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Freddy Fender was an iconic singer in Tejano and Country music and producer Randy Caballero is putting together a passion project paying tribute to the Tejano ROOTS Hall of Famer with an album filled with Fender hits recorded by various artists. Los Texmaniacs are a part of that album and the GRAMMY winners chose to cover “El Rancho Grande” for the collection of songs.
Max Baca of Los Texmaniacs shared details on the song in an interview with Fierro HD‘s Jon and Bo Show on the Audacy app. “We’re Tex-Mex conjunto and so what can we do that Freddy did,” said Baca. “I remember as a kid, I had a 45 with ‘Wasted Days and Wasted Nights’ and then on the flipside was ‘El Rancho Grande’. I said let’s do ‘El Rancho Grande’ and we recorded live with the band, no overdubbing, we just went in and sang it just as is and that’s how it came out.”
Baca has a special connection with Fender, having spent time on tour with the Texas Tornados for many years.
“I’m very blessed to say I toured with The Texas Tornados and of course Freddy Fender, getting up close and personal with Freddy Fender on the road,” said Baca. “What an experience and a blessing that I was able to experience with the Texas Tornados as their bajo player.”
Baca added his thoughts on Fender’s passion for music. “I would say his passion was everything,” he said. “It was conjunto, was the blues in English, and him singing songs and you know everything. He was really unique in that way and with his voice, you could tell it was Freddy Fender.”
“El Rancho Grande,” the Freddy Fender tribute by Los Texmaniacs, is available to stream or download on all digital music platforms and 10% of all sales will be contributed to a charity in Freddy Fender’s name, according to the FreddyFenderTribute.com.
Los Texmaniacs plan to release a new album in June with a new single to drop soon.
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