Bob Keane (sometime spelled Bob Keene; born Robert Verrill Kuhn; 5 January 1922 Manhattan Beach, California – 28 November 2009) was an American musician, producer and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records. He was well known for being the producer and manager of Ritchie Valens and Pinoy star Josephine Roberto aka Banig. (More from Wikipedia)
Ritchie Valens was signed by producer Bob Keane to Del-Fi Records in 1958 after he saw one of the Silhouettes shows; it was Keane who suggested that he shorten his last name and add the “t” to his first. Bob Keane recalls of that night: “I’ll never forget the first time I saw Ritchie. He had a small, somewhat beat-up guitar amp worth about fifty bucks. He stood up there on stage, with complete command of his audience. He was this bull-like kid with an opera tenor’s torso. I knew he had a lot of potential. It should go without saying that what I heard impressed me, but I had no idea what to do with the raw talent I saw up there on the stage.”
(June 2013/1)
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All three of the men who perished on the day the music died weren’t using their birth names – most obviously in the case of the Big Bopper. As suggested by his manager Bob Keane, Ritchie Valens (born, Anglicized, Richard Steven Valenzuela) got a “t” in his first name and shortened his surname in order to widen his appeal. As to Buddy Holly, “Buddy” could have just been a nickname, but “Holly” also didn’t match up exactly to his birth name Charles Hardin Holley (the dropped “e” was inadvertent, they say).
(August 2013)
