Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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Guitarist, composer, arranger, and songwriter Doug Sahm was a knowledgeable music historian and veteran performer equally comfortable in a range of styles, including Texas blues, country, rock & roll, Western swing, and Cajun. Born November 6, 1941, in San Antonio, TX, he began his performing career at age nine when he was featured on a San Antonio area radio station, playing steel guitar. Sahm began recording for a procession of small labels (Harlem, Warrior, Renner, and Personality) in 1955, with "A Real American Joe," released under the name Little Doug Sahm. Three years later he was leading a group called the Pharoahs. Sahm recorded a series of singles for Texas-based record companies including "Crazy Daisy" (1959), "Sapphire" (1961), and "If You Ever Need Me" (1964).

After being prompted in 1965 to assemble a group by producer Huey Meaux, Sahm asked his friends Augie Meyers (keyboards), Frank Morin (saxophone), Harvey Kagan (bass), and Johnny Perez (drums) if they would join him. Meaux gave the group the name the Sir Douglas Quintet. The group had some success on the radio with "The Rains Came," but Sahm later moved to California after the group broke up, where he formed the Honkey Blues Band. He re-formed the Sir Douglas Quintet in California and recorded a now-classic single, "Mendocino." The resulting album was a groundbreaking record in the then-emerging country-rock scene. the Sir Douglas Quintet followed Mendocino with Together After Five, another album that led them to a larger fan base.

But it was Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler who realized that country-rock sounds were coming into vogue (and there was no place in Nashville for people like Sahm), so he signed both Sahm and Willie Nelson. One of his greatest albums, Doug Sahm and Band (1973, Atlantic), was recorded in New York City with Bob Dylan, Dr. John, and accordionist Flaco Jiménez, and a resulting single, "Is Anybody Going to San Antone?" had some radio success. the Sir Douglas Quintet got back together again to record two more albums, Wanted Very Much Alive and Back To The 'Dillo.

Among Sahm's most essential blues records are Hell of a Spell (1980, reissued in 1999), a blues album dedicated to Guitar Slim, and his Grammy-nominated studio album for Antone's, The Last Real Texas Blues Band. For his other material, there are several good compilations, including The Best of Doug Sahm (Rhino). SDQ '98 followed. Sahm died November 18, 1999; the posthumous The Return of Wayne Douglas appeared the following summer.

by Richard Skelly, AMG

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Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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Doug Sahm began his solo career in 1972, after the Sir Douglas Quintet finished its contract with Smash/Mercury and after Atlantic Records co-owner/producer Jerry Wexler convinced him to sign to his label. Wexler gave the Texas maverick the chance to cut a star-studded, big-budget album, shuffling him off to New York where Wexler and Arif Mardin helmed a series of sessions with an ever-revolving cast of musicians featuring Bob Dylan, Dr. John, David "Fathead" Newman, David Bromberg, and Flaco Jimenez, in addition to such Sir Doug stalwarts as Augie Meyers and the rhythm section of bassist Jack Barber and drummer George Rains (all but the latter were in the last incarnation of the Quintet, raising the question of whether the group was indeed finished or not, but such is the nature of Sahm's discography). This group cut a lot of material, which was whittled down to the 12-track album Doug Sahm and Band, released in early 1973. At the time, the record received a push from the label and was generally disparaged because of those very all-stars on whose back it was sold, but the years have been kind indeed to the album, and it stands among Sahm's best. Indeed, the heart of the album is not at all far removed from those latter-day Sir Douglas Quintet albums on Mercury, which isn't much of a stretch since Sahm never really strayed from his signature blend of rock & roll, blues, country, and Tejano, but the bigger band and bigger production give the music a different feel – one that's as loose as the best Quintet material, but off-handedly accomplished and slyly freewheeling. Original reviews noted that there was an overtly country direction on And Band, but that's not really true on an album that has Western swing and rambling country-rock like "Blues Stay Away from Me" and the anthemic "(Is Anybody Going To) San Antone" jutting up against pure blues in "Your Friends" and "Papa Ain't Salty," let alone loose-limbed rockers like "Dealer's Blues" and "I Get Off" or the skipping Tejano "Poison Love," fueled by Jimenez's addictive accordion.

These are all convincing arguments that the larger band allowed Sahm to indulge in all of his passions, to the extent of devoting full tracks to each of his favorite sounds – something that was a bit different than the Quintet records, which usually mixed it all up so it was impossible to tell where one influence ended and another began. That's still true on And Band – for instance, witness the brilliant cover of Willie Nelson's "Me and Paul," a country song goosed by soulful horns and delivered in a delirious drawl from Sir Doug – but much of the album finds that signature Sahm sprawl being punctuated by style-specific detours where Sahm seizes the opportunity to stretch out as much as his guests seize the opportunity to jam with this American musical visionary. These are all characteristics of a jam session, which these sessions essentially were – after all, on this album he only penned three out of the 12 songs – but relying on covers also points out how Doug Sahm sounds so much like himself, he makes other people's tunes sound as if he wrote them himself. Again, that's something that was true throughout his career, but here it is in sharper relief than most of his records due to the nature of the sessions. And while it's arguable whether this is better than latter-day Sir Douglas Quintet albums – or such mid-'70s records as Groover's Paradise or Texas Rock for Country Rollers for that matter – there's no question that this is music that is vividly, excitedly alive and captures Sahm at a peak. It's pretty much irresistible.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

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Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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The 1992 compilation The Best of Doug Sahm's Atlantic Sessions – released that year in the U.S. on Rhino, and followed three years later with a reissue by Sequel in the U.K. – culls 19 highlights from the sessions that yielded two records in 1973: the highly-regarded Doug Sahm and Band and Texas Tornado. Sahm signed to Atlantic in 1972 at the behest of the label's co-owner and resident producer Jerry Wexler, who was a fan of the Sir Douglas Quintet, and was anxious to work with its leader once the band took a hiatus at the end of their contract with Mercury. Wexler, along with co-producer Arif Mardin, assembled an all-star band in New York for Sahm – featuring such luminaries as Flaco Jimenez, Dr. John, David "Fathead" Newman, David Bromberg, and Bob Dylan – who were augmented by several of Sir Doug's favorite hometown players (including his mainstay Augie Meyers). These sessions were far-ranging and included too much material to fit onto one record, but Sahm kept recording for Atlantic, reconvening with a version of the Quintet, who were billed as the Sir Doug Band, to cut material that wound up on Texas Tornado, along with outtakes from the New York sessions. While both of these records featured Sahm in top form and generated classics like "(Is Anybody Going To) San Antone," "Texas Tornado," and "Nitty Gritty," they didn't fare well on the charts, and Sahm left the label after two albums, with the records remaining out of print for many years. This compilation was the first time this material was issued on CD, though two of the aforementioned tracks did appear on the 1990 compilation The Best of Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975, and it's a pretty good summary of the best of the two Atlantic records, capturing the basic loose, freewheeling nature of the sets, and featuring many of the best songs, not just the three mentioned above, but also "Hard Way," "Chicano," "Dealer's Blues," "San Francisco FM Blues," "Juan Mendoza," "I Get Off," and the Dylan-penned "Wallflower." However, many of the cuts that didn't make the cut, such as "It's Gonna Be Easy" or "Me and Paul," would have been better selections than what did make it here. Furthermore, the four previously unreleased tracks – "Box Car Hobo," "The Image of Me," "Blue Horizon," and "A Song About Myself" – are good, but compared to the wealth of tremendous unreleased material on the comprehensive, 2003 double-disc Rhino Handmade set, The Genuine Texas Groover, it's strange that these were selected for inclusion here, since every cut on that set bests those here. (It's doubly strange that none of these four songs made that collection, either, since it was designed to be a nearly-complete retrospective of Sahm's Atlantic recordings, but perhaps they were left behind due to a lack of space, or discographical error; either way, the outtakes and alternates on The Genuine Texas Groover are better than those here, yet completists will certainly want this collection for these rarities). Nevertheless, the compilation is a good one, covering one of Sahm's best periods, and if you own neither Doug Sahm and Band or Texas Tornado, this is worth having – although it also true that anybody interested in this will certainly be more satisfied by the embarrassment of riches on the peerless The Genuine Texas Groover. If you're going to sample the Atlantic sessions, spend the time and money and hunt that set down instead, but this one will do in a pinch (and it certainly was a fine substitute in the years before that double-disc collection existed).

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

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Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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Upon original release, Texas Rock for Country Rollers was credited to Sir Doug and the Texas Tornados. Little did anyone know how much confusion this might eventually create when years later Sahm formed a new band called the Texas Tornados with a nucleus of himself and several other musical legends from that state, only one of whom appears on this album, other than Sahm himself. That would be Augie Meyers, a regular sidekick of Sahm's from the Sir Douglas Quintet, so what is the reason that this isn't simply identified as a Sir Douglas Quintet album? Only the fact that there are at least six players present on the tracks, but funny, simple math never stopped Sahm from doing anything sensible before. In terms of presentation, attitude, and musical direction, this is pretty much a Sir Douglas Quintet-type affair, is definitely not a record by what would become the Texas Tornados, and includes at least three genuine classics such as the beautiful "Give Back the Key to My Heart," later to be redone by the band Uncle Tupelo. Good playing and better vibes abound but there is the feeling that somebody was asleep at the wheel, in that some of the best tracks simply fade out right in the middle of an important chorus. Why would a producer do this, unless there was some problem in the track that they couldn't stand to let anyone hear? An album most Sahm fans will want to own, and one in the could-have-been-a-contender category.

by Eugene Chadbourne, AMG

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Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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In the '70s Augie Meyers cranked up a label called Texas and released a string of albums. The catalog included several live recordings involving a group of musicians that could be credited as loosely as they are for this production, or might also be known as the Sir Douglas Quintet or the Texas Tornados. Anyway, it's Doug Sahm and his faithful sidekick Augie Meyers plus many of the usual cohorts, including a horn section that sounds as if it has been practicing unison statements after every meal for the last decade. The live recording sound is perfectly acceptable for a '70s rock date, and the only thing that might detract from the experience of reliving a night at the infamous Armadillo Ballroom is the almost ridiculous jukebox nature of the program. Sahm's sidemen often complained that the leader neglected his brilliant original material for the sake of playing as many different covers as possible, and if the matter ever came to a jury trial, this recording could be brought in as exhibit A. There is a Chuck Berry song, followed by pretty little "Susie Q," followed by "Crazy Arms" – well, it is like a frat party that gets crashed by an old redneck trucker carrying a boom box. The last two songs are a cover of "Purple Haze"–very nice, as could be expected – and five minutes of jazz, competent, unexpected, and a weird way to end the show. This last instrumental, "Outro Song," is credited to Sahm, and there are only three other examples of his songwriting performed, best of which is a romping version of "Nuevo Laredo."

by Eugene Chadbourne, AMG

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Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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In 2003, Texas Music Group released Juke Box Music/Last Real Texas Blues Band, which contained two complete albums – Juke Box Music (1989, originally released on Antone's) and The Last Real Texas Blues Band (1994, originally released on Antone's) – by Doug Sahm on one compact disc.

by John Bush, AMG

Juke Box Music

Supported by the Antone's house band, Doug Sahm runs through 15 R&B and doo-wop classics for Juke Box Music. Oddly there's no Tex-Mex here, considering that Sahm is one of the defining figures of the genre, but that's just a minor complaint, since the music here is just terrific. There's a wonderful relaxed quality to the performances, and the song selection boasts a number of forgotten gems, resulting in a little treasure for fans of R&B and American roots music.

by Thom Owens, AMG

The Last Real Texas Blues Band

The Last Real Texas Blues Band is a typically eclectic and enjoyable record from Doug Sahm, but what makes it different than the rest of his catalog is focus. Where most of Sahm's albums are equally divided between the pedestrian and the genius, The Last Real Texas Blues Band is a nearly perfect roots record, boasting both a stellar set of songs and exciting, unpredictable performances that make it arguably his best record ever.

by Thom Owens, AMG

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Doug Sahm (Sir Doug, Sir Douglas Quintet) - CD Сollection (1973-2000)

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This and Beat Rocket's companion reissue of the 1966 The Best of Sir Douglas Quintet album seem to gather most or all of what the group recorded for Tribe in the mid-'60s. Seems simple enough, but it's cause for rejoicing among '60s collectors, considering that this back catalog had somehow eluded the marketplace for more than 30 years prior to these two sets. If you're looking to choose one over the other, The Best of would get the nod for its inclusion of their only two Tribe hits: ("She's About a Mover" and "The Rains Came"). However, the various flop singles and outtakes comprising The Sir Douglas Quintet Is Back! are about equal in quality to the sister volume, with the same invigorating, erratic combination of British Invasion, Cajun, blues, soul, country, and even folk-rock. Certainly "In Time," a minor-key Sahm original with echoes of the Animals and the Zombies, and "Blues Pass Me By," a grand illustration of Sahm's stature as one of the finest white soul-rock vocalists ever, rate among their finer moments. Another Sahm original, "She Digs My Love," has astonishing fluttering blues-rock guitar licks that sound a hell of a lot like Jimi Hendrix – although Hendrix had yet to release records under his own name when it came out. According to the liner notes, their debut 1964 single "Sugar Bee" preceded the Beatles' "She's a Woman" by several months, boasting a very similar riff and rhythm. It does make you wonder whether some of rock's giants somehow managed to borrow some ideas from Sir Douglas Quintet singles that very few people heard. At times the material on this disc can be perfunctory, but the mix of so many elements in one band (and sometimes in one song) are seldom less than interesting.

by Richie Unterberger, AMG