Flaco Jiménez Passes: The Day "La Música" Died
Six-time Grammy Winner Remembered
Flaco Jiménez, the South Texas musician who was to the accordion what Yo-Yo Ma is to the cello, has passed away at the age of 86, according to a social media post from his family in San Antonio:
Jiménez was honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences with six GRAMMY awards (including for Lifetime Achievement in 2015) over a seven-decade career that electrified norteño and tejano music. Still, he also collaborated with Folk, Rock, and Country Musicians (which led to the number one country single "Streets of Bakersfield" with Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens in 1988).
His first and third Grammy Award-winning songs were written by his father, himself a pioneer of conjunto music, with whom Flaco first performed beginning at the age of seven.
During his musical journey, Flaco lit up stages with collaborations alongside other musicians, including Willie Nelson, with whom he performed a memorable version of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" at one of Willie's famous "4th of July Picnics" in 2008.
In 1994, the Rolling Stones called upon Flaco to add his signature accordion play during recording sessions that resulted in their "Voodoo Lounge" album. Other collaborators included Bob Dylan, who accompanied Jiménez to perform Flaco's "On the Borderline" in Montreaux in 1990.
But he will forever be known for his many contributions to Tejano music that delighted fans like the video below of Flaco's performance alongside "Little Joe" Hernández:
He is also known for working alongside other legendary musicians such as Freddy Fender for powerhouse performances as a member of "The Texas Tornados:"
Condolences and remembrances are multiplying online from fans, including several Texas Congressmen:
Flaco will forever be remembered for picking up the accordion and playing it in a way that only he could:
"Years back, they considered the accordion like a party joke or even something that grandpa played. The way I learned to play the accordion was on the wild and happy side, much like Cajun and zydeco music. One of my early idols was Clifton Chenier. The way he played, it was like the accordion was yelling at you: Hey, take this. I like to make my accordion yell and scream and make it happy."
- Flaco Jimenez
How will you remember "Flaco" Jiménez?
Share your remembrances in the comments to this article.
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
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Thanks Jack - saw Flaco at one of the Kleberg County Fairs - either the summer of '72 or '73. If it wasn't there, at another outdoor venue after moving to Kingsville. I also remember seeing him and so many conjunto acts on Domingo Pena's show (that King Furniture sponsored show on Sunday mornings).
Flaco, (and Chenier, for that matter) were staples of my life in Texas while attending the live music scene in south Texas.
I first saw him in south Texas during the mid seventies when fund raisers were held for the Texas farmworkers. They were trying to convince the Texas legislature that they deserved bathroom breaks and toilet access in the agricultural fields of Texas.
It was a long battle for human rights that continues to this day as we regress deeper into the earlier 1900s regarding immigrant labor performing agricultural work to feed and cloth the USA. Rest in peace Flaco!