Sir Doug

O.K., I brought up Gatemouth Brown then, Margaret brought up Johnny Winter. Naturally, my train of thought led to record producer/manager and convicted molester Huey P. Meaux. Once the train starts, it tends to roll on and my thoughts drifted to the music of The Sir Douglas Quintet and of course, Doug Sahm.

Now, the story I’ve always heard was that, Meaux, who was managing and producing the San Antonio based band, thought it would be a good idea to package and promote them with a British look, possibly even leading people to believe that they were part of the British Invasion.

Whether this strategy worked or not is anybody’s guess. The band did have some degree of success. Ironic to me, in this marketing ploy, is the fact that Doug Sahm’s music sounded anything but British. He was a product of a wide variety of musical influences, Country, Blues, R&B, folk, various types of music that originated in Mexico, and of course, rock and roll.

In later years, some referred to his mixture as Tex-Mex but, that really doesn’t cover it. He had this ability to figure out what it was that produced the genuine feel of a particular style. It is noteworthy that Sahm was well traveled on this eclectic highway years before the release of the seminal “Music From Big Pink”.

In recent years many Americana and roots rock purveyors have tipped their faded ball caps to the music of Sahm and The Sir Douglas Quintet. The Bottle Rockets released a very nice collection, “Songs Of Sahm“, that was produced by Lou Whitney. Regulars will recognize Lou as my good friend and also, the producer of my disc “Trouble Ain’t Over”.

In the early 80’s I took a brief stab at Austin, Texas. I was under-funded and overwhelmed. I did meet Doug Sahm during that period. He was actually doing some type of construction work for some people that were trying to start a Texas oriented, cable music network. So, when I met Sahm, he was wearing a tool belt. He was very energetic and funny. When I was introduced, I told him I was a big fan. He acted like he didn’t quite know what to make of that. Maybe he was being modest or, surprised that a youngster had done some research; he just seemed kind of puzzled. But, he seemed to be a very nice man.

Here is a video of The Sir Douglas Quintet performing “She’s About A Mover”. It has some great ingredients, Beatle hair, Farfisa organ, maracas and go-go dancers so, dig in and enjoy.