1958 single by Ritchie Valens
"Donna" is a song written by Ritchie Valens,[1] featuring the '50s progression.[2] The song was released in 1958 on Del-Fi Records.[3] Written as a tribute to his high school sweetheart Donna Ludwig, it was Valens' highest-charting single, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year. ("Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price was at number one.)[4]
Valens' version
The song was recorded on December 16, 1958, at the Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. Bob Keene is listed[5] as having been the leader of the session, which included Earl Palmer on drums; Buddy Clark on bass; and Valens, Rene Hall, Irving Ashby, and Carol Kaye on guitars.
"Donna", the second Ritchie Valens single released, was the A side of the influential song "La Bamba". This single was only one of three, along with the previous single ("Come On, Let's Go"/"Framed" – Del-Fi 4106) and the follow-up ("Fast Freight"/"Big Baby Blues" – Del-Fi 4111) ever released in Valens' lifetime. Original Del-Fi pressings of "Donna"/"La Bamba" include black and sea green labels with circles, later replaced with solid sea green or solid dark green labels. Early 1960s pressings have black labels with sea green "sawtooth" outer edge.
Valens' version was positioned at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart when Valens died. Three weeks after Valens' death, the song peaked at No. 2. On the Hot R&B Sides chart, "Donna" went to No. 11.[6]
Chart performance
All-time charts
Other versions
- The song was notably covered by Los Lobos for the soundtrack to the 1987 film La Bamba which portrayed the life story of Ritchie Valens. In one scene, Valens is shown singing it to his girlfriend Donna Ludwig on the telephone and in another scene Valens is shown recording the song in the recording studio, and in a third scene he is shown performing the song on American Bandstand. Stourbridge (UK) band Stormboys (previously known as Kayran Dache) also released a version in Europe around the same time. Despite national radio plays it was outsold by the Los Lobos version that went Top 30 in France and Belgium and to #83 in the UK.
- Donny Osmond covered the song in 1972 on the album Too Young.
- Gary Glitter covered the song in 1972 on the album Glitter.
- It was a #3 UK hit in May 1959 for Marty Wilde.[8]
- Cliff Richard covered it twice, first in 1958 on his debut album Cliff and second in 1983 on Give a Little Bit More in the US and Rock 'n' Roll Silver in the UK. The later version was released as a single in the US during 1984 and peaked at 17[9][10] on the Adult Contemporary chart.
- Swedish group Hep Stars recorded a cover of "Donna" in December 1964, at one of Benny Andersson's earliest recording sessions.[11] The song was released in March 1965 as the B-Side to their single "Farmer John", a song which reached number 1 on Kvällstoppen and Tio i Topp that year.[12][13] "Donna", despite being the B-side, still managed to chart on Kvällstoppen, staying on the week for the week of August 17, 1965 at a position of number 14.[14] A live version was released on their live album Hep Stars on Stage.[15]
- Yugoslav rock band Siluete recorded a cover which was a title track on their 1967 EP Dona.[16]
- Yugoslav rock band Crveni Koralji recorded a cover of the song for their 1988 album Ja sam tvoj čovjek (I'm Your Man).[17]
Answer song
Within days of the death of Valens, in February 1959 Brooklyn songwriters and record producers Bob Feldman and Jerry Goldstein recorded and released (as The Kittens[18]) "A Letter to Donna" (Unart UR2010),[19] that used Valens' tune but with new lyrics they wrote themselves with "John Ottowa" (a pseudonym of Jack Lewis[20]), that sent a message to Valens' girlfriend, Donna Ludwig.[21]
