Leonardo " Flaco" Jiménez began performing, at the age of seven, with his father, Santiago Jimenez, who was a pioneer of conjunto music and began recording at age fifteen as a member of Los Caporales. He played in the San Antonio area for several years, and then began working with Douglas Sahm in the 1960s. Sahm, better known as the founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet, played with Jiménez for some time. Flaco then went on to New York City and worked with Dr. John, David Lindley, Peter Rowan, Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. He appeared on Cooder's world music album Chicken Skin Music and on the Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge. This led to greater awareness of his music outside America and, after touring Europe with Ry Cooder, he returned to tour in America with his own band, and on a joint bill with Peter Rowan. Jiménez, Peter Rowan and Wally Drogos were the original members of a band called The Free Mexican Airforce.
Jiménez won a Grammy Award in 1986 for Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio, one of his father's songs. He was also a member of the Tejano fusion group Texas Tornados, with Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm and Freddy Fender. The Texas Tornados won a Grammy Award in 1990, and Jiménez earned one on his own in 1996, when his self-titled album Flaco Jiménez won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance. In 1999, Flaco earned another Grammy Award for Best Tejano Performance for Said and Done (released by Barbed Wire Records), and one for Best Mexican-American Performance as a part of supergroup Los Super Seven. Jiménez has also won a Best Video award at the Tejano Music Awards and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard Latin Magazine for "Streets of Bakersfield" with Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens.
Jiménez appeared in the movie Picking Up the Pieces, with Woody Allen and Sharon Stone, and also featured on the soundtrack. His music has featured in the soundtrack for other movies such as Y Tu Mamá También, The Border, Tin Cup, and Striptease. The Hohner company collaborated with Jiménez to create the Flaco Jimenez Signature Series of accordions.
His brother, Santiago Jiménez, Jr., is also an accomplished accordionist who has recorded extensively.
Jiménez's latest CD, Ya Volvi De La Guerra, was issued in 2009 by Fiesta Records.
Carmelita
Flaco Jimenez Lyrics
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And the tubes they glow in the dark
And I'm there with her in Ensenada
And I'm here in Echo Park
Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
Well, I'm sittin' here playing solitaire
With my pearl-handled deck
The county won't give me no more methadone
They cut off your welfare check
Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
Well, I pawned my Smith-Corona
And I went to meet my man
He hangs out down on Alvarado Street
By the Pioneer chicken stand
Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
In Flaco Jimenez's song "Carmelita" featuring Dwight Yoakam, the singer sets the scene of hearing "Mariachi static" on the radio and being transported to different places: Ensenada and Echo Park. The song follows the singer's struggles with heroin addiction and the accompanying lifestyle. The chorus repeats the plea for Carmelita to hold the singer tighter as they feel themselves sinking down. The singer plays solitaire with their pearl-handled deck, unable to get any more methadone from the county and with their welfare check cut off. They pawned their Smith-Corona typewriter and went to meet their dealer on Alvarado Street, near the Pioneer Chicken stand.
Line by Line Meaning
I hear Mariachi static on my radio
I can hear the sound of static coming from my radio that is like the sound of mariachi music.
And the tubes they glow in the dark
The tubes of my radio are glowing in the darkness around me.
And I'm there with her in Ensenada
The sound of the music takes me back to a time when I was with someone special in Ensenada.
And I'm here in Echo Park
But now I am still here in Echo Park, feeling lost and alone.
Carmelita hold me tighter
I am begging Carmelita to hold me tighter and not let me go.
I think I'm sinking down
I feel like I am falling deeper into despair and darkness.
And I'm all strung out on heroin
I am addicted to heroin and it is destroying me.
On the outskirts of town
I am living on the edges, barely surviving in the margins of society.
Well, I'm sittin' here playing solitaire
I am alone, with no one to talk to, passing the time by playing a lonely game of solitaire.
With my pearl-handled deck
I have a fancy deck of cards with pearl handles, but it does nothing to alleviate my loneliness and despair.
The county won't give me no more methadone
The county has stopped giving me methadone, a medication used to treat addiction, and I am left to suffer the agony of withdrawal.
They cut off your welfare check
On top of everything else, the government has cut off my welfare payments, leaving me with no means of support.
Well, I pawned my Smith-Corona
I was so desperate for money that I pawned my typewriter, a valuable possession, just to get by.
And I went to meet my man
I went to meet my drug dealer to get my next fix.
He hangs out down on Alvarado Street
He can be found loitering around the area near Alvarado Street.
By the Pioneer chicken stand
Specifically, he hangs out near a chicken restaurant called the Pioneer Chicken Stand.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Warren Zevon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind