Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A Lost Classic:
Doug Sahm and Band

1973



Doug Sahm is as much a part of Texas music history as avocados are to guacamole. Although never achieving mainstream success (the way that guacamole did), he did have a hit single with the Sir Douglas Quintet in 1965 called She's About a Mover. Doug Sahm is not a household name, except for in parts of Texas and Scandinavia (where he is as iconic a musical figure as that of Elvis). In Amsterdam, there is even a national holiday in honor of Doug Sahm. Over the years, he has graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine twice; and shared studios and stages with everyone from Hank Williams to the Grateful Dead to the Rolling Stones and more. To add to his legacy, in the fall of 72', he would enter into Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City along with Bob Dylan, Dr. John, and a host of some of the best musicians around to start a new chapter in his recording career. Four days, thirty songs, and nineteen guest musicians later; Doug Sahm would finish what would arguably be the best record of his career.

Doug Sahm and Band is the sound of a party going down! A four day binge of jamming out with friends, drinking, smoking, hanging out, and having fun. It's the sound of all this happening with a roomful of top notch musicians, just itching for a fun project. At the party, there's Doug Sahm, Bob Dylan, and Dr John; who you've probably met. There's Flaco Jimenz, the accordion master from San Antonio. There's Ray Charles' sax player - David "Fathead" Newman; Wayne Jackson - Who is one of the original Memphis Horns; there's Charlie Owens, the guitarist for Jerry Lee Lewis and Willie Nelson; Augie Meyers, Jack Barber and George Rains from the Sir Douglas Quintet; and then there are a bunch of other people just chillin like Bette Midler, Elton John, and a few guys from the Band.

Despite the party atmosphere of this album, somehow nothing ever sounds sloppy. Yeah, every once in a while, you get Bob Dylan coughing into the mic halfway through singing a song. Or you'll have the people playing wrong notes in unison or unclear starts to songs but it still manages to sound professionally rough around the edges. These are the records that I love! The songs are natural, not over produced and stiff sounding, which is the way a lot of country music was starting to sound in the early 1970's.

Doug Sahm and his band of merry music makers cram at least 4 or 5 different styles of music into these 12 songs. As a result, the album never feels as though its dragging along. The album opens with a couple classics. The opener - "(Is Anybody Going to) San Antone" is classic country song that was originally a #1 hit for Charley Pride a few years earlier. With dueling fiddles, great pedal steel, and the pairing of Doug Sahm and Bob Dylan singing like old drinking buddies, "(Is Anybody Going to) San Antone" is as classic and catchy as they come. The next song is another country tune and one of my favorites called "It's Gonna Be Easy". It features the original songwriter - Atwood Allen on background vocals, and again has a top notch honky tonk bar band sound to it.

On "Poison Love", you get to hear an early taste of what would become Doug Sahm's 90's tex-mex supergroup - The Texas Tornados. Flaco Jimenez's virtuoso accordian playing and Augie Meyer's piano soloing are all over this one. And it's hard to not get the urge to drink some cerveza, dance like a fool and shoot a gun!

"Wallflower" is the next high point of the album and is a short and sweet country waltz written by Bob Dylan. At the time of recording, the song had yet to be released. Once again Bob and Doug share vocals together and the effect is brilliant; reminding me a lot the Band.

"Dealer's Blues" is a Doug Sahm original and my favorite of his 3 originals on the album. In the song Doug reminds me that "you need a lot of cocaine to get a lot of rhythm and blues". Other originals include "Don't Turn Around" which sounds like a classic 60's Otis Redding R&B hit. The last of the bunch is "I Get Off" which is r&b/rocker which reminds me of a mix of Creedence Clearwater Revival and the song "Dancing in the Street"

My last two favorites on this amazing album are a T-Bone Walker Blues Shuffle called "Papa Ain't Salty" which contains some great guitar work from Sahm and solos from Augie Meyers and David "Fathead" Newman. And then there is the Willie Nelson pot smoker anthem - "Me and Paul" which is arguably the best version ever recorded of this song.


Although the album didn't climb higher than #125 on the Billboard music charts, it remains a cult classic and a clear reminder of what Doug Sahm was all about. Soon after finishing this album, Doug would be back in the studio to record another batch of great tunes for the album - Texas Tornado. Over the years, Doug Sahm's style would go on to influence hundreds of musicians during the alternative country movement of the late 80's among groups like Uncle Tupelo, and The Bottle Rockets. Nowadays, his son - Shawn Sahm; has taken over the reigns for his dad and tours with the Texas Tornados as their frontman along with Flaco Jimenez and Augie Meyers.


To hear Song Clips from
Doug Sahm and Band - Click Here
To see a clip of Doug Sahm playing "She's About a Mover" on Austin City Limits - Click
Here

5 comments:

Dougo said...

Couldn't agree more, one of my favorite albums of all time.

Anonymous said...

Holy S**t! I just ran into this record and bought it without knowing anything more than it was a Doug Sahm record - what a nice surprise! Just threw it on and found your article. David Bromberg also appears. Sloppy, soulful and right on!

Anonymous said...

I bought this album in Oakland, California as I was about to board a plane for a tour of Korea with the US Army. Jammed to this thing for a year while in Korea. One of my favorite albums in the all the world...still...As I write this I'm ripping it to Apple Lossless format (from a CD it took me years to track down).

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Anonymous said...

Doug taught me about the groove... This album is it !