SMM# 20: November, 12th, 2021
November new releases, and a profile of Texas musician Doug Sahm.
New Releases
GOV’T MULE - Heavy Load… Gov’t Mule, led by guitarist/vocalist, Warren Haynes, is one of my all-time favorite bands… I’ve seen them in concert a dozen times over the years and have also seen Warren play numerous other times with the Allman Brothers Band and various bands affiliated with the former members of the Grateful Dead… this is the Mule’s first new studio album in four years and their first-ever blues album and it delivers the goods, as expected… it’s a mix of originals and covers from legendary bluesmen, including Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Bobby Bland and Elmore James… also, included on the accompanying playlist, is a stellar cover of Tom Waits, “Make It Rain”...
NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS - The Future… after putting out a somber, very subdued solo album, And It’s Still Alright (2020), Rateliff makes a welcome return with his band, The Night Sweats... on this new release, All Music Guide says, Rateliff “fuses the Night Sweats rock & roll swagger with the more thoughtful tone of his solo work” and the result is “ultimately quite satisfying”... I would agree with that… this album is a great listen from start to finish!
MARGO CILKER - Pohorylle… the Oregon-based country-rock singer has toured extensively across the U.S. and internationally over the past six years but this is her first full-length release… she recruited country/folk veteran Sera Cahoone to produce who, in turn, put together a band featuring former collaborators of the Decemberists, Son Volt, Joanna Newsom, and Beirut… the result is a promising debut that should appeal to fans of Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and Margo Price…
THE WAR ON DRUGS - I Don’t Live Here Anymore… the indie-rock stalwarts return with their first studio release since 2017’s A Deeper Understanding… the album opens with the slow-paced, somber “Living Proof” but kicks in after that with their trademark 21st century take on anthemic 80s-style rock… there are the usual hints of Springsteen, Dylan and Petty in the music, lyrics and vocals on another consistent set from the band and its leader, Adam Granduciel…
NEAL FRANCIS - In Plain Sight… this is the second album from the Chicago singer, songwriter, and pianist following his 2019 release, Changes... Francis continues to mix R&B with the classic rock sounds of Elton John and Billy Joel… while the previous album relied on a horn section, Francis said in a recent interview he decided to use synthesizers this time to give the album a fresh sound... prior to going solo, he had played with a Chicago instrumental funk ensemble called the Heard and you can hear that influence in the music… he also spices things up with some Steely Dan-style jamming on the song, “BNYLV”...
Artist Spotlight: Doug Sahm, Roots-Music Icon
“Doug was like me, maybe the only figure from that period of time that I connected with. His was a big soul. He had a hit record, “She’s About a Mover”, and I had a hit record (“Like a Rolling Stone”) at the same time. So we became buddies back then, and we played the same kind of music. We never really broke apart. We always hooked up at certain intervals in our lives… I’d never met anyone who played on stage with Hank Williams before, let alone someone my own age. Doug had a heavy frequency and it was in his nerves… I miss Doug. He got caught in the grind. He should still be here.” -- Bob Dylan
“I once said the analogy that Doug was like St. Sebastian -- pierced by 1,000 arrows -- but instead of blood, talent came out of every wound. I really regard him as the best musician I ever knew, because of his versatility and the range of information and taste.” -- Jerry Wexler, legendary Atlantic Records producer
Doug Sahm was one of the most talented and versatile artists in rock music history… he was a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who mastered the steel guitar, mandolin, fiddle, electric guitar, electric bass, dobro, drums, piano and even bajo sexto, a 12-string Mexican guitar... he could play any musical style and was a pioneer of “Tex-Mex” music, which was a blend of Tejano, conjunto, blues, country, R&B, and rock n’ roll… he was also at the forefront of the “progressive” country music movement that sprung up in Austin, Texas in the late 60s and early 70s…
Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, he was a musical child prodigy, learning to play the steel guitar at the age of six… he made his recording debut at the age of 14 in 1955 and became part of the local music scene… in 1965, under the guidance of Texas producer Huey Meaux, he formed the band the Sir Douglas Quintet and they had a major hit with the song, "She's About a Mover"... the band name and their sound was meant to capitalize on the soaring popularity of The Beatles and British Invasion music…
Soon afterwards, Doug moved to San Francisco and ended up staying for over five years… he re-formed the Sir Douglas Quintet and joined the music scene out there, playing many shows at legendary venues like the Fillmore West and Avalon Ballroom… he became friends with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead and played shows with fellow Texan, Janis Joplin and Big Brother & The Holding Company… he also recorded several SDQ albums and, in December 1968, he even appeared with his son, Shawn, on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine…
In 1971, he moved back to Texas and eventually settled in Austin and joined the hot new music scene there… in 1972, he disbanded the Sir Douglas Quintet and soon after met up with famed Atlantic Records producer, Jerry Wexler… Wexler was intrigued with the “progressive” country music coming out of Austin TX and he signed Doug to Atlantic… in 1972, he recorded what is probably Sahm’s most well known album, Doug Sahm and Band, in New York City with guest appearances by Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Flaco Jimenez, and David Bromberg… Doug had become good friends with Dylan in 1965 and Dylan contributed the song “Wallflower” to the album… the relationship with Atlantic was short-lived as they folded their country division in 1973… Doug moved to Warner Bros and released a solid rockin’ album, Groover’s Paradise, in 1974, followed by, Texas Rock for Country Rollers, a 1976 release on ABC-Dot… that album included one of his best songs, “Give Back the Key to My Heart” which was later covered by Uncle Tupelo on their classic 1993 album, Anodyne, with backing vocals from Doug…
During the 80s and 90s, Sahm continued to crank out albums of varying quality… his most successful venture was the Tex-Mex “supergroup,” the Texas Tornados... featuring Doug, Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender (of the hit “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” fame) and Flaco Jiminez, they released three outstanding studio albums and some live albums followed (NOTE: YouTube has a cool video of a rollicking appearance by the band on the David Letterman show in 1990 doing their song, “Adios Mexico”)… Doug also released two great albums in the 90s of vintage blues and R&B, Juke Box Music and The Last Real Texas Blues Band (which are packaged together on Spotify)...
Finally, I did happen to see Doug perform as opening act for the New Riders of The Purple Sage at S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook way back in September 1974... I remember him being a real showman who did a lot of talking to the audience between songs... sadly, Sahm passed away from a heart attack in a hotel in Taos, New Mexico in 1999 at the too young age of 58…
RECOMMENDED ALBUM LIST:
Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975 (1990)
DOUG SAHM - Doug Sahm And Band (1973)
SIR DOUG & THE TEXAS TORNADOS - Texas Rock for Country Rollers (1976)
TEXAS TORNADOS - Los Texas Tornados (1990)
Bonus Playlist: 60s-70s Austin Music Scene
While Doug Sahm was out in San Francisco from 1966 to 1971, an interesting music scene developed back in his home state of Texas, with the city of Austin at the center of it... Austin was the home of several long gone popular concert venues including Vulcan Gas Company, Stone Creek Saloon and a huge old National Guard Armory called the Armadillo World Headquarters that hosted shows by almost every famous rock, blues and country act of the 70s…
I have put together a playlist highlighting some of the notable artists who were part of the Austin scene… most of them fell into the “progressive” country bucket… the list includes: country music legend Willie Nelson... influential garage rockers, 13th Floor Elevators... journeyman folk-country artists, Michael Martin Murphey and Jerry Jeff Walker… a one-album wonder, Willis Alan Ramsey and short-lived local bands, Shiva’s Headband and Freda & The Firedogs… this last band never recorded but did produce a future roots music star in singer/piano player, Marcia Ball… they were reunited in 2009 to record the playlist song for the Doug Sahm tribute album, Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm…—SL