Freddy Fender

In the late 1950s Freddy Fender started making rock 'n roll records as Baldemar Huerta. Early in Freddy Fender's career he was convicted of marijuana possession and sent to prison. After his release he knocked around the business for a long time. In 1974 music businessman Huey Meaux suggested that Freddy record a song called "Before The Next Teardrop Falls." The song, released the following year, was a huge hit in Country and pop and Freddy Fender's record was voted Single of the Year by the Country Music Association. He followed with several more big hits including "Wasted Days And Wasted Nights," "Secret Love," and the Ivory Joe Hunter-written standard, "Since I Met You Baby." Though he had changed his name, Freddy Fender did not anglicize his persona, and his records often had at least a line or two in Spanish. In later years Freddy Fender worked with a highly regarded Tex-Mex band called the Texas Tornadoes.