Freddy Fender – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Los Super Seven – Rio De Tenampa

The more I listen to this band, the more I like them. I have to give credit to halffastcyclingclub, who recommended them, and I’ve been meaning to post on them for 6 months now. A big thank you to him. This song took just one listen, and I was hooked.

The original idea came from the Texas Tornados’ management team, who envisioned a rotating cast of stars celebrating Mexican roots music. The first lineup in 1998 was crazy great: Freddy Fender, Flaco Jiménez, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos, Rick Treviño, Joe Ely, and Ruben Ramos. Their self-titled debut was heavily into traditional rancheras, boleros, and Tex-Mex standards. This song was written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez.

This was definitely a supergroup, and supergroups can be hit or miss. Sometimes they collapse because of too many egos, and sometimes they just fizzle out. But every once in a while, the chemistry works. That’s what happened in the late 1990s when this band made their self-titled debut album.

What makes Los Super Seven so unique is that they never pretended to be a touring band or a permanent outfit. Each record is like a snapshot, different players but the same spirit. If the name Los Super Seven sounds like a superhero crew, well… in a way, it was. Instead of capes and masks, this revolving crew came armed with guitars, voices, and deep roots in the music of Texas, Mexico, and beyond.

The album peaked at #1 on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums and #8 on the US Billboard Top Latin Albums in 1998. The album also won them the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards.

Los Super Seven – Rìo De Tenampa

I sat at a table and wrote a good song
About eyes as blue as the sea
Drank down the whiskey
And let out a sigh
And thought of how things used to be
Children played on the floor near the bar
With toys made of wood and string
Lovers kissed and others laughed
As the band would strum and sing

Speak to me Rio de Tenampa
Sing to me songs of valor
In this rincon of heaven
I leave my love and love

And I passed once a place we’d go
To escape the heat of the day
Tell all the stories of good times and bad
And hear the violins play

Speak to me Rio de Tenampa
Sing to me songs of valor
In this corner of heaven
I leave my affection and love

Remember the story about a lady on the hill
Gave roses to an Indian boy
Ran down to tell eveyone he knew
About his love and his hope and joy

…

David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez

Freddy Fender – The Rains Came

I was talking to a friend of mine named Greg, who lived in Texas for around 10 years. We were talking about Texas music, and I brought up Freddie Fender. I remember he told me that he met him in Nashville around 1987 when he was around 15.

He saw Freddy and said, “Hey Freddy, I love your music.” Fender was not only polite, but he went over to Greg and called him “little one” because he was so small, and he could not believe Greg was a fan, being that young. He said Fender was such a nice person and thanked him for being a fan. That always stuck with me about Fender.

Fender was one of the many country artists I heard growing up. Wasted Days and Wasted Nights was the song by Fender that I remember the most, and I’ve found that he is much deeper than that. If you’ve only ever dipped into Freddy Fender through the big radio hits, this is a good one to chase down.

This song rides a rail of half Tex-Mex and half Nashville. It was written by Huey Meaux and came out in 1962. A couple of weeks ago, while posting about the Sir Douglas Quintet, I heard this song, and I knew I had heard it before, and this is the version I remember. The song has been covered by many artists over the years, including Ripp Tide, Alvin Crow, Jimmie Vaughan, Doug Kershaw, and B.J. Thomas.

This song peaked at #4 on the Billboard Country Charts and #1 in Canada in 1976. The song was on his album Rock ‘n’ Country that peaked at #3 on the Billboard Country Charts.

Freddy had three successful careers, as a pop star in the late 50’s, a country pop star in the 70’s, and a member of the Texas Tornados and Los Super 7 in the 90’s.

The Rains Came

The rain keeps falling
Tears keep coming down
I can’t find my baby
I wonder she left town

Rain rain rain rain
I’d like to see my girl again
She broke my heart in two
And caused me so much pain

Rain rain rain rain
My pillow’s soaking wet
I can’t find her in the morning
She’s not home yet

The rain keeps falling
Tears keep coming down
I couldn’t find my darling
I wonder she left town

Rain rain rain rain
My pillow’s soaking wet
Where is she in the morning
She’s not home yet

Rain rain rain rain
Rain rain rain rain
Rain rain rain rain

Texas Tornados – Mendocino

Last week, I posted a Sir Douglas Quintet song called She’s About A Mover. Many people commented about the song and about another Sir Douglas Quintet song Mendocino as well. So, hearing the Texas Tornados with Doug Sahm do it, I had to post about Doug again because I couldn’t resist. I’ve been listening to his other music and I love it. This song was a top 40 hit in 1969. It peaked at #27 on the Billboard 100 and #14 in Canada. The song has been covered over 100 times, according to Secondhand Songs.

They were a Tex-Mex supergroup before anyone called them that: Doug Sahm (Sir Douglas Quintet), Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet), Freddy Fender (the man of many hits), and accordion ace Flaco Jiménez. They first gigged under the name “Tex-Mex Revue,” then took the name from Sahm’s earlier Texas Tornado. They formed around 1989-1990. It was lightning in a bottle.

Sahm wrote it, he rode it up the charts with the Sir Douglas Quintet back in 1968-69, and then, a couple of decades later, he brought it back to the table with his Tex-Mex supergroup, the Texas Tornados, Augie Meyers, Flaco Jiménez, and Freddy Fender. Flaco Jiménez, who had a long career, just passed on July 31 at age 86.

What I love here is how the Tornados make nostalgia feel alive. Plenty of bands drag their old hits around like they are carrying bulky luggage; these guys plug in and let it go. They play loose, not trying to change the song, but not bound to the original record. They revitalize this song, and it sounds like it was written yesterday. It’s not an easy thing to do, but they pull it off.

BTW… Mendocino is a small town located in Northern California; it’s about 150 miles north of San Francisco.

This song was off the album Live from Austin, TX released in 2005 from a performance in 1990.

Here is the original band, Sir Douglas Quintet, doing Mendocino. This is the Playboy After Dark studio. Bring back muttonchops!

Mendocino

Teeny Bopper, my teenage loverI caught your waves last nightIt sent my mind to wonderin’.You’re such a groovePlease don’t movePlease stay in my love house by the river.Fast talkin’ guys with strange red eyesHave put things in your headAnd started your mind to wonderin’I love you so, please don’t goPlease stay here with me in Mendocino.Mendocino, Mendocino,Where life’s such a grooveYou blow your mind in the morning.We used to walk through the park,Make love along the way in Mendocino.(Ah, play it, Augie! Yeah!)Like I told you, can you dig it?If you wanna groove, I’ll be glad to have you.‘Cause I love you so, please don’t go,Please stay here with me in Mendocino,Mendocino, MendocinoWhere life’s such a groove,You blow your mind in the morningWe used to walk through the park,Make love along the way in MendocinoMendocino, Mendocino, Mendocino

…

Freddy Fender – Wasted Days and Wasted Nights

I remember Freddy Fender as a kid and this song. I remember it being played everywhere. It was a huge crossover hit and I saw him on television at the time singing it on different shows.

Freddy Fender wrote and recorded it in 1959 for a small label. It wasn’t until 1975 that he was able to release it again under his name. He and some band members were charged with pot possession in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1960.

Fender served 3 1/.2 years in prison until he was pardoned by Governor Jimmie Davis. There was a condition though…he had to stay away from anywhere that served alcohol. In the late sixties, he started to work in a garage and play music on the weekends.

He started to record again in 1974 and struck gold with his first two releases. Before the Next Teardrop Falls peaked at #1 in the Billboard Country Charts, #1 on the Billboard 100, and #1 on the Canadian Country Charts. Wasted Days and Wasted Nights peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts, #8 on the Billboard 100, #2 on the Canadian Country Charts, and #6 in Canada in 1975.

He would have more number 1s in the Country Charts for Billboard and Canada. Later on, Fender would later join the Texas Tornados and Los Super 7.

Here is Freddie with the Texas Tornados doing the song.

Wasted Days Wasted Nights

Wasted days and wasted nightsI have left for you behindFor you don’t belong to meYour heart belongs to someone else

Why should I keep loving youWhen I know that you’re not true?And why should I call your nameWhen you’re to blameFor making me blue?

Don’t you remember the dayThat you went away and left me?I was so lonelyPrayed for you onlyMy love

Why should I keep loving youWhen I know that you’re not true?And why should I call your nameWhen you’re to blameFor making me blue?

Don’t you remember the dayThat you went away and left me?I was so lonelyPrayed for you onlyMy love

Wasted days and wasted nightsI have left for you behindFor you don’t belong to meYour heart belongs to someone else

Why should I keep loving youWhen I know that you’re not true?And why should I call your nameWhen you’re to blameFor making me blue?