat. Scrote and Zebar (2007), Mattias Eklundh, Henry Mancini and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Deer Tick, Luis Alberto del Paraná (Paraguay), The Wiggles (2008), Drake Bell (2008), Yuri (2008), Tito and Tarantula, Nickasaur! (2009), Khalil Fong (2009), Metallica, Blues MAMA, Rancid, Half Japanese AND KISS… on their 2010 tour at concerts in México.

related tags:
Rolling Stone 500 greatest songs of all time
rock and roll, chicano
Vintage Music, Vintage Mexico, Vintage Latin.