Life's Accomplishments

I was watching "La Bamba" last night. Don't ask me why or what inspired me to re-watch it. But I'm glad I did. Such a strange thing. Ritchie Valens died at the age of 17, yet accomplished multitudes in passing. It made me wonder what type of life, had he lived, what he may have been able to accomplish. Would he have a long fruitful career, like Chuck Berry, or would he have fizzled out like a Bobby Darin? More importantly, would a path have been paved from artists like Carlos Santana or Los Lobos. Hard to say. More impressive is the impact this boy made before the age of being an adult. Amazing if you boil it down to how we look at people like Bieber or Cyrus today. Yes, Ritchie was still a boy. Not old enough to vote, buy smokes or drink (in 2014 anyway). This is shocking, compared to today's 17 year olds who can barely drive a car. Nor find interest in anything, because they're too cool for school.

Ritchie Valens was driven by so much more than the trappings of money or fame. He was the American dream. He was able to buy so much for his family. To support his family, the way...it appears, his father never did. He became the man, but was able to balance it with a social life ANY teen would envy. I feel he was maybe rescued by egotism due to his appreciative career. Something today's teen singers could take a lesson from. It's amazing to hear the maturity in both his music (three hits...that's it) and his discipline. Even (my hero) Hendrix took 27 years to accomplish (three albums for him...official ones anyway). It's amazing what "genius" produces. So fascinated that more brain trusts don't go clinically insane.

What I love about Ritchie's story is that it seems more genuine to the working class than, say a Bruce Springsteen or a Bob Dylan (which incidentally, saw the last performance of Ritchie Valens). He didn't have the longevity but lives past the universe. I think the shame of a lot of rockers who stick around, is that they live to see their legacy and painfully fade into obscurity. Yes, at the time, very few thought of him in the rock n' roll annals. But consider what is a better legacy...sitting on your toilet dead, or flying off into the clouds?