Bob was never given any credit. Had he not pulled Ritchie and his mom out of that orchard to this day the two of them would still be picking oranges, dreaming of pacioma and paying the guitar around a campfire. The only hightone in Ritchie's world would the the high tone of pain after picking 35 bushels of fruit a day for 45 years straight.
shareIts interesting, we are left to wonder whether Bob got the money to move his family through criminal activity or honest work as he claims. The fact that he's a recently released Ex-con, and his work skills consist of working on a garbage truck, yet he's skilled at smuggling drugs across the border make me question his claim.
Ritchies early recording sessions were funded by bob. Ritchie knew where the money came from. He was not a blind fool.
shareDid this information come from a biography? Its not in the film, but I have a feeling the film takes a lot of liberty with the truth. For instance, the fact that Ritchie didn't speak a word of Spanish is hard to believe if he worked and lived among migrant farm workers (an environment where only Spanish would be spoken). I looked on Wiki, and it didn't have a lot of biographical info, but it indicated that Ritchie came from a more suburban background than the film portrays. This would make sense when it comes to him not speaking Spanish.
If you have read a biography, I'd be curious to know how accurate or inaccurate the film is.
his dad was hispanic but they didn't speak spanish in the home. after his dad died and they lived amongst the farmers, it's conceivable that he didn't really learn to speak spanish, especially if they weren't there very long. i'm sure he knew some basics, but that's not saying much. my dad is 100% mexican, as are his parents, but in order to assimilate, his parents quit speaking spanish in the home (this was in the 40s/50s). thus, neither my dad nor any of his brothers learned to speak it.
"He must've thought it was white boy day. It ain't white boy day, is it?"
That explanation makes a lot of sense. I live in a heavily hispanic area, and I know a lot of my friend's parents did the same thing to help their kids assimilate.
shareyep. i avoided spanish like the plague...until the 11th grade. my old man really pushed it on me since he missed out. i tried it,it came easy to me... and i ended up getting my bachelor's degree in spanish.
"He must've thought it was white boy day. It ain't white boy day, is it?"
You are right on the money about Bob.
share