In Texas, flaco means skinny and this particular Flaco got his nickname from his father - the legendary Don Santiago Jimenez.
Apart from a slim build, Santiago gave his son something altogether more precious. As one of the founding fathers of modern Mexican-American music, he passed on an extraordinary talent for the accordion. In fact, two of Don Santiago's famous sons were to inherit his mantle as a major conjunto star. Both played accordion and, while Santiago Jnr always remained close to his father in style, it was Flaco who experimented and has had the greatest impact. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s as the music of the region began to filter into rock 'n' roll, pop and country, it was Flaco Jimenez who was at the heart of things. He was always on the side of change, greatly invigorated by the 1950s when the music was seriously spiced-up with the introduction of drums and electricity.
This resultant irresistible music, known as Tex-Mex or Tejano, came to be the very sound of the borderline itself, and was heard pumping from every Spanish bar and restaurant in southern Texas. As Mexican-American music began to slip even more into rock 'n' roll, pop and country, it was the accordion which continued to drive it - and more specifically it was the accordion of Flaco Jimenez.
"I would call the music Tex-Mex. You see conjunto just means `a band' - like a conjunction of different instruments backing up the accordion. Tex-Mex is more correct because of our Mexican descent and the fact we were born here in Texas in the US. That's why we call it Tex-Mex. And the music is more polkas. It really started with my grandfather. He learned that European sound - that polka sound. It must have been Europe. It must have been Germany or Switzerland. It's hard to explain because, even in Ireland and England, they have accordion. They have accordion sounds all over the world."
Growing up in San Antonio, Flaco Jimenez was surrounded by music. By 18, he was playing with Los Caporales and making a name for himself as a stylist. In the 1960s, he hooked up with Doug Sahm of The Sir Douglas Quintet - a remarkable rock band who famously tried to outwit Beatlemania by pretending they were English. And it worked up to a point. While the name sounded plausibly Anglo, the music was an immediate giveaway. This was a seriously rootsy and original US approach. And as Flaco then began working with everyone from Bob Dylan to Dr John, he rapidly became the major figure in Tex-Mex music.
"My dream was to follow my father's footsteps because that was his job. He played in dance halls to support us. We were a big family of seven. So I started just by liking what he did. There was no teaching or anything. It was just by observing his playing that I picked up the accordion. And that's how it started. One day, he said: `I don't really need to teach you now - you already know.' So the music just came automatically because it was in the blood. I would say that blood speaks by itself. So it was in the family - especially the accordion. It's been four generations now."
Texas has long been a rich source of music. From the singer-songwriters to honky-tonk, and from blues to western swing, it has produced many of America's finest. Among its hidden treasures, however, was that surviving European music - primarily polkas which were readily adapted by Mexican-Americans for the conjunto format. The music which developed was infectious, bouncy and danceable and, as Jimenez saw it, suitable for twisting just a little bit more.
"It was around 1957 to 1962 when I started listening to different radio stations around here that were in English. Elvis Presley wasn't even on radio then, so I listened to a lot of country music - Hank Williams and Tex Ritter and those old singers. They had programmes all over the place. But there was also Spanish radio and so I just kept switching stations to hear country music and then back to Spanish music. There was a programme in the morning around eleven o'clock of just polka - Polish polkas, German polkas and all those things. So I always liked to be versatile on music. Later I started to diversify into blues and rock 'n' roll and whatever else came into my mind. And even though I'm not that young now, I still like to rock 'n' roll. I'm recording country-rock now in Spanish and English. I like to translate and be bilingual. If I could sing in Japanese I would enjoy it." ["]
Jimenez's best-known accordion riffs are to be heard with Ry Cooder - in particular the albums Chicken Skin Music and Get Rhythm. His squeezebox services have also been employed by The Rolling Stones, The Clash, Willie Nelson, Santana, Emmylou Harris, Bryan Ferry and The Mavericks. In fact, the sound of his accordion has become essential for anyone who wants to create a a Tex-Mex essence and, outside his own community, he is easily the best known musician of his genre. His impressive shelf of Grammys testifies to that.
"I always tried to communicate as clearly as possible. And for people who didn't understand the music, I tried to explain. But people have always responded and I'm really fortunate because I've been all over the world now. Sometimes the musicians in the old tradition say, why do you change? But I just say man, if you stay just in your old tradition or in the old sound, then there are no challenges. And I like to challenge music. I didn't stay just in the old tradition of accordion playing because I think that you have to go along with a young generation."
The most recent Grammy came with Los Super Seven - a band made up of such Texan and Mexican heavy-hitters as Joe Ely and Ceasar Rojas. Before that, there was The Texas Tornados - the Lone Star State supergroup champions of all-time. Comprising Jimenez, Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender and the late Doug Sahm, the Tornados was basically a bar band which played a little Tex-Mex, a little country and a lot of rock 'n' roll. Working once more with Sahm, and scoring with a string of successful records, brought Jimenez right back to those very early days.
"Doug Sahm was the one who introduced me to the rock 'n' roll scene. He was really a musical genius - a creator, like Ry Cooder. It was always fun to record with those kind of people. But I'm always open to record with whoever invites me, or even just go and jam. I like music that much. I don't know if you heard that Voodoo Lounge thing I did with the Rolling Stones? But I'm not bragging because what happens, happens."
The most recent album, Said and Done, is more of a country/pop/rock affair. The major change is the addition of saxophone and the voice of Nunie Rubio. Jimenez says it all makes him feel a little younger - but whatever age his famous fingers may be, that old Hohner squeezebox sounds just as good as ever.
"Nowadays, the accordion is more popular than it has ever been. And it's not just Tex-Mex music. Now you hear accordions in all kinds of bands. There was a time when everybody was carrying a guitar but now they're carrying an accordion! I'm really looking forward someday to coming back over to Ireland and saying hello to my fellow accordion players."