"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 1 on the Billboard pop and country charts.
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 by Duane Dee reached number 44 on the Billboard country chart in early 1968, and Linda Martell sent her version to number 33 in early 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis included it on his 1969 album, Another Place Another Time.[1]
In 1974, record producer Huey P. Meaux approached Fender about overdubbing vocals for an instrumental track. Fender agreed, performing the song bilingual style—singing 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".[2]
The single was first released on Meaux's Crazy Cajun label in 1974, but was soon picked up for wider distribution by ABC-Dot. "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" immediately took off in popularity when released to country radio in January 1975. The song ascended to number 1 on the BillboardHot Country Singles chart in March, spending two weeks atop the chart.[3] Thereafter, the song caught on just as strongly at top 40 radio stations and it was not long before Fender had a number 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit as well. Billboard ranked it as the number four 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.)[4] 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 "Estaré contigo cuando triste estés"[5] (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.
Successesedit
"Before the Next Teardrop Falls" was certified gold for sales of one million units by the Recording Industry Association of America.[6] It 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.[7]
^Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 427. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
^"National Top 100 Singles for 1975". Kent Music Report. December 29, 1975. Retrieved January 15, 2022 – via Imgur.
January 01, 1970
before, next, teardrop, falls, song, before, next, teardrop, falls, american, country, song, written, vivian, keith, peters, most, famously, recorded, freddy, fender, version, major, crossover, success, 1975, reaching, number, billboard, country, charts, befor. 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 1 on the Billboard pop and country charts Before the Next Teardrop Falls Single by Freddy Fenderfrom the album Before the Next Teardrop FallsB side Waiting for Your Love ReleasedJanuary 1975Recorded1974GenreCountry pop TejanoLength2 33LabelCrazy Cajun 2002 ABC Dot 17540Songwriter s Vivian Keith Ben PetersProducer s Huey P MeauxFreddy Fender singles chronology Before the Next Teardrop Falls 1975 Wasted Days and Wasted Nights 1975 Contents 1 Song history 2 Successes 2 1 1975 country pop half dozen 3 Covers 4 Chart performance 4 1 Weekly charts 4 2 Year end charts 5 ReferencesSong history editThe 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 by Duane Dee reached number 44 on the Billboard country chart in early 1968 and Linda Martell sent her version to number 33 in early 1970 Jerry Lee Lewis included it on his 1969 album Another Place Another Time 1 In 1974 record producer Huey P Meaux approached Fender about overdubbing vocals for an instrumental track Fender agreed performing the song bilingual style singing 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 2 The single was first released on Meaux s Crazy Cajun label in 1974 but was soon picked up for wider distribution by ABC Dot Before the Next Teardrop Falls immediately took off in popularity when released to country radio in January 1975 The song ascended to number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in March spending two weeks atop the chart 3 Thereafter the song caught on just as strongly at top 40 radio stations and it was not long before Fender had a number 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit as well Billboard ranked it as the number four 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 4 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 Estare contigo cuando triste estes 5 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 edit Before the Next Teardrop Falls was certified gold for sales of one million units by the Recording Industry Association of America 6 It 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 7 The song was used in the movies Something Wild 1986 and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada 2005 1975 country pop half dozen edit 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 editLoretta Lynn recorded it for her album Home in 1975 Dolly Parton included it on her 1996 covers album Treasures Parton s version featured vocals by David Hidalgo who sang the Spanish lyrics Gene Stuart went to number 3 with it in the IRMA Irish charts in 1969 Charley Pride included the song in his 1968 album Make Mine Country Jenni Rivera recorded two versions English and Spanish that were included on her album La Gran Senora Clay Walker also recorded his version but along with Freddy Fender on his album Fall in 2007 Cantonese version of the song called 流下眼淚前 performed by Hong Kong singer Paula Tsui Al Green recorded the song in 2018 for the Amazon Music Produced By series Mexican singer Angelica Maria covered the song in an album of the same name in 1975 Lee Dorsey on the album Am I That Easy to Forget a posthumous release in 1987 Regional Mexican singer Jenni Rivera recorded the song for her eleventh studio album La Gran Senora released on December 1 2009 Chart performance editWeekly charts edit Chart 1975 Peakposition Australia Kent Music Report 1 Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 18 Canadian RPM Top Singles 6 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1 Netherlands Dutch Top 40 6 New Zealand Singles Chart RIANZ 2 U S Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Singles 19 U S Billboard Hot Country Singles 1 U S Billboard Hot 100 8 1 Year end charts edit Chart 1975 Rank U S Billboard Hot 100 9 4 Australia Kent Music Report 10 11 9References edit Stephen Thomas Erlewine Another Place Another Time Jerry Lee Lewis Songs Reviews Credits AllMusic Retrieved 2015 11 12 Janovitz Bill Before the Next Teardrop Falls Freddy Fender Song Info AllMusic Retrieved 2015 11 12 Whitburn Joel 2004 The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits 1944 2006 Second edition Record Research p 120 Tucker Stephen R Freddy Fender The Encyclopedia of Country Music Paul Kingsbury ed New York Oxford University Press 1998 ISBN 978 0195176087 Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine Freddy Fender Estare contigo cuando triste estas Before the Next Tear drop Falls Espanol mp4 YouTube 1 Archived June 8 2007 at the Wayback Machine Homepage 2015 CMA Awards Cmaawards com Retrieved 2015 11 12 permanent dead link Joel Whitburn s Top Pop Singles 1955 1990 ISBN 0 89820 089 X Billboard Year End Hot 100 singles of 1975 Kent David 1993 Australian Chart Book 1970 1992 illustrated ed St Ives N S W Australian Chart Book p 427 ISBN 0 646 11917 6 National Top 100 Singles for 1975 Kent Music Report December 29 1975 Retrieved January 15 2022 via Imgur Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Before the Next Teardrop Falls song amp oldid 1222295425, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
