"And I think I'll call it morning from now on... why should I survive on sadness and tell myself I got to be alone..." Presenting a six pack for early risers. Wakey wakey, people. Gil Scott-Heron - I Think I Call It Morning Rob Galbraith - Jezebel Of The Morning Doug Sahm - Catch Me In The Morning Lighty Singers Of Estill, SC - In The Morning When The Trumpet Sound The [...]
Armadillo World HQ poster by Jim Franklin Editor's Note: This is a blog post that originally appeared in 2010, repeated here in case you can't get home to the Armadillo this holiday season. Long as I can remember, the corner of Riverside Drive and Barton Springs Road in Austin, Texas, has been a Thanksgiving Day oasis. Today of course that's the location of Threadgill's World Headquarters , a down-home restaurant with killer chicken-fried steak and the best tattooed waitresses in town. [...]
The great Flaco Jiménez We've written about this act before, probably too many times, but there is no way around it: the Texas Tornados are a great live act. Anchored by guitarist/singer Shawn Sahm (son of the late, very great Doug Sahm), keyboardist Augie Meyers and the very, very great accordionist Flaco Jiménez, the Tornados bring some Texas thunder every place they play. Thursday night under a perfect sky, and with Houston's gleaming skyline in the background, the Tornados played a free show in Discovery Green park that drew one of the season's biggest [...]
Taking a little break here, yeah it's vacation but it's also gonna be a wild week in New York City. Surely we'll find something that is worth posting about next week ... In the meantime, please feel free to enjoy this version of "Mendocino," the Sir Douglas Quintet classic covered by the beloved Texas Tornados with Augie Meyer, Flaco Jimenez and Sir Doug's very own son Shawn Sahm. Best enjoyed under a big Texas summer moon, but any way is great.
Hello again and a warm welcome to Wild Weekend , issue 64. As no real interesting new stuff struck my eardrums this week alas, we'll just have to make do with a bunch of oldies goldies. No probs, as we're talking tracks by Delroy Wilson, Sir Doug Sahm and Louis Jordan amongst others. And a Japanese star fruits surf rider. Now is that wild or what? We'll start with a fine song from a very fine album: Doug Sahm's '74 Tex-Mex masterpiece Groovers Paradise . Sir Doug's got the [...]
Sir Douglas Quintet, 1965 L-R: Doug Sahm: vocals, guitars, fiddle, arrangements Augie Meyers: organ Johnny Perez: drums Jack Barber: bass Frank Morin: saxophone, percussion, harmony vocals Huey Meaux died a week ago today (April 23, to be precise) at the age of 82, the last 15 years of which were spent behind bars. We don't need to immerse ourselves in the specifics of his internment, but I will quote the great prophet, Richard Pryor : "Thank God we have penitentiaries." [...]
Huey Meaux loved to say that he came up with the idea for the Sir Douglas Quintet while holed up in a San Antonio motel armed with nothing but Beatles records, Thunderbird wine , and underage Mexican hookers. His drunkpiphany was that The Beatles were basically playing a variation on the Cajun two-step, with a similar accent on the beat. Meaux called Doug Sahm , then 22 and still a relative unknown, cajoling him, "Bring your guitar and come over, Doug. I'm drunk, but I've got that beat. And that's how [...]
by Will Rigby Leon Payne's song "Psycho" is legendary, and rightly so. Payne was a blind country singer and songwriter who has the distinction of having two of his songs recorded by Hank Williams: "Lost Highway" (listen to Leon's version here ) and "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me." Other well-known songs he wrote are "I Love You Because," which Elvis Presley recorded at his first session for Sun Records in 1954, and "Things Have Gone To Pieces," originally a hit for George Jones. On a day off in [...]
In a few months the world (at least, that part of the world which still listens to real music) will turn its ears toward Austin, Texas, for the annual mecca of indie/alt/punk/experimental/fo lk/whatever acts called South by Southwest. We love Austin and all, but that's not why we're here today. No, we want to talk a bit about our hometown - Houston. Contrary to popular impression, Houston's actually a rockin' place. It's a BIG rockin' place. Yes, Houston is one of the biggest cities in the country and we do have all of the good and bad stuff that [...]
Armadillo World HQ poster by Jim Franklin Long as I can remember, the corner of Riverside Drive and Barton Springs Road in Austin, Texas, has been a Thanksgiving Day oasis. Today of course that's the location of Threadgill's World Headquarters, a down-home restaurant with killer chicken-fried steak and the best tattooed waitresses in town. And yes, they are open on Thanksgiving Day: usually the place is packed by 11 a.m. and although no reservations are necessary you can expect to wait at least an hour before being seated. [...]
Lightnin' Hopkins and his official marker from the State of Texas Two of Texas' greatest musical legends have received permanent markers in their respective home towns, signs that share their legends with visitors. Bluesman Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins received an official Texas State Historical marker in Houston's Third Ward, while legendary rock and roller Doug Sahm got a permanent marker atop the hill named after him in Austin. The colorful marker now atop Doug Sahm Hill Hopkins, who died in 1982, is only [...]
Wilco's long list of covers helps illustrate the band's changing sound through the years.
Texas Tornados blowin' through Houston's Discovery Green park No warnings were necessary as the Texas Tornados tore through Houston Thursday night, spawning dance-floor twisters with a raucous Tex-Mex blend of rock and roll. The Tornados are anchored by Lone Star music legends Augie Meyers (Vox organ) and Flaco Jiménez (accordion), who were among the original members of this band, and guitarist/singer Shawn Sahm, son of the late, great Doug Sahm. This was a free show in the Bayou City's beautiful Discovery Green park, and the Tornados attracted a sizable crowd that seemed ready to [...]
From 1992, a classic: "Mendocino," the oldie from the Sir Douglas Quintet, performed by the Texas Tornados in Gruene Dance Hall in Gruene, Texas. The Tornados included ex-Sir Douglas Quintet keyboardist Augie Meyers, Tejano accordion player Flaco Jimenez, the late, great Freddy Fender and the equally great (and late) Sir Douglas Sahm. The Texas Tornados are gonna play a free show in Houston, Sept. 23 at the Discovery Green downtown park. They then go to San Antonio to headline Lone Star beer's " Bash at the Brewery " [...]
More than once someone has asked, "If I wanted to throw a party at my house and I wanted that Texas sound, what should I play?" Well if your house is in Buffalo, New York, then you can play the Goo Goo Dolls and and probably half the crowd would say "Yeah, that's Texas." (And hopefully the other half would correctly recognize the Goo Goos are a local band from Buffalo.) And unfortunately that's sort of the situation here in Texas. This state has many transplants who really couldn't identify a true Texas artist outside the obvious (Willie [...]
Riffling through my big sister's stack of records I found an album that many people would consider a lost classic: Rick Danko , the 1977 solo debut album from the bass player and singer from the Band. It was the first solo LP by a member of that beloved group, which had famously disbanded the year before with its "Last Waltz" concert in San Francisco. And of all the solo projects by the members of the Band, only Rick Danko features each member of the group. Other friends and guests included Eric Clapton, Ron Wood, [...]
The Austin rocker blasts though Bob Dylan, Mott the Hoople, the Rolling Stones and more.
Springtime in Texas is tornado season, but you better get ready: we are now in Texas Tornado season. Yes, the legendary Texas Tornados are back, with a new album and mucho appearances around the Lone Star state (including at SXSW). ¡Esta Bueno! is the new album, featuring original Texas Tornados Augie Meyer and Flaco Jiménez and Shawn Sahm, son of the late great Doug Sahm. The original Texas Tornados were, of course, the Tex-Mex supergroup formed in 1989 by legendary musician Doug Sahm, singer Freddy Fender, keyboardist Augie Meyer and the great norteño [...]
John Angelle at Threadgill's restaurant, under the big Freddie King painting that once hung in the Armadillo World HQ It's been a busy week for us, and we must apologize for not tending the blog recently. We've done a few interviews in advance of South by Southwest, those are coming soon and we have some other cool stuff on the horizon - promise. Today we want to give you something for the weekend ... a little remembrance of the Texas "cosmic cowboy" movement of the 1970s. The other day we mentioned Shiva's [...]
From the closet this week is the San Antonio based Sir Douglas Quintet, whose albums, The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet (1966) and Mendocino (1968) were pretty much the soundtrack to my childhood. The latter of which is still one of my favorite albums of all time. Riding on the coattails of the British invasion of the early sixties, Doug Sahm , (who passed away about 10 years ago) decided on a British sounding name, despite his obvious Texan drawl and with fellow members predominantly from Mexico. Regardless of their lack [...]
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