Remembering Doug Sahm

   To Sir, With Love

   BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY

   November 26, 1999: What is there to say
   about Doug Sahm? What isn't there to say?
   The man wrote and embodied the phrase, "You
   just can't live in Texas if you don't got a
   lot of soul," was truly one of the Lone Star      
   state's musical giants, fitting for such an
   ardent fan of the San Francisco baseball   
   club. With deepest apologies to all those we
   couldn't reach or squeeze in, here's an    
   all-too-brief sampling of the lives he     
   touched.
           
   Clifford Antone, Antone's                        
                                                    
   His favorite thing was Guitar Slim. He'd
   take a San Antonio band into Louisiana and    
   do Guitar Slim tributes with Earl King and    
   those guys. I'd like to remember the times    
   in the late Sixties and early Seventies when  
   he helped Junior Parker. Whatever Doug did,   
   he was doing it authentically. Singin', too   
   -- he could sing "Sweet Sixteen" by B.B.
   King, and hit those high notes you didn't      
   think anyone could hit. The other thing was    
   swamp pop. I never met anybody here who knew   
   about swamp pop, except maybe Speedy Sparks,   
   but Doug knew everything and we could talk     
   for hours. Jivin' Gene, T.K. Hulen, Warren
   Storm, and Tommy McClain -- there's very few     
   people who can talk about that.
                                  
                                                
   Kerry Awn’s Soap Creek posters and Calendars:

   The cartoony psychedelia of Kerry Awn's
   loopy artwork was the perfect
   image for Soap Creek. Awn's
   Doug Sahm posters and
   calendars were drawn from
   photos, particularly those of
   Doug as a child performer. To
   many people, Soap Creek
   represented the real Austin
   while the Armadillo was more
   for tourists; a Doug Sahm gig
   at Soap Creek virtually
   guaranteed something or
   someone would levitate before
   the night was out.

   Angela Strehli, Singer

   Where do you start? He was like a jukebox of
   all Texas music. He knew every important
   song of every style of music that came out
   of Texas. He just lived and breathed it so
   much; his enthusiasm was just infectious.

   Speedy Sparks, Bassist

   Doug always hung out -- at the Continental,
   Hole in the Wall, Antone's, the Broken
   Spoke. He wasn't ever above going out to
   hear other bands play. He was a real music
   lover, and the nightlife was a part of his
   life. When it came to being onstage, he was
   the only one who knew what was going on;
   nobody else had a clue. Nobody. He
   understood it all: rock & roll, blues,
   country. And you felt the spirit when you
   played with Doug. He could bring the best
   out of every player he worked with.

   Paul Ray, KUT

   He was one of the best musicians I ever
   knew. He was one of the first and the best
   ambassadors of Texas music. He and Delbert
   [McClinton] are all that's left of those
   original white-guy blues boys. He always
   showed up when something cool was happening.
   When I first moved to town in '69 or '70, we
   showed up at a keg party on 33rd, and Doug
   was there listening to the Greezy Wheels.
   When you did a deal with Doug, Doug always
   got the best end of the deal. Nobody ever
   got the best of Doug Sahm.

   Terry Lickona, Austin City Limits

   No disrespect intended, but nobody would
   have had as much to say about Doug as he
   would himself. He could cover a lifetime in
   just 10 minutes -- the old days, things he
   had done, wanted to do, plans for an
   upcoming show or trip. We have an
   interesting challenge ahead of us, because
   we taped a new show with the Texas Tornados
   that hasn't even aired yet. It's the first
   time in Austin City Limits history where we
   taped a show and someone died before it
   aired. I did an interview backstage with
   Doug and the guys, where he did most of the
   talking, of course. Wherever I would see
   Doug, he was usually talking about his next
   big plan. The guy could never stand still.

   Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone

   Doug was a friend, a great, lovely character
   and a lover of all great music, and we're
   all sad to see him gone. His many visits to
   the office with his magic briefcase will
   always be among my sweetest memories.

   Brooks Brannon, Hole in the Wall

   I loved that guy. Sometimes he'd stop by on
   his way to a show and be dressed up in his
   stage outfit looking like a million bucks,
   and the next time you'd see him he'd be
   wearing his old San Francisco cap. He loved
   to put down the Cowboys. There are people
   that live at half speed, and Doug lived at
   speed and a half. If there was a hall of
   fame for Texas characters, he would be in
   it.

   Jerry Wexler, Producer

   In my opinion, he's the greatest musician
   I've ever worked with because of his
   incredible versatility and range. Western
   swing, straight country, Norteño, even jazz,
   rock & roll, and blues. He would be just as
   at home with Joe Scott's orchestra as he
   would with Bob Wills. Of all the artists
   I've ever worked with, we have never been
   out of touch. He introduced Bob Dylan to me
   -- we had dinner, and they jammed until the
   wee hours; I got in the way with my bongos.
   When we did [Doug Sahm & Friends], Bob was
   there every day -- he'd pick up his guitar
   and play a couple of rhythm licks or go over
   to the Wurlitzer. What was special to me was
   his great big heart and a great deal of
   empathy reaching out, a lot of love.

   Freddy Fender, Texas Tornados

   I met him in '59, and he was already locally
   known at the top radio station, KTSA, in San
   Antonio. I had "Wasted Days" on the charts;
   he was looking at me as something he wanted
   to be, and he became my friend. When he
   offered me a position in the Texas Tornados,
   I didn't think about it, I just said,
   "Okay." I never had Doug's phone number;
   that's the way he wanted it. I had to tell
   him, "Doug if you can't stop talking, can
   you slow down?" I thank God a lot for having
   known a person like Doug Sahm. He was a
   personality you wouldn't want to miss. The
   fact that he's not with us no more is really
   a reason to quit smiling. The last of the
   hippies has departed. I will always remember
   Doug as an independent personality -- if we
   had tickets to fly to New York, he would
   rent a car and drive. He loved his family
   tremendously. He left a void that I don't
   think is going to be filled.

   Augie Meyers, Texas Tornados

   Doug, come back. He was my buddy for 48
   years.

   Jeff Tweedy, Wilco

   One of the biggest thrills I ever had was
   recording "Key to My Heart" with him in the
   studio. He said, "You guys go ahead and do
   it however you want. When I do my part it'll
   be perfect." His is one of the most
   underrated rock voices of all time. All his
   records have this totally spontaneous feel
   -- it gave us the confidence to try and
   sound sloppy. We hadn't played "Key" in
   maybe three years, and the night before we
   found out he had died we played it at sound
   check. I'm not a weird metaphysical person,
   but that was pretty poignant. So we've been
   playing it every night since then.

   Alvin Crow, Fiddler

   I think the thing that attracted me to Doug
   was I saw someone I had a lot in common
   with, and he saw the same thing in me. He
   didn't start out as a frontman, he started
   as a sideman. We both had a lot of early
   successes, we were both child prodigies. I'm
   losing the only other person I ever met who
   understood me. We had maybe two blowups in
   the 25 years I knew him. Here's a guy who to
   me is a tremendous role model, like an older
   brother. Neither one of us had any interest
   in commercial music. Quality music
   determined what we did.

   Kevin Russell, the Gourds

   There'll never be anybody else like Doug --
   it's just hard to put into words. He really
   was full of life, energy, ideas, full of
   stories. When we do Doug Sahm covers, I
   always say that if Bob Wills is the king of
   Texas, Doug Sahm is the crown prince. His
   music was purely a regional Texas sound, but
   he took it out to the West Coast and did
   some freaky things with it. He was a hero of
   ours. It was always a joy to play with him.
   What I remember most is sitting around a
   house or studio, playing Hank Williams songs
   and him telling stories.

   Darrell K. Royal, Former Coach

   He was consumed with music, just one of
   those guys who's gonna be a musician even if
   he starves.

   Jim Franklin, Artist

   You felt like you could make a joke with him
   and he would get it. He was a guy that
   seemed wired and constantly darting off
   somewhere, kinetic. When he moved back to
   Texas and saw what was happening in Austin,
   he was shocked at how cool it was. He was
   kind of like a troop leader as far as
   conferring to the locals that they were
   important nationally. Also, I would say that
   Sir Doug Sahm was the only Texas rock &
   roller who was ever knighted.

   Charlie Fitch, Sarge Records

   I stopped at a place called the Barn, and
   lil' Doug would come in with his mother and
   father and sit in on steel guitar. He played
   five instruments, and I thought, "Well,
   this'll be good to make a record.' [Later],
   we'd put a big table out there and put four
   instruments on it and he'd go one by one and
   play 'em all.

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