Leonardo ‘Flaco’ Jiménez, the legendary Mexican American accordion and singer who expanded the range and popularity of Conunto and Tejano music and was also known for his contributions to Norteño, died on Thursday, July 31, his family announced. He was 86.
“It is with great sadness that we share the loss of our father tonight, Flaco Jimenez. He was surrounded by his loved ones and will be absolutely missing,” On his family wrote on Facebook.
“Thanks to all his fans and friends – those who cared for their music. And a big thank you for all the memories. His heritage will live on through his music and all his fans. The family is demanding integrity during this time of grief and complaints.”
Jiménez learned to play accordion from his father, Santiago Jiménez Sr., NPR is reported. “He (my dad) liked it so much that he got hold of a one-line accordion in some way and started learning how to copy the German Polkas,” he told the news service in 2003. “Then he started playing around nearby where he lived, just local house dances.”
In another interview with NPR years later, Jiménez said he raised the instrument that would define his life’s work without his father’s approval. “I wanted to get hold of accordion because Dad is still at work. He came home early. Suddenly he just opens the door and I said,” Oh man, I will get it, “he explained.
But it turned out that his father could not have been happier. “The first thing he did, he went straight to me, he gave me a big, big hug and then started crying. Look, he was so proud of my self -taught game.”
That self -motivation drove Jiménez to cities and scenes around the world. He won five competitive Grammys and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2015.
Known lovingly like Flaco (meaning “lean” in Spanish), the artist Once told Chris Strachwitz He was given the nickname in his early teens. “When I was a young child, thirteen, fourteen years old, I used to be real, really lean, real thin,” he explained in an interview from 1973.
“Here in a TV show, this radio message, however, he was champion in ceremonies, he used to play with me all the time. Flaco and Flaco here and Flaco there, so when I started recording when I was 16, the name Flaco now. It wasn’t Leonardo Jimenez who is my name.”
His most popular songs include “Oh I Leave You In San Antonio” (“Ay, I leave you in San Antonio”), “The Wet Without License” (“Wetback without a license”) and “In the sky there is no beer” (“There is no beer in heaven”).
“People used to consider my music as Cantina music, just no respect,” Jiménez said in a Interview with Library of Congress 2021 after he was added to the National Recording Registry. “The game was considered something as a party joke … I really respect everyone who helped me on this record and I am flattered by this recognition.”
Leonardo ‘Flaco’ Jiménez was born on March 11, 1939 in San Antonio, Texas. He put together his first band, Los Caporales, when he was 15 years old and continued to collaborate with Ry Cood, Les Blank, Dwight Yoakam, Buck Owens, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and more.
He is survived by his wife Adela and their children Arturo, Gilbert and Cynthia Jiménez and Raquel Fernandez, as well as by his brother, Santiago Jiménez Jr.
