Billboard #1 Hits: #366: “Before The Next Teardrop Falls”- Freddy Fender. May 31, 1975. #1 for 1 week in Billboard Hot 100.

• Single: “Before The Next Teardrop Falls”- Freddy Fender
• Record Company- ABC-Dot Records
• Genre: Country
• Written by Vivian Keith and Ben Peters
• Time: 2:33
• B-side: “Waiting For Your Love”
• Album-Before The Next Teardrop Falls
• Grade: A+
• Peaked at #1 1 week in Billboard Hot 100. #1 in Australia.

This song had a long history before it became a #1 hit- It was written in 1967 and had been recorded a number of times- most notably by “The Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis in 1969. In 1974 producer Huey Meaux approached Freddy Fender about overdubbing the vocals for an instrumental track- Fender agreed and sang it half in English and half in Spanish. Fender would later say it only took a couple minutes to do and he was glad when it was over. Never thought it would amount to anything. It was released as a single in early 1975 and went to #1 on the country singles chart and then caught on on Top 40 stations. Fender who was 38 at in 1975- had his first hit of any kind- and became an overnight success. His other big pop hit also came in 1975 #8 “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.” He had 4 #1 hits on the country single chart in 1975-76.