Freddy Fender

El Bebop Kid Freddy Fender

Long before he became a Country Crossover superstar in the 1970s, FREDDY FENDER was a teenage rock & roll star in his native Mexico, under his real name, Baldemar Huerta.

The very first Hispanic rock & roller, nicknamed "El Bebop Kid", he initially sang Spanish language cover versions of contemporaneous American rock & roll hits, before starting to write his own songs.

He changed his stage name to "Freddy Fender" in 1959 in order to appeal to the US market - as he famously said, "To sell better with Gringos!" - and began to record in English.

After being busted in 1960 for a marijuana offence, he was incarcerated in Angola State Prison, Louisiana; while inside he had records released as both Freddy Fender and Scotty Wayne, while he also recorded an LP, "Inside Louisiana State Prison", backed by other prison inmates.

This unique compilation presents the very best of his English language recordings between 1959-1961, the first time that this body of work has been thus compiled.

Much of this material is notoriously hard to find elsewhere on CD.