Freddy Fender
 

I grew up on Freddy Fender music. I'm starting to think my folks were hipper than I remember... I'm suprised at how bummed out I am by this. Godspeed Freddy.

Fender, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 2006, died at noon at his Corpus Christi home with his family at his bedside, said Ron Rogers, a family spokesman.

FREDDY FENDER DIED?!?!? Shit, man, I was raised on his music too. I used to hear him play with Doug Sahm. Lotsa dancing (and more than a few fights) in those joints. I think that was when I first started to seriously learn Spanish 'coz FF used to sing a lot in Spanish. "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" is one of my all time favorites.

What I liked about him was the lack of bitterness on his part. You know they threw him in jail--not just "jail" but ANGOLA, which is near where I was raised--for "possession of marijuana"--more like a few joints or something for like THREE YEARS! And those hicks were always calling him every kind of name imaginable--the prejudice against Mexicans was even worse then. And Freddy never let bitterness eat at him or cut his spirit.

Well, damn. Son of a BITCH!!! I guess I should say "thanks for breaking this news" because I'd want to know that, but this really bums me out, Griff...

new york times article
 

googled Freddy and got this obit from the Times.

He was in a lot of pain. His daughter gave him one of her kidneys to keep him going for awhile longer.

This is the kind of guy he was:

“I’m one year away from 70 and I’ve had a good run,” he said. “I really believe I’m O.K. In my mind and in my heart, I feel O.K. I cannot complain that I haven’t lived long enough, but I’d like to live longer.”

It sounds like thinks have been pretty rough. Among other things, I just found an album of his pre-prison work on emusic to download next month. *sigh* I'm gonna check my old vinyl stack and see whats there, I've only got one Texas Tornadoes album on cd.

Very sad...he was a regular at the NM State Fair, and ABQ radio when I was growing up. RIP Freddy.