Rhino Relaunches Del-Fi Catalog With Four CDs Of Classic L.A. Rock!

Bobby Fuller, Ritchie Valens, Frank Zappa, and Pulp Surfin' Collections Arrive In Stores July 20

On what would have been Ritchie Valens' 63rd birthday, Rhino Records is proud to announce the return of some of early rock's finest recordings to record bins. Four collections drawn from the legendary Los Angeles label Del-Fi Records will be released on July 20, showcasing seminal sides by hitmakers Valens, The Bobby Fuller Four, and Frank Zappa, as well as vintage '60s surf music popularized by the film Pulp Fiction.

The Ritchie Valens Story includes the greatest hits of the pioneering Latino rocker. Valens was signed to Del-Fi in 1958 but less than a year later perished in the same plane crash that claimed the life of Buddy Holly. Yet in that short time, Valens managed to cut such hits as "Donna"(which reached #2 on the Pop chart) "Come On, Let's Go," and the classic "La Bamba" (which lent its name to a 1987 hit biopic of Ritchie), all heard here along with fascinating demo recordings and narrative from Del-Fi founder Bob Keane.

I Fought The Law: The Best Of The Bobby Fuller Four gathers the finest sides from an equally star-crossed Del-Fi rocker. A Texas transplant, Bobby Fuller broke out of the L.A. club scene to national prominence with the Top Ten hit "I Fought The Law" in January 1966. By July of that year, Fuller had died under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind such vibrant recordings as the Top 40 hit "Love's Made A Fool Of You," "Let Her Dance," and "King Of The Wheels."

Frank Zappa's Cucamonga highlights a little-known phase of the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Famer's long career. Years before he helped invent underground rock with The Mothers Of Invention, Zappa had cut his teeth writing and producing doo-wop and novelty sides at Del-Fi. This collection presents rare Zappa-related singles by the likes of The Rotations, Bob Guy, Baby Ray & The Ferns, and more.

Pulp Surfin' offers a cross-section of the surf music long championed by Del-Fi. Thanks to exposure in the soundtrack of the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, vintage instrumentals gained a second life, and this compilation captures the sound and feel of surf with early 1960s tracks by The Lively Ones, The Impacts, The Sentinals, and others, along with a sprinkling of surf revival recordings (including the Brian Wilson/Andy Paley collaboration "In My Moondreams").

Source: Rhino Records