JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT ALL THE GOOD RIFFS WERE TAKEN; MEXICAN-AMERICAN POP SINGER LEAL REY WITH LOS ANGELES PRODUCERS, THE TURN, UNVEIL A NEW LA BAMBA!

A re-visiting of one of the most influential songs of the 20th century, La Bamba," points to the fact that its been over 40 years since there has been a male Mexican-American pop star in the general market. Mexican-American pop singer, Leal Rey, brings us around full circle, to where we left off that fateful night in February, 1959, when Ritchie Valens was killed in a tragic plane accident.

La Bamba" is the latest example of (PRWEB) October 28, 2003 -sized Spanish guitars (a la the Gipsy Kings), layers of pop harmonies, and (in the case of Leals music) infectious electric guitar riffs. Like Valens was (and Rey is), the song has become American as apple pie, despite the Spanish lyrics.

Although Valens died that year, La Bamba" has been resurrected countless times by many others, including Ronnie Hawkins, Neil Diamond, Trini Lopez, Freddy Fender, and Buddy Holly's band - The Crickets. It was even revitalized by the folk scene and recorded by the Kingston Trio, Joan Baez and Harry Belafonte, among others. In 1987 it was a #1 hit for L.A.s Los Lobos as the title track of the film La Bamba.

Probably the rarest version of the song is a 1961 recording by then-unknowns Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - who were seventeen years old at the time - recorded during a jam session in the living room of a friend. That friend later sold the tape at a Christie's auction in the mid-Eighties for $81,000.

La Bamba" was actually born in the 1800s in southern Veracruz. It was a son," a Mexican musical folk form that is the root of Mariachi music. Valens version of the song influenced many artists including John Lennon, who said that the Beatles guitar-driven version of Twist and Shout" was directly inspired by La Bamba."

Bob Dylan has mentioned that his hit, Like a Rolling Stone" was based on the tune as well. And Led Zeppelins Jimmy Page once stated in an interview: "Valens was my first guitar hero and I played that bridge to 'La Bamba a thousand times."

Not many know the true scope of Valens world-wide influence on rock n roll and pop music, but it is a monumental achievement. This new re-working of one of his biggest hits is in response to a 'Latin Wave that has thus far left Mexican-American artists out of the loop.

Go to: www.theturn.net for photos, artist bios and free downloads (including La Bamba") by Mexican-American artists Leal Rey and Tabitha (heard on Showtimes Resurrection Blvd." and They Call Me Sirr," a Cinemax movie short called Details," and the daytime drama All My Children"). To go directly to "La Bamba" go to http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/3440/3440731.html

Contact: Leon Rafael
310-989-2144
rafael@theturn.net