I may be dating myself a bit here, but back in the day when cotton was the king of agriculture in South Texas, our parents used to send us kids with a local truck driver (contratista) to pick cotton in fields around Brownsville.
The work was hot, low-paying and tiring. But it was also a kind of adventure. The money we made during the week (between $10 to $15 ) would be used to buy clothes for school. A dollar went a long way back then.
A lot of the neighborhood kids of the Las Prietas and Southmost areas would be out in the fields and to pass the time, we'd sing the favorites songs of the day.
Inevitably, the songs made popular by Freddie Gomez would reverberate across the fields, the sound of youthful voices losing themselves over the mirages of heat across the green and white expanse of the endless cotton rows.
One particular favorite at the time (the Vietnam War was on) was "El Soldado Raso," that dealt with a soldier (a private) leaving for the war and leaving behind his family and friends. It was a somewhat melodramatic tune but it conveyed the feelings of many young soldiers and the families they left behind.
Me voy de soldado raso
voy a ingresar a las filas
con los valientes muchachos
que dejan madres queridas
que dejan novias llorando
llorando su despedida.
Mañana salgo temprano
al despuntar nuevo dia
y aqui va otro mexicano
que va a jugarse la vida
que se despide cantando
que viva la patria mia.
Now, Freddie wasn't the first singer to interpret this song. But his high nasal voice and accordion gave the song a distinctive sound that earned him fame as the "Cyclon del Valle."Ask any Hispanic veterans of the time who the artist was who sang that song and inevitably, Freddie's name will be the first from their lips.
Many probably remember him from other songs such as "No Supe Comprender," "Un Mal Viento," "Yo Te Quiero a Ti," and many others too numerous to mention, including a selection of polkas pa los bailadores.
If you are like many others of us who grew up on his music and appreciate the memories he left behind, Timo Ruedas a retired U.S. Customs office and conjunto aficionado from Brownsville, the South Texas Conjunto Association and the Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts are inviting the public to join them today to to remember his music.
The event will be held at the old Capitol Theater on Levee Street.
The event is free in celebration of Labor Day, the working man's holiday..
Freddie Gomez was a simple man, and singing with a conjunto was a side gig (he worked at J.C. Penney's in Brownsville and retired from there without ever missing a day of work.) One can only imagine what he could have achieved is he had devoted his full time to his musical pursuits.
See you there.
2 comments:
Freddie Gomnez y Los Dynamicos later became Freddy & The Dreamers.
If you can remember cotton in the Valley, you are not that old. The real past was all about citrus.
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