 Two months after the plane crash that claimed Valens' life, manager Don Redfield sent a tape to Valens' manager, Bob Keane, in Los Angeles.Keane was greatly impressed with the recordings and hailed Romero as a successor to Valens, immediately signing him to a contract on Del-Fi Records, the same label as Valens.When Romero returned to Los Angeles, Keane introduced him to Valens' grieving mother with whom Romero became close.