When Freddy Fender died in 2006, his death was duly noted in the national press. No surprise, really, since he had topped the Billboard Hot 100 with his 1975 country weeper, "Before The Next Teardrop Falls." After one more Top 10 smash, the old-school rocker "Wasted Days And Wasted Nights," his pop hits trailed off, and most Americans forgot all about him.

Here in Texas, however, Fender's passing was a major event and cause for great mourning. He was, after all, a native son - born Baldemar Huerta in San Benito. And, his career was always more visible within our borders. Fender got his start way back in the 1950's, when he recorded Spanish-language versions of rock 'n' roll hits, performing along the Mexican border as El Be Bop Kid. Later, after his moment on the national stage, Fender continued to score country hits for nearly 10 years.

For Texans, however - especially those of Mexican heritage - Fender's defining moment came with the Texas Tornados, a Tex-Mex supergroup formed in the late 1980's by Fender, accordion virtuoso Flaco Jimenez, and Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers, both founding members of the Sir Douglas Quintet ("She's About A Mover," 1965). The Tornados' brief career was a powerful moment in Tejano history, a juncture where white and Hispanic cultures joined together under one spotlight, creating music full of tradition yet patently new.

Later, Fender won a Grammy with Los Super Seven (another Tejano supergroup), and he capped his career with a Grammy-winning solo album (La Musica de Baldemar Huerta, 2002). Despite his share of hard knocks - serious illness, two stints in prison, plus numerous professional ups and down - Freddy Fender died a happy, satisfied man. "Maybe I've had to start all over again a few times," he once said, "but at least I'm not an old cup of stale coffee. I've had a few refills."

Ignoring the hits and awards, Freddy Fender's music is best remembered for its sophisticated fusion of country, rock, and rhythm & blues with the singer's Mexican roots. In essence, Fender was the prototypical Tejano musician. Unlike Charley Pride, a black man who sang country music - about whom it was said, "he looks like one of them, but he sings like one of us" - Freddy Fender sounded as Hispanic - and American, and Texan - as he looked. Which is the point.

Freddy Fender was also, we should not forget, a performer of great verve and soul, which makes his holiday album, Merry Christmas - Feliz Navidad (1977), all the more disappointing. In his review of the album, Robert Christgau opined, "Freddy could have made a (bilingual!) Christmas album to rank with Phil Spector's," and I have to agree. Fender recorded Merry Christmas for Dot Records on the crest of his first and biggest wave of success, using the same producer (Huey P. Meaux, the Crazy Cajun) who helmed his big hits for the label (see Best of Freddy Fender or The Millenium Collection). But like so many artists before and since, Fender and Meaux flinched when recording their Christmas album, softening their sound in a misguided attempt to capture the largest common commercial denominator.

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