In an interview, Freddy recalled his remembrances of “Secret Love:”
“It was a very challenging song. ‘Secret Love’ is in the key of ‘G,’ but I’m very fortunate that I can sing bass all the way to the top. I’m no Roy Orbison, but if I were to quit smoking, maybe I would give a real good tribute to Roy on the high notes. Sometimes, if I’m having a hard show and the people are just not into it, as soon as I hit ‘Secret Love,’ you can hear a pin drop. It’s such a beautiful song that any decent singer can get a very receptive result.”
Fender’s version of “Secret Love” climbed into the number one position of Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart on December 6, 1975 and reached a respectable #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.