In 1959, Fender recorded the blues ballad "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights." The song became popular in 1959, but he was beset by legal troubles after he and a band member were arrested for possession of marijuana. After a two years in Louisiana's Angola prison farm, he was released through the intercession of Gov. Jimmie Davis, also a songwriter and musician. Davis requested that Fender stay away from music while on probation as a condition of his release. By the end of the 1960s, Fender was back in Texas working as a mechanic, and attending a local junior college, while only playing music on the weekends.
Number One Pop and Country
In 1974, Fender recorded "Before The Next Teardrop Falls." The single was selected for national distribution, and became a number one hit on the Billboard Country and Pop charts. His next four singles, including a remake of "Wasted Days", all hit the number one spot on the Billboard Country charts. During the next few years, Fender had several major country hits, including the No. 1 hits "Secret Love" (1975) and "You'll Lose a Good Thing" (1976).
Texas Tornados
In the 1990s, Fender teamed up with fellow Tex-Mex musicians Doug Sahm, Flaco Jimenez and Augie Myers to form the Tex-Mex supergroup the Texas Tornados, whose work was widely acclaimed. Following the death of Sahm, the production of the Tornadoes slowed.
Los Super Seven
Freddy Fender continued to still be on top with a groundbreaking collaboration with several musical legends to produce another supergroup, Los Super Seven which consisted of David Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, drums, bass, percussion, requinto, hidalguera); Rick Trevino, Joe Ely (vocals, guitar); Flaco Jimenez (vocals, accordion); Cesar Rosas (vocals, six-string bass, guitar, guitarron, jarana); Freddy Fender (vocals, acoustic bass); Ruben Ramos (vocals). This Super Seven effort won a Grammy in 1999.
On February 4, 1999, Freddy's star was installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2004, the Texas Folklife Resources produced a widely acclaimed sell-out show at the Paramount in Austin, Texas " Fifty Years of Freddy Fender", where Freddy was honored and then performed to a packed house. Also in 2004, Freddy's hometown of San Benito Texas honored Freddy with his likeness emblazoned on their new watertower with "Hometown of Freddy Fender". Freddy would later say that this honor meant more to him than any other accolade he had ever won.
Freddy Fender's Masterpiece...
La Musica De Baldemar Huerta
Freddy delves deeply into the music of his forefathers: the boleros and rancheras that would have played in the ghettos of his native San Benito, Texas, and that he sang as a youth in border-town cantinas. Especially gorgeous are "Adios Muchachos," a melancholy meditation on final farewells, and the delicate opener, "Rayito de Luna." El Be Bop Kid isn't just back; he sounds reborn. Freddy won his last Grammy for this album.
Freddy Fender underwent a kidney transplant in 2002 donated by his daughter and a transplant of the liver in 2004. Nonetheless, his condition continued to worsen. He was suffering from an "incurable cancer" in which he had tumors on his lungs. On December 31, 2005, Fender performed his last concert and resumed chemotherapy.
Fender has Passed on...
Rest in Peace, Vaya Con Dios
Freddy Fender passed away on Saturday, October 14, 2006, after a long battle with lung cancer. He is buried in his Hometown of San Benito, Texas.
Plans are underway for a Freddy Fender Museum to be located in his beloved hometown, San Benito, Texas. Check back at: www.freddyfendermuseum.org or
www.freddyfender.com
Please Help Me I'm Falling
FREDDY FENDER Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Turn away from me darlin' I'm begging you to
Please help me I'm fallin' in love with you
I belong to another who's arms have grown cold
But I promised forever to have and to hole
I can never be free dear, but when I'm with you
Please help me I'm fallin' and that would be sin
Close the door to temptation don't let me walk in
For I musn't want you but darlin' I do
Please help me I'm fallin' in love with you
In Freddie Fender's song "Please Help Me I'm Falling," the singer finds himself in a complicated love triangle. On one hand, he belongs to another woman, but their love has grown cold. On the other hand, he's fallen in love with another woman who he knows he can't have. He begs her to close the door to temptation and turn away from him, but he can't help the way he feels.
The lyrics explore the idea of temptation and the struggle to remain faithful to one's commitments. The singer knows that his feelings for the other woman are wrong, but he can't help himself. Throughout the song, he asks the woman for help, knowing that he's "falling" and that it would be a sin to act on his feelings.
Overall, the lyrics are a poignant reflection on the complexities of love and commitment. They speak to the struggles that many people face in staying true to their promises and honoring their commitments, even in the face of temptation and desire.
Line by Line Meaning
Close the door to temptation don't let me walk through
I'm asking you to keep temptation away from me, so I won't be led astray.
Turn away from me darlin' I'm begging you to
I want you to turn away from me, because I know that being near you will only make my feelings for you stronger.
Please help me I'm fallin' in love with you
I'm in love with you, and I need your help to keep myself from acting on those feelings.
I belong to another who's arms have grown cold
I'm in a committed relationship, but it has started to lose its passion.
But I promised forever to have and to hold
Even though the relationship has lost some of its spark, I made a vow to stay committed to it forever.
I can never be free dear, but when I'm with you
I know that I can never be with you the way I want to, because of my commitment to my current partner.
I know that I'm losing the will to be true
Even though I want to stay loyal to my partner, my feelings for you are starting to make that difficult.
Please help me I'm fallin' and that would be sin
I know that acting on my feelings for you would be a betrayal of my commitment to my partner, and I don't want to do that.
Close the door to temptation don't let me walk in
Again, I'm asking you to resist temptation and stay away from me, so I won't be tempted to act on my feelings.
For I musn't want you but darlin' I do
I shouldn't be feeling this way about you, but I can't help how I feel.
Please help me I'm fallin' in love with you
Once again, I'm asking for your help to keep my feelings under control, because I don't want to hurt anyone.
Contributed by Declan W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
EmeraldCity
I miss Freddie soooooo mucho!!! Thank you!!! Yes I just subscribed!!!
Anna Vesely
Very fine....
ElTouroFogoso
Thank you so very much for your comment Anna . I'm really glad you enjoyed the song enough to leave the comment. And if you haven't done it yet, I would appreciate it very much, if you would please, tell your family and all of your friends about this video, and of my channel.
With gratitude,
ElTouroFogoso