In 1974 Fender recorded " Before the Next Teardrop Falls." The single was selected for national distribution and became a number-one hit on the Billboard Country and Pop charts. Number one on pop and country charts Freddy Fender performing in 1977 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.īy the end of the 1960s, Fender was back in Corpus Christi, Texas, working as a mechanic and attending local institution, Del Mar College, while playing music only on the weekends. Davis requested that Fender stay away from music while on probation as a condition of his release. After serving nearly three years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, he was released through the intervention of then-governor Jimmie Davis, also a songwriter and musician. In 1959, Fender recorded the blues ballad " Wasted Days and Wasted Nights." His self-penned 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 marijuana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He took the name Fender from the guitar and amplifier, and Freddy because the alliteration sounded good and would "sell better with Gringos!" He then relocated to California. In 1958, he legally changed his name from Baldemar Huerta to Freddy Fender. He became known for his rockabilly music and his cool persona as Eddie con los Shades. 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' " Cold, Cold Heart" under the title "Tu Frío Corazón" ("Your Cold Heart"). He returned to Texas and played nightclubs, bars, and honky-tonks throughout the south, mostly to Latino audiences. According to Fender, he later received a letter from the Department of the Navy saying that he had been wrongfully discharged dishonorably because of alcoholism, and he was given a general discharge. He served time in the brig on several occasions because of his drinking, and he was court-martialed in August 1956 and discharged with the rank of private (E-1). He made his debut radio performance at age 10 on Harlingen, Texas, radio station KGBT, singing a then-hit "Paloma Querida." įender dropped out of high school at age 16 in 1953, and when he turned 17, he enlisted for three years in the U.S. He recorded further country hits such as " Wasted Days and Wasted Nights", " Secret Love", " You'll Lose a Good Thing", " Living It Down" and " The Rains Came".įender was born in San Benito, Texas, United States, to Margarita Garza and her Mexican husband, Serapio Huerta.
His signature sound fused country, rock, swamp pop and Tex-Mex styles.Īctive since the 1950s, when he got his start playing Spanish-language rock and roll for Tejano audiences, his mainstream breakthrough came in 1975 with the major crossover hit " Before the Next Teardrop Falls", which topped Billboard 's pop and country charts. Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta J– October 14, 2006) was an American Tejano singer-songwriter, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados.
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