Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta; June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) to Margarita Garza and her Mexican husband, Serapio Huerta. He made his debut radio performance at age 10 on Harlingen, Texas, radio station KGBT, singing a then-hit "Paloma Querida."

Fender dropped out of high school at age 16 in 1953, and, when he turned 17, he enlisted for three years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then relocated to California.

Initial success In 1959, Fender recorded the self-penned blues ballad "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights." Fender said that the condition for parole was to stay away from places that served alcohol. Three singles were released in the early 1960s under the name Scotty Wayne.

By the end of the 1960s, Fender was back in Corpus Christi, Texas, working as a mechanic and attending local institution, Del Mar College, His next three singles, "Secret Love," "You'll Lose a Good Thing," and a remake of his own "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," all reached number one on the Billboard Country chart.

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 such as Joe Barry and Rod Bernard, and issued many recordings on labels owned by Huey P. 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."

Later years Texas Tornados In 1989, Fender teamed up with fellow Tex–Mex musicians Doug Sahm, Flaco Jiménez, and Augie Meyers to form the Texas Tornados, whose work meshed conjunto, Tejano, R&B, country, and blues to wide acclaim. When the Texas Tornados went to audition for Warner Bros. Records, Fender did not think that the group was strong enough, so he brought his own band. The audition was nearly a bust, because he played country music and that was not what the executives were looking for. Fender was persuaded to play some vintage rock and blues numbers, which was what the executives were looking for, and was subsequently given a record contract. After being a solo act, Fender was not sure if signing with a group was a good thing, but according to Fender, he "just wanted to record for a major label."

The group released four albums and won a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Mexican American Performance for the track "Soy de San Luis". Fender described the group in this way: "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.

Los Super 7 In the late 1990s, Fender joined another supergroup, Los Super Seven, with Los Lobos' David Hidalgo and César 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. He underwent a kidney transplant in 2002, with the organ being donated by his daughter, and underwent a liver transplant in 2004. Nonetheless, his condition continued to worsen. He was suffering from an "incurable cancer" which had left him with tumors on his lungs.

He died on October 14, 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.

He said in a 2004 interview with the Associated Press that he wished to become the first Mexican American inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. On December 31, 2005, Fender performed his last concert and resumed chemotherapy.

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 maintains the Freddy Fender Scholarship Fund and donates to philanthropic causes that Fender supported.

Film credits Fender received acting credits in three films:

In 1977, He appeared as Tony in the prison movie, Short Eyes, a film adaptation, directed by Robert M. Young, of the Miguel Pinero play.

In 1979 Fender played the role of Pancho Villa in She Came to the Valley (later released as Texas in Flames). The movie was directed by Albert Band and based on the book by Cleo Dawson. Fender appeared as himself in an episode of the television series The Dukes of Hazzard.

In 1988, Fender played the mayor of a small town in the Robert Redford–directed film, The Milagro Beanfield War.

RIAA CRIA 1974 Before the Next Teardrop Falls

Recorded Inside Louisiana State Prison

Are You Ready for Freddy?

Since I Met You Baby

Rock 'n' Country

Your Cheatin' Heart

If You're Ever in Texas

The Best of Freddy Fender

If You Don't Love Me

Merry Christmas / Feliz Navidad

Swamp Gold

His Greatest Recordings

Tex-MexA

The Texas Balladeer

1980 Together We Drifted Apart

1982 The Border Soundtrack

The Freddy Fender Collection

Favorite Ballads

2001 Forever Gold

2002 La Música de Baldemar Huerta

ATex Mex peaked at No. 6 on the RPM Country Albums chart in Canada.

Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications(sales threshold) Album US Country US US AC CAN Country CAN CAN AC NZ AUS 1960 "Holy One" — 107 — — — — — — 1975 "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" 1 1 19 1 6 18 2 1 US: Gold Before the Next Teardrop Falls "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" 1 8 9 2 6 14 1 9 US: Gold "Since I Met You Baby" 10 45 — — 52 — — — Since I Met You Baby "Secret Love" 1 20 10 1 38 7 10 33 Are You Ready for Freddy? 1976 "The Wild Side of Life" 13 — — — — — — — Since I Met You Baby "You'll Lose a Good Thing" 1 32 28 — — — 24 — Rock 'N' Country "Vaya con Dios" 7 59 41 1 — 48 — — "Living It Down" 2 72 — 1 — — — — If You're Ever in Texas 1977 "The Rains Came" 4 — — 1 — — — — Rock ’n’ Country "If You Don't Love Me(Why Don't You Just Leave Me Alone)" 11 — — 16 — — — — If You Don't Love Me "Think About Me" 18 — — 10 — — — — 1978 "If You're Looking for a Fool" 34 — — — — — — — "Talk to Me" 13 103 — 10 — — — — Swamp Gold "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" 26 — — 20 — — — — 1979 "Walking Piece of Heaven" 22 — — 13 — — — — Tex-Mex "Yours" 22 — — 23 — — — — The Texas Balladeer "Squeeze Box" 61 — — — — — — — 1980 "My Special Prayer" 83 — — — — — — — "Please Talk to My Heart" 82 — — — — — — — Together We Drifted Apart 1983 "Chokin' Kind" 87 — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Honors and awards

Academy of Country Music (1975) — "Most Promising Male Vocalist" Country Music Association (1975) — "Single of the Year" for "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 The Freddy Fender Water Tower in San Benito besides STEAM Academy (2009) Texas Historical Marker – for contributions to Tejano, rock, and country music (2023)