mo' sir doug

when i briefly lived in austin at the ass-end of the '70s, i usedta go see sir doug (sans augie but with his son shawn on lead gtr) at soap creek saloon, which was also the first place i ever heard the mc5's "i can only give you everything" (they had it on the jukebox). when i was stationed in korea in '82-'83, i usedta go to the base library and listen to the doug sahm and band lp (the one with "is anyone going to san antone") through headphones. when i was stationed in abilene in the late '80s, i saw him with lou ann barton, playing in a strip joint because it was the only place in town that had a stage and a p.a. that wasn't a church.

much like gatemouth brown, doug swallowed texas music in all its forms whole. the san antonian was a big influence on another big t-bone walker fan, sumter bruton -- check out his alb the last real texas blues band to grok that side of his persona to the fullness. he grew up playing bob wills fiddle tunes, and was authentic enough a tejano to stand onstage next to freddy fender and flaco jimenez in the texas tornados. bob dylan dug him. you can't name a more original or organic 'meercun musician.