http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=1123496940/pagename =/RP/ALLSTAR/article.html/fid=157344 1000 Mourners Attend Doug Sahm's Funeral Nov 24, 1999, 1:20 pm PT Some 1000 friends, fans, and fellow musicians joined Doug Sahm's family on Tuesday (Nov. 22) at the Sunset Memorial Funeral Home in his native San Antonio, Texas to pay their last respects to the legendary Texas musician. Among the overflow crowd were his fellow Texas Tornados Flaco Jimenez, Augie Meyers, and newest member Little Joe Hernandez (Freddy Fender was conspicuous in his absence), as well as guitar star Jimmie Vaughan, country artist Lee Roy Parnell, Texas singer-songwriters Joe Ely and Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Sahm acolyte Joe "King" Carrasco. Although the mood was somber, it was punctuated by laughs and applause as Sahm's brother, sons, and daughter recalled the manknown as Sir Douglas, who died last Thursday (Nov. 18) (allstar, Nov. 19) from what was determined to be heart disease. "I never met anyone like Doug," said Sister Terry, Sahm's 87-year-old "spiritual advisor," who led the service, and had known the Texas Tornado since his childhood. No doubt everyone there could say the same of Sahm, who was as beloved as much for his delightful eccentricity as his awesome musical talents and versatility by all who knew him. Before and after the service, mourners were able to view Sahm in his casket, decked out in cowboy hat, purple sport coat, and bolo tie, surrounded by dozens of flower arrangements, his fiddle and triple-neck Fender steel guitar, and pictures of him from throughout his life, including shots of Sahm with such admiring stars as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Brother Victor Sahm recalled the family history and Sir Doug's youth, when his steel guitar talents impressed such country greats as HankWilliams. "This man had immense, immense, immense talent," he noted. Son Shawn Sahm -- who played with his father in the Sir Douglas Quintet -- posed the question, "How do you describe Doug Sahm? Let's be real here. How do you describe the best? A musician, a baseball freak, self-appointed herbologist, part gypsy, a grandfather, a wrestling freak.... As Dad would say, you either get it, or you don't get it. "This is the end of an era, musically" concluded Shawn Sahm. "Nobody could do what my Dad did. Thirty musicians couldn't do what my Dad did." Son Shandon Sahm, who plays with the Meat Puppets and won his own record deal in the early '90s as a member of Pariah, finished the testimonies with a prayer for his father. Following Sahm's interment next to his parents in a private family ceremony, mourners gathered for a wake at the Laboratory Brewing Company, where Meyers, Parnell and Little Joe along with Sahm compadres like Jack Barber, Ernie Durawa and members of San Antonio's Westside Horns jammed to celebrate Sahm's musical legacy.Sahm will also be remembered in a musical tribute on Dec. 3-4 at Antone's nightclub in Austin, where The Texas Tornados recorded their recently-released album, Live From The Limo. -- Rob Patterson