Freddy Fender born Baldemar Huerta in San Benito, Texas, was a man who struggled through life's obstacles since his childhood. His life was most times in the spotlight and there was little space for his personal life. Freddy Fender was a full time star in the making, which is why when his name is brought into a conversation thoughts about his personal life don't cross the public's mind. Being born into a family of field workers set what was expected of him. He was raised by a family who made their income day by day. Freddy Fender came from humble beginnings
; he grew up in a barrio that he stated, "was not a crowded ghetto but just a poor Hispanic neighborhood." As a young man he worked side by side with his mother and father in plantation fields, traveling with them during the picking season, exposing himself to a variety of musical influences. His family would travel north every spring and as he stated they'd " work potatoes in Maine, beets in Michigan, pickles in Ohio; bailed hay and picked tomatoes in Indiana." His traveling around the country set the basis for his love of music, for as he worked in fields alongside many African American workers, he was getting a first hand education in the blues. His love for music was evident since he was a child, as a result learning how to play the guitar in his early childhood years. For instance, his learning to play the guitar at such a young age was the reason for his early aspirations at music. At the age of ten, he made his first appearance on the radio, obviously having mastered the art of playing the guitar, for he was good enough to win a contest for which he won about 10 dollars. In addition, since his future wasn't looking any different than what his family's present was, Baldemar Huerta dropped out of high school at 16 and decided to join the marines. However, his love for music never faded, Huerta continued to play music in his spare time. Soon after his time with the marines was done though, he began playing small gigs in dance halls in the valley area. As time progressed, in the 50's his persistence with music began to pay off, for he acquired a small fan base who would regularly attend his shows, giving him increasing popularity in the region. His increasing popularity and number of fans called for new songs as a result, in the spring of 1975, Huerta released "No seas cruel," which was one of Elvis Presley's songs which he translated into Spanish. Alongside that song he also released some of his hand written songs such as, "Ay amor," and other songs such as "Jamaica Farewell" and "crazy, crazy baby," all of which became instant regional hits. As a citizen of the valley area, Baldemar was signed to Peerless records, which was a label located in McAllen, Texas, not far from Huerta's home town, San Benito. This label was a great aide in the rise to fame of Baldemar Huerta, for it distributed his records all across Latin America and Mexico. As a result, Baldemar's translated song "No seas cruel," went to obtain the number one place in all Latin American and Mexican radio stations. Moreover, since the original version of the released song was by no one less than the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, Huerta's translation incorporated another genera to Latin music, Hispanic rock and roll.Baldemar Huerta was known as such for most of his career, however, in order to attract more fans he often changed his stage name. His nickname among friends was "baldy, " so his first try at a stage name that would help him become popular was calling himself "El Bebop Kid." Though he did carry this name for a considerable amount of time he once again changed his name to "Eddy Molina," "Little Benny," and "Scotty Wayne." At his realization that neither of those games helped him overcome the hindrance that is having an unpopular stage name, he once again searched for a name
that appealed to the "gringo" audience. For him to really become a star he needed a stage name like no other, so he decided on "Fender," which he chose by reading the head stock of his electronic guitar, and "Freddy," simply because as he later declared, it "just sounded good."Just the following year though, Fender released one of his original singles
, titled, "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," which became a minor national hit and his most successful record yet. However, his good luck was short lived, for in that same year of finally achieving the fame he had always aspired to have, Freddy and his bass player were arrested. Friday the 13th in May of 1960 , in the capital of Louisiana, for possession of two marijuana cigarettes.As a result, Freddy was convicted and sentenced to five years in the most notorious prison of Louisiana, Angola State Prison. Although the odds pointed at a career which was over, Fender didn't let this stop him from pursuing his dream. Treated as somewhat of a legend by the penitentiary staff, Freddy managed to make and release about three songs for Gold band records, including, "My train of love" and "Bye Bye Little Angel." Even while incarcerated, his music was getting recognition in the world outside of prison, for in 1961, the popular Mexican actor and singer Tin Tan made use of one of Freddy Fender's song in one of his films.Soon, Fender's days in prison were over, thanks to his good conduct and connection to governor of Louisiana Jimmie Davis. He was liberated under parole after 3 years of imprisonment, with the condition that he would not associate with bad influences as he he reentered the music scene. After being set free, Freddy once again attempted to fulfill his dream of fame, which led him to travel to New Orleans to try his luck. Five years of no success however, led him to return home to the Rio Grande Valley area, once again. His aspirations were dead and his dreams shattered, so the next step that Fender decided to take was enrolling
at Del Mar College to become a sociologist, as well as being a full time mechanic to support his family. Not much is known about his family, not the specific address or the school his children went to, because being related to a celebrity made them be shielded from the public eye. Most of which is known is about Freddy's musical career and eventual rise to fame.Furthermore, Fender was not content with letting his dream die, as a result when his former friend Doug Sahm tracked him down to insist Fender played some important concerts in the burgeoning scene in Austin. Excited about this new coming opportunity, Fender considered and eventually began working with Meaux, a producer who had a bad reputation but assured him fame. Sure enough, most songs that came under Meaux's management became a hit, making Fender a Billboard, and "single of the year" award winner. Quickly, Freddy's fame started to prosper
and everywhere he was known, however his alcoholism and his fame were a fatal combination. He made millions of dollars, which bought him a house in the upscale section of Corpus, but also spent generously on drugs, alcohol and other luxuries, unaware that he was being taken advantage of by his manager and producer, who sent him right into bankruptcy. For what was left of the 80's, Fender focused on his acting career, highlighted by the role in Robert Redford's 1988 film, "The milagro beanfield war." In the 90's however, his musical career picked up once again, as he joined the group, "Texas Tornados," who once again gave him fame and recognition. After a tragic incident however, the group split and Freddy resumed his solo career. In 1998 Freddy was chosen to receive a star on the legendary walk of fame, which is of the highest honors a celebrity can obtain. At this time in his life, and in society, Fender was being recognized for all he had to overcome in order to achieve success in the musical industry, being awarded the "Legend in music" award, by NOSOTROS, an organization designed to recognize Latino/Hispanics in the entertainment industry.
Freddy Fender then faced his toughest battle, kidney cancer. Even though he underwent a kidney transplant, the kidney being donated by her daughter Marla, in 2002, he only lived until 2006 which was when he lost his battle against cancer. Thankfully the extra time he gained by obtaining a new kidney served for him to see himself win a Grammy award. This meant that finally, Freddy had come to terms with his musical career, achieving the highest form of success, meaning that he had truly made it in the show business. He died being proud of his work, contributing so much to society by blending both the american and Mexican culture together, stating that "[he's] had the good fortune of making it very visible (his blending of both cultures). [He] is truly Mexican-American." Consequently, Freddy Fender is regarded as one of the most important singer and songwriter in Mexican-American musical history.
Footnotes:
Meaux: American record producer and the owner of various record labels and recording studios including, Crazy Cajun Records Tear Drop Records, Capri Records and SugarHill Recording Studios.
Jimmie Davis: Singer and songwriter of both sacred and popular songs who served for two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of his native Louisiana.
Del Mar College: Community college in Corpus Christy.
Tin Tan: German Valdez, actor, singer and comedian who was born in Mexico City.
The milagro Beanfield war: American drama film based on the John Nichols novel of the same name.
Texas Tornados: A Tejano band with music that is a fusion of rock, country and various Mexican styles.
