FREDDY FENDER - “The King of Tex-Mex” Latin/Country
Our lead producer Conrad Askland has played keyboards with Freddy Fender since 1996 traveling all across the United States, Europe and Asia. You can usually catch the tour schedule on our news page.
The picture on top is at a Freddy Fender show from Conrad’s perspective at the keyboards.
“What I’ve loved about playing for Freddy”, says Conrad, “is that he is genuinely as he appears to fans. He is simple, funny and his art comes with effortless ease”.
“My favorite gigs with Freddy Fender have been Nashville’s Grand Ol Opry on TNN, the House of Blues in Los Angeles, Denmark, The American Latin Music Awards on CBS and anytime we play at Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort in Laughlin, Nevada. They have a GREAT tech crew there and treat us very well.”
“People ask how I got the gig with Freddy. Well, I got a call one day and the band leader said ‘Do you want to play with Freddy Fender?’ and I said ‘ok’. Of course I knew all the players and had played with them at other gigs throught Southern California.”
FREDDY FENDER BIOGRAPHY
Freddy Fender was one of the few Hispanic stars in country music, a singer and songwriter whose work was defined largely by its strong Latin sensibility
Born Baldemar Huerta to a family of migrant laborers in San Benito, Texas on June 4, 1937, Fender began playing guitar early in his childhood. After dropping out of school at the age of 16 to join the Marine Corps, he released his first Spanish-language recordings under his given name in 1958
While his initial sides were successful with listeners in Texas and Mexico, in 1959 he decided to adopt his stage name, along with a stronger rockabilly feel, in order to attract gringo audiences. The following year, he released the self-penned Wasted Days and Wasted Nights; his most successful single yet. But in May of 1960, Fender was convicted of marijuana possession, and was sentenced to five years in Louisiana’s notorious Angola State Prison (the same correctional facility which once held blues legend Leadbelly)
After serving three years, he was paroled thanks to the efforts of Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis, on the condition that upon Fender’s release he stay away from the corruptive influences of the music scene. After his parole ended, Fender tried to re-ignite his career, but with the exception of a few scattered nightclub gigs in the New Orleans area, he found little success, and ultimately returned to San Benito
In Texas, he spent several years working as an auto mechanic, and even returned to school to pursue a degree in sociology. In 1974, he met Huey P. Meaux, the owner of the Houston-based Crazy Cajun label; after agreeing on a recording deal, it was Meaux who convinced Fender to steer in the direction of country and western while maintaining his music’s Hispanic roots
After Fender’s first Meaux-produced single, Before the Next Teardrop Falls; failed to attract the attention of a major label, it was released on Crazy Cajun; in the first weeks of 1975, the song hit the top of both the country and pop charts, and Fender became an overnight star. For the follow-up, he re-recorded his early single, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights, and notched his second straight Number One Country hit. Before the year ended, he had released yet another chart-topper in Secret Love, and also issued two LPs, Since I Met You Baby and a self-titled effort
Throughout the remainder of the Seventies, Fender’s success continued, most notably with the Number Two single Living It Down in 1976. That same year, he released two more albums, Your Cheatin’ Heart and Rock ‘N’ Country. In 1977, he also issued a holiday record, Merry Christmas–Feliz Navidad. As the 1980s dawned, however, his popularity began slipping; after his final chart hit, 1983’s Chokin’ Kind, he focused on an acting career, highlighted by an appearance in the 1988 Robert Redford film The Milagro Beanfield War
He remained largely silent as a musician until 1990, when he formed the Tex-Mex supergroup Texas Tornados with Doug Sahm, Flaco Jimenez and Augie Meyers. After three albums, the group disbanded, and Fender again resumed his solo career
He won another grammy in 1999 for the album “Los Super Seven” in conjunction with members of Los Lobos, Rick Trevino, Flaco Jimenez and in 1997 sang “A Little Bit is Better Than Nada” as the title cut to the motion picture “Tin Cup”
Conrad Askland from Road Records engineered the tracking session for Freddy Fender’s CD release “I Don’t Want To Be Lonely” in 1998. The CD was released in 2001. Conrad Askland toured with Freddy Fender as keyboardist from 1996-2001. Freddy Fender is plays guitar on New Faces Volume Three with “Honey Will You Love Me” written by Conrad Askland.
