Freddie Fender

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Biography

Freddy Fender (June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006), born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas , United States , was an United States|American Tejano music|Tejano , country music|country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados . He is best known for his 1975 hits " Before The Next Teardrop Falls (song)?|Before the Next Teardrop Falls " and the subsequent remake of his own " Wasted Days and Wasted Nights ".

Early years

Born to Mexican-immigrant Serapio Huerta and his Texas-born wife Margarita Garza, Fender made his first radio appearance at age 10 on Harlingen, Texas|Harlingen 's KGBS-AM radio station KGBT, when he sang a current hit, "Paloma Querida".

In January 1954, at age 16, Fender quit school, and when he turned 17 he enlisted for three years in the United States Marine Corps . However, he was court-martialed in August 1956 and was discharged with rank of Private (rank)|Private (E-1). He returned to Texas and played nightclubs, bars and honky-tonks throughout the south, mostly to Latino audiences. In 1957, then known as El Bebop Kid , he released two songs to moderate success in Mexico and South America : Spanish-language versions of Elvis Presley 's " Don't Be Cruel " (as "No Seas Cruel") and Harry Belafonte 's "Jamaica Farewell." He also recorded his own Spanish version of Hank Williams 's " Cold Cold Heart " under the title "Tu Frio Corazon".

He became known for his rockabilly music and his cool persona as Eddie Con Los Shades . In 1958, he legally changed his name from Baldemar Huerta to Freddy Fender. He took Fender from the guitar and amplifier, and Freddy because the alliteration sounded good and would "...sell better with Gringos!" He then went to California.

Initial success

In 1959, Fender recorded the blues ballad " Wasted Days and Wasted Nights ". The song was a hit, but he was beset by legal troubles in May 1960 after he and a band member were arrested for possession of cannabis (drug)|marijuana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana . After serving nearly three years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary|Angola prison farm , he was released through the intercession of then Governor Jimmie Davis , also a songwriter and musician. Davis requested that Fender stay away from music while on probation as a condition of his release. However, in a 1990 NPR interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross (rebroadcast October 17, 2006), Fender said that the condition for parole was to stay away from places that served alcohol.

By the end of the 1960s, Fender was back in Texas working as a mechanic, and attending a local junior college, while only playing music on the weekends.

Number one on pop and country charts

In 1974, Fender recorded " Before the Next Teardrop Falls (song)|Before the Next Teardrop Falls ". The single was selected for national distribution and became a number one hit on the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Country and Pop charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a music recording sales certification|gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in May 1975. His next three singles, " Secret Love (1953 song)|Secret Love ", " You'll Lose a Good Thing " and a remake of " Wasted Days and Wasted Nights ", all reached number-one on the Billboard Country charts. Between 1975 and 1983, Fender charted 21 country hits, including " Since I Met You Baby (song)|Since I Met You Baby ", " Vaya con Dios (song)|Vaya con Dios ", "Livin' It Down", and "The Rains Came". "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" became Fender's second million-selling single, with the gold disc presentation taking place in September 1975.

Fender also was successful on the pop charts. Besides "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" reaching number 1 on the pop charts in May 1975, "Wasted Days And Wasted Nights" went into the pop top 10 and "Secret Love" into the top 20. "Since I Met You Baby", "You'll Lose A Good Thing" (his last pop top 40), "Vaya Con Dios", and "Livin' It Down" (his last to reach the pop top 100) all did well on the pop charts.

While notable for his genre-crossing appeal, several of Fender's hits featured verses or choruses in Spanish. Bilingual songs seldom hit the pop charts, and when they did it was because of novelty. Bilingual songs reaching the country charts was even more unusual.

Swamp pop influences

Fender was heavily influenced by the swamp pop sound from southern Louisiana and southeast Texas, as is shown by his recording swamp pop standards on his 1978 album Swamp Gold . One of his major hits, "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights", has a typical swamp pop ballad arrangement. Fender associated with swamp pop musicians like Paul C Saenz , Joe Barry and Rod Bernard , and issued many recordings on labels owned by Huey Meaux , a Cajun who specialized in swamp pop. As music writer John Broven observed, "Although Freddy was a Chicano from Texas marketed as a country artist, much of his formative career was spent in South Louisiana; spiritually Fender's music was from the Louisiana swamps."John Broven, South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous (Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1983), pp. 281-82. See also Shane K. Bernard, Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996), 64-65.

Later years

Texas Tornados

In 1989, Fender teamed up with fellow Tejano music|Tex-Mex musicians Doug Sahm , Flaco Jiménez , and Augie Meyers to form the Texas Tornados , whose work meshed conjunto , Tejano , R& B , Country music|country , and blues to wide acclaim. The group released four albums and won a Grammy in 1990 for 'Best Mexican American Performance' for the track "Soy de San Luis." Fender described the group as such: "You've heard of New Kids on the Block ? Well, we're the Old Guys in the Street". Following the death of Sahm, the Tornados' production slowed. A live 1990 appearance on TV's Austin City Limits , one of three the group made, was released in 2005 as part of the Live From Austin, Texas series.Tarradell, Mario. , The Dallas Morning News , 15 October 2006.

Los Super 7

In the late 1990s, Fender joined another supergroup, Los Super Seven , with Los Lobos ' David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas , Flaco Jiménez , Ruben Ramos , Joe Ely , and country singer Rick Trevino . The group won a 1998 Grammy in the Mexican-American Performance category for their self-titled disc.

Later work

In 2001, Fender made his final studio recording, a collection of classic Mexican boleros titled La Música de Baldemar Huerta that brought him a third Grammy award, this time in the category of Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album|Latin Pop Album . Rose Reyes, who worked with Fender in 2004 for a Texas Folklife and Austin tribute titled "Fifty Years of Freddy Fender", said of the album, "When he did Mexican standards at that point in his career, I expected it to be good because he's a perfectionist. But that record is so beautifully recorded; his voice is perfection. I was so proud it was coming back to his roots."

Death and legacy

Freddy Fender underwent a kidney Organ transplant|transplant in 2002 donated by his daughter and a transplant of the liver in 2004. Nonetheless, his condition continued to worsen. He was suffering from an "incurable cancer " in which he had tumor s on his lungs. On December 31, 2005, Fender performed his last concert and resumed chemotherapy .

He died in 2006 at the age of 69 of lung cancer at his home in Corpus Christi, Texas , with his family at his bedside. He was buried in his hometown of San Benito.

International news coverage of the death cited an oft-expressed wish by the singer to become the first Mexican-American inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame , with reporters noting that posthumous induction remains a possibility.

A Freddy Fender Museum and The Conjunto Music Museum opened November 17, 2007 in San Benito. They share a building with The San Benito Historical Museum. His family is committed to continue the Freddy Fender Scholarship Fund and other philanthropic causes which the musician was passionate about.

Film credits

In 1988, Fender played the mayor of a small New Mexic o town in the Robert Redford -directed film The Milagro Beanfield War . Fender also appeared in the prison movie Short Eyes , a 1977 film directed by Robert M. Young. In this film adaptation of the Miguel Pinero play, Fender acted as "Tony", a minor character.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions			Certifications
Year	Album	US Country	US	CAN	Recording Industry Association of America>RIAA	Canadian Recording Industry Association>CRIA
1974	Before the Next Teardrop Falls	1	20	10	Gold	Gold
1975	Recorded Inside Louisiana State Prison	—	—	—	—	—
	Are You Ready for Freddy?	1	41	34	—	—
	Since I Met You Baby	10	203	—	—	—
1976	'' Rock 'N' Country	3	59	—	—	—
	Your Cheatin' Heart	—	—	—	—	—
	'' If You're Ever in Texas	4	170	—	—	—
1977	The Best of Freddy Fender	4	155	—	—	—
	'' If You Don't Love Me	34	—	—	—	—
	Merry Christmas / Feliz Navidad	—	—	—	—	—
1978	Swamp Gold	44	—	—	—	—
1978	His Greatest Recordings	—	—	—	—	—
1979	Tex-Mex ^A	—	—	—	—	—
1979	The Texas Balladeer	—	—	—	—	—
1980	Together We Drifted Apart	—	—	—	—	—
1982	The Border Soundtrack	—	—	—	—	—
1991	The Freddy Fender Collection	—	—	—	—	—
1991	Favorite Ballads	—	—	—	—	—
2001	Forever Gold	70	—	—	—	—

^A Tex Mex peaked at #6 on the RPM (magazine)|RPM Country Albums chart in Canada.

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions						Certifications ( List of best selling music artists	Album
Year	Single	US Country	US	CAN Country	CAN	CAN AC	NZ	Certifications ( List of best selling music artists	Album
1975	1	1	1	6	18	2	align="left" Recording Industry Association of America\|US : Gold	Before the Next Teardrop Falls
	" Wasted Days and Wasted Nights " US: Gold							Before the Next Teardrop Falls
	Since I Met You Baby "
	Secret Love "
1976	13	—	—	—	—	—		Since I Met You Baby
	" You'll Lose a Good Thing "
	Vaya con Dios "
	" Living It Down "
1977	4	—	1	—	—	—		''Rock 'N' Country
	"If You Don't Love Me (Why Don't You Just Leave Me Alone)"
	"Think About Me"
1978	34	—	—	—	—	—
	"Talk to Me"
	"I'm Leaving It All Up to You"
1979	22	—	13	—	—	—		Tex-Mex
	"Yours"
	Squeeze Box "
1980	83	—	—	—	—	—
1980	" Please Talk to My Heart "
1983	87	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album song
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Honors

Academy of Country Music (1975) - "Most Promising Male Vocalist"

Country Music Association (1975) - "Single of the Year" for " Before The Next Teardrop Falls (song)?|Before the Next Teardrop Falls "

Grammy nominations in 1975, 1976, and 1997

Tejano Music Hall of Fame (1987)

Inaugural Balls - Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush

Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album (1990) - for the Texas Tornados

European Walk of Fame (1993) - in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Freddy Fender Lane (1994) - dedicated in his hometown of San Benito, Texas

Hollywood Walk of Fame (1999)

Texas Music Hall Of Fame (1999)

Nashville Sidewalk of Stars (1999)

Grammy Award "Best Mexican/American Performance" (1999) - for Los Super Seven

Louisiana Hall Of Fame (2001)

Grammy Award "Best Latin Pop" (2002) - for La Musica de Baldemar Huerta

Annual Freddy Fender Humanitarian Award

Copyright Citations

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