Remembering 'Texas Tornado' Doug Sahm

Sir Doug, who died 10 years ago, honored with new CD and several events at SXSW

Doug Sahm events at SXSW

• The Doug Sahm Tribute with Shawn Sahm, Augie Meyers and Alejandro
  Escovedo begins at 9:55 p.m. Wednesday at Austin Music Hall, 208 Nueces
  St., during the Austin Music Awards. The ceremony begins at
  7:55 p.m. Tickets are $15 (cash), $16 (charge) at Waterloo Records, 600
  N. Lamar Blvd.
• The Doug Sahm Tribute featuring Shawn Sahm, the Gourds, Dave Alvin,
  Jimmie Vaughan, Sarah Borges begins at 8 p.m. Thursday at Antone's,
  213 W. Fifth St. (This is an official SXSW event.)
• Bill Bentley will moderate the panel "Doug Sahm's 'Mendocino'" from
  noon to 1:15 p.m. Saturday in Room 16B of the Austin Convention Center.
  On the panel: Harvey Kagan, Augie Meyers. Margaret Moser, Jan Reid and
  Shawn Sahm. (Panel for SXSW badgeholders only.)

Memories
alive backstage at the Austin Music Awards

By John
T. Davis | Thursday, March 19, 2009, 10:29 AM
Austin Music Awards 9:45-10:30 p.m. Wednesday Austin Music Hall
“Don’t go out there! There’s old people pogo-ing!”
Those were the first words I heard backstage at the Austin Music Awards,
midway through the festivities at the Austin Music Hall. The remark was a
cautionary injunction in regard to the reunion of the Raul’s/Duke’s Royal Coach
Inn/Club Foot punk warhorses, the Dicks. Sure enough, the graying members of the
band bopped energetically onstage (“spry,” I guess was the proper word, a
designation I’m sure the band members would be mortified to see applied to them)
onstage.
Backstage, a somber shadow temporarily eclipsed the ebullience. Bandleader
Cornell Hurd spoke movingly of the loss of his friend Danny Young, the “Mayor of
South Austin,” musician and owner of the Texicali Grill. Young was shortly to be
inducted into the Hall of Fame. “I never met anybody like him before, and I
won’t live long enough to meet someone like him again,” said Hurd.
In an adjoining room, the late Doug Sahm’s old compadre and bandmate,
keyboardist Augie Meyers, spoke movingly of his friend. “I loved the guy. Me and
Doug were friends since we were 12, and I’m going to be 69 soon. His spirit is
always floating around.”
Meyers would soon take the stage with Doug’s sons Shawn and Shandon and
members of the Texas Tornados and special guests for “SDQ2: A Tribute To Doug
Sahm.”
The clouds of loss were dispersed the moment Shawn Sahm plugged in onstage,
yelped, “Are you guys ready to have some fun,” and kicked off an
accordion-spiced rendition of the Sir Douglas Quintet classic, “Nuevo Laredo.”
Meyers took center stage for “Hey Baby, Que Paso,” and after a full-house
sing-along of “She’s About A Mover,” the ensemble yielded the stage to Alejandro
Escovedo and the Fireants, who encored with Sahm’s “Too Little Too Late,” a song
Escovedo reprised on a forthcoming tribute record to Sahm.
“We want to take this whole year to celebrate Doug and see that he gets a
little cred,” said Shawn Sahm before the set. Wednesday’s Awards Show set marked
an auspicious start.

SXSW: Austin Music Awards at Austin Music Hall

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Alejandro Escovedo (second from left), Shawn Sahm and two
Fireants (background).

Though he passed away in 1999, Doug Sahm
was there too, via son Shawn Sahm's tribute that saw a stageful of Sir Doug's
acolytes and former bandmates scare up some stinging San Antonio conjunto boogie
on "Nuevo Laredo" and "Hey Baby Que Paso." Sahm's fellow Texas Tornado Augie
Meyers' inimitable Vox organ had the packed house's hair standing on end while
their feet moved of their own accord during "She's About a Mover."

Still,
the spookiest song was multiple award-winner (including Musician of the Year)
Alejandro Escovedo and youthful Austin roots-rockers the Fireants - who had
already backed Bob Schneider; a clattering, Tom Waits-ish song was all Rocks Off
caught of that set - for "Too Little, Too Late," a song Escovedo co-wrote with
Sahm featured on Vanguard Records' brand-new compilation Keep Your Soul: A
Tribute to Doug Sahm. Lesser-known than the rest of the set's material, it
was a deep cut that cut deep.

Live Shots

SXSW showcase reviews

Doug Sahm Tribute
Antone's, Thursday, March 19
Doug Sahm never stood in one place for too long as this two-hour tribute
demonstrated. The man defined Texas music, which meant rock, Tex-Mex, blues,
jazz, and country intermingled, and it still makes perfect sense. Jimmie
Vaughan led off the night swinging, especially on the horn-driven "Why Why
Why," the 1950s-style soul track he lends to the upcoming Sahm tribute disc,
Keep Your Soul. Sir Doug's country rock side was covered by the
Gourds and a lively "Nuevo Laredo," but the fire was lit when son
Shawn Sahm & the Tex-Mex Experience hit the stage with a dancing take
of "Adios Mexico." The younger Sahm's a spitting image of his father in many
ways, one of them being a talkative stage presence that kept things lively
during set changes. Dave Alvin joined in, aided by Cindy
Cashdollar and her steel guitar, for "Dynamite Woman." "When I was young, I
wanted to be Doug Sahm when I grew up," Alvin claimed. "Tonight I get to
pretend." There were left-field appearances as well, one by local blues guitar
wunderkind Jake Andrews (with Keep Your Soul producer Bill Bentley
on drums), and Massachusetts country rocker Sarah Borges. Those that
stuck it out were rewarded with a blowout of a finale as all the living members
of the Texas Tornados – Augie Meyers, Flaco Jimenez,
Ernie Durawa, and Speedy Sparks – joined for a mini set of their
greatest hits, right down to the Freddy Fender nod "Wasted Days and Wasted
Nights." It was the kind of raucous celebration that Doug Sham would have loved,
tempered with the knowledge that he left a legacy of great music and a world
full of memories that many of us still miss.

SXSW
Review: Doug Sahm Tribute at Antone’s

By John
T. Davis | Friday, March 20, 2009, 12:12 PM
(8 p.m., Thursday)
I’ve been in a Doug Sahm frame of mind this week. It’s hard to avoid
reflecting how much SXSW, with its relentlessly catholic blend of genres and its
communal search for the ultimate chord, owes to the spirit of the musically
restless San Antonio native who never met a groove he didn’t like.
Thursday night’s tribute to Sahm at Antone’s, marking the decade since his
untimely passing and the release of a new star-studded tribute album, was much
like a conversation with the man himself: overstuffed, wide-ranging and
ultimately exhiliarating.
Blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan kicked things off with a tribute to the
greasy, horn-laden Houston R&B Sahm loved so much (think Bobby Blue Bland
and the great Peacock/Duke Records hits to come out of the Bayou City). Backed
by an ensemble that included Sir Douglas Quintet drummer George Rains and an
A-team horn section composed of Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff, Greg Piccolo (ex-Roomful of
Blues) and Ephriam Owens, Vaughan’s guitar fireworks junp-started a crowd
already brimming with anticipation.
The Gourds followed with an homage to the Tex-Mex border fusion of rock and
conjunto/norteño that were the backbone of great Sir Douglas Quintet hits like
“Nuevo Laredo,” “Nitty Gritty” and their own tip of the hat to the SDQ legacy,
“Shake the Chandelier.”
Doug’s son Shawn continues the legacy with his own band, the Tex-Mex
Experience. Joined by Dave Alvin and steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar, the
younger Sahm embodied his father’s joyful, effervescent embrace of the musical
moment: “Awrite, now we’re grooving!” he shouted after “Dynamite Woman,” “Now,
let’s bring up some horns. If you guys want to play, come groove with us, that’s
what it’s all about!”
After two numbers by Sarah Borges, Shawn Sahm returned to the stage to
conduct the evening’s final segment, a stomping, shaking recreation of his dad’s
last great ensemble, the Texas Tornados. Joined by Tornados stalwarts drummer
Ernie Durawa and guitarist Louie Ortega, and featuring accordion king Flaco
Jimenez, trumpeter Al Gomez, bassist Speedy Sparks and Doug’s right hand man,
keyboardist Augie Meyers, the ten musicians punched thorough “Who Were You
Thinking Of,” “Hey Baby, Que Paso” (the national anthem of San Antonio), “Wasted
Days and Wasted Nights,” “She’s About A Mover” and “Mendocino” — five perfect
songs, a 20-minute seminar in the solid gold musical legacy of Sir Doug
Sahm.
http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2009/03/20/sxsw_review_doug_sahm_tribute.html

Doug Sahm Remembered At SXSW

.. ...... Alejandro Escovedo paid tribute to Doug Sahm at SXSW. March 20, 2009 09:32 AM ET Gary Graff, Austin, TX With a tribute album coming Tuesday (March 24), the late Doug Sahm was the subject of two live homage's this week at South By Southwest. A Texas Tornados set highlighted a two-hour show on Thursday night at Antone's, which featured several of the artists who contributed tracks to Vanguard's "Keep Your Soul: a Tribute to Doug Sahm," which commemorates the Texas music legend who came to fame leading the Sir Douglas Quintet. Led by Sahm's son Shawn, the Tornados' portion of the concert reunited surviving band members Augie Meyers and Flaco Jiminez for a six-song romp. They played lively versions of "Who Were You Thinking Of?," "San Antone," Meyers' "(Hey Baby) Que Paso," a nod to the late Freddy Fender with a hot rendition of "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" (sung by Nunie Rubio) and Sahm's best-known hits, "She's About a Mover" and "Mendocino." In addition to a documentary that's being made about his father, Shaw Sahm also told the crowd that he, Meyers and Jimenez have recorded a new Tornados album – the group's first studio set since 1996's "4 Aces," which will included some tracks with Freddy Fender recorded before his death in 2006. The Thursday night tribute also featured performances by Jimmie Vaughan, the Gourds, Dave Alvin and Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles,  while Jake Andrews fronted a version of "Glad For Your Sake" that featured "Keep Your Soul" co-producer Bill Bentley on drums. Doug Sahm, who was saluted as "the father of Americana music," was also honored at the Austin Music Awards on Wednesday night with another performance that featured "She's About a Mover" and Alejandro Escovedo recreating his version of "Too Little Too Late" from the "Keep Your Soul" album. .. .. ...... .. .. .. .. Other artists who took part in the tribute project include Los Lobos, Delbert McClinton, Charlie Sexton, Little Willie G, Terry Allen and a collaboration between Joe "King" Carrasco and the Texas Tornados.

SXSW 09 Will Be a Groover's Paradise

..

..A few weeks ago, Rocks Off could
barely contain his enthusaism when he opened the mail - a momentous enough
occasion in itself - and
found an advance of Vanguard Records' Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug
Sahm. He put it on as soon as he got home (his piddly office CD player
is just not groovy enough to handle such a disc), and was hardly
disappointed.
Whether it's ex-Afghan Whig and current Gutter Twin Greg Dulli growling "You
Was for Real," Dave Alvin's kinetic honky-tonker "Dynamite Woman," Ry Cooder and
Wille G (of '60s Latino rockers Thee Midnighters) chicken-scratching "She's
About a Mover" or Shawn Sahm's spot-on rendition of "Mendocino" - with both his
and his dad's bandmate Augie Meyers on that immortal Vox organ - this one's for
real all right. 

As you can see from the poster, SXSW is hardly going to let the release of
Keep Your Soul go unheralded. Every day, in fact, brings some sort of
Sahm-related event. Rocks Off plans to go to as many as possible, of course. In
fact, this has aroused feelings in him he thought were long gone - namely,
he's actually looking forward to going to SXSW again. Thanks a lot, Sir
Doug!
Keep Your Soul will be released March 24.

Off the Record

Music news

Dispossessed Men and Mothers of Texas

An
outtake from Sahm’s second cover shoot for Rolling Stone (July 8,
1971), courtesy of famed rock photographer Baron Wolman: “I loved Doug
and miss him; we all do.”

Photo courtesy of Baron Wolman