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Before the Next Teardrop Falls (song)

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Wikipedia article




"'Before the Next Teardrop Falls'" is an American country and pop song written by Vivian Keith and Ben Peters, and most famously recorded by Freddy Fender. His version was a major crossover success in 1975, reaching number one on the 'Billboard' pop and country charts.

Song history



The song was written in 1967 and had been recorded more than two dozen times. It had achieved modest success in versions by various performers; the original version by Duane Dee reached #44 on the 'Billboard' country chart in early 1968, and Linda Martell sent her version to #33 in early 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis recorded a version of it on his 1969 album, 'Another Place Another Time'.

In 1974, record producer Huey P. Meaux approached Fender about overdubbing vocals for an instrumental track. Fender agreed, performing the song bilingual stylesinging the first half of the song in English, then repeating it in Spanish.

"The recording only took a few minutes," Fender told an interviewer. "I was glad to get it over with and I thought that would be the last of it."

However, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" immediately took off in popularity when released to country radio in January 1975. The song ascended to #1 on the 'Billboard' Hot Country Singles chart in March, spending two weeks atop the chart. Thereafter, the song caught on just as strongly at Top 40 radio stations and it was not long before Fender had a #1 'Billboard' Hot 100 hit as well. 'Billboard' ranked it as the No. 4 song of 1975.

As originally composed, it is in 32-bar form (Fender's bilingual recording stretches the piece to 48 bars).

A showcase of Fender's tenor and Meaux's Tex-Mex musical styling, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" jump-started his career. (Fender's career had stalled in 1960 after his arrest on drug charges.)Tucker, Stephen R., "Freddy Fender", 'The Encyclopedia of Country Music', Paul Kingsbury, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, . In the months and years that followed, Fender recorded several bilingual standards which became major hits, most notably "Secret Love".

Fender also recorded a version fully in Spanish, entitled "Estar contigo cuando triste ests"Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/ir6Dfgt9e7I Ghostarchive] and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180514143346/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir6Dfgt9e7I&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]: (literally "I will be with you when you are sad"). The Spanish-language second verse in the English version is the first verse of the fully Spanish version.

Successes



"Before The Next Teardrop Falls" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America.[https://www.riaa.com/gp/database/search_results.asp ] The song also won the Single of the Year award from the Country Music Association in 1975, and was conducive to Fender also winning that year's Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year awards.

The song was used in the movie 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada' (2005).

1975 country-pop "half-dozen"

"Before the Next Teardrop Falls" was one of six songs released in 1975 that topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and 'Billboard' Hot Country Singles charts. The others were "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B.J. Thomas; "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell; "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and the two-sided hit "I'm Sorry"/"Calypso" by John Denver; and "Convoy" by C.W. McCall.

Covers



* Loretta Lynn recorded the song for her album 'Home' in 1975.

* Dolly Parton later recorded the song, including it on her 1996 covers album 'Treasures'; Parton's version featured vocals by David Hidalgo, who sang the Spanish lyrics.

* Gene Stuart recorded a version that went to number 3 in the IRMA Irish charts in 1969.

Chart performance



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



All-time charts



References



Category:1967 songs

Category:Dot Records singles

Category:Songs written by Ben Peters

Category:1975 debut singles

Category:Freddy Fender songs

Category:Linda Martell songs

Category:Jerry Lee Lewis songs

Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Huey P. Meaux

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