CD Review: Studio Cameroon (Sally Nyolo and the Original Bands of Yaoundé)

Studio Cameroon
Sally Nyolo and the Original Bands of Yaoundé
Riverboat Records/World Music Network
2006
14 tracks

I’m afraid I’m in the position of the proverbial art gallery patron who was heard to exclaim “I may not know much about art, but I know what I like.” I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot about African traditional music, especially its regional variations in areas such as the small nation of Cameroon. Fortunately most of the songs on this release, while they contain traditional elements, are really the stuff of popular music in the new genre, World Music. The music has a familiar ring to it.

If we forget hokey adventure movies featuring lots of frantic drumming and chanting, I suppose my first exposure to African music came almost sixty years ago, when my parents were listening to Americanized versions of African songs such as The Weavers’ “Wimoweh” released in 1952. A decade later, artists like Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela brought African music to North American airwaves and, pop songs like Millie Small’s hit “My Boy Lollipop” introduced the rhythm of Ska to teens around the world. Since then, I’ve discovered the African elements that have influenced Jazz, Blues, and Rock & Roll Music over the decades.

Sally Nyolo is a Cameroon expatriate who had moved with her family when she was 13 to live in Paris. In Paris, she built a career first as a back-up singer and then as lead singer and finally headliner. Her work with the group Zap Mama and as a solo act earned her a degree of stardom in both Europe and America. Drawing upon her success as a proponent of African music to the world, Nyolo returned to her native Cameroon with the goal to develop the local music scene. There she set up a modest studio and sought out talented musicians across the nation. This compilation is the result.

With tracks by thirteen separate artists plus one by Nyolo herself, it would be difficult to comment on the tracks individually. Separately and together, these songs exhibit a very high quality of musicianship that’s a joy to hear. This bright, lively music can’t help but have a cheering influence on the listener. The high quality of the recordings belies the promotional tale that Nyolo had set up her recording studio in “a modest tin-roofed building” so that she could meet with her musicians in a relaxed environment.

In the literature, it’s often unclear what is meant when music is attributed to the new “World Music” genre. If any music exemplifies this genre, it’s the music on this release. While the language of the vocals is sometimes the African language of Cameroon, the lyrics often contain elements of English and French and sometimes seem to be a sort of Creole, mixing two or more of these languages in a new configuration. While at root African, the music is just as diversified, often incorporating very European sounds that bring to mind French or Spanish music with the rhythms sliding between purely Afro beats, something like Ska, and a more complex style that sounds more like Jamaican Rock-Steady or Reggae music.

The musicians appear to be playing a mix of European and traditional African instruments, bringing to the music a varied and rich sound that often defies being tied down to any specific locale. The result is that the arrangements have a depth and fullness that enriches the experience of the listener.

Even the vocals on several of the songs seem to belong less to Africa than to French popular music. What sounds most African to me in the vocals is the backing chants and choruses and the call and response that fills the space behind the lead singers. In a number of the songs, there are also powerful drum rhythms that, at least to the North American ear, evoke the sound of Africa.

I may not know much about African music, but I know what I like. I like the music on this compilation very much. Sally Nyolo and the artists who worked with her have created a delightful anthology to represent the music of Cameroon to the world. This is a release of which they should rightfully be proud.

To learn more about Sally Nyolo, go to the RFI Musique website. Unfortunately, there appear to be no clips available online at this time to give a sense of this wonderful music.

Note:

A reader writes to tell me that: “…the fact of Sally recording in “a modest tin-roofed building” is no promotional tale, it’s the truth! I saw video footage of her recording and that’s exactly what it is. There was nothing in it except four walls, the tin roof, some mics and some rudimentary recording gear.”

This just makes the high quality and clarity of these recordings all the more amazing.

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CD Review: At Ease with Coleman Hawkins (Coleman Hawkins)

At Ease with Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Moodsville Records
2006
8 tracks

By now, it would seem that the music of tenor saxman Coleman Hawkins (1904 – 1969) would seem somehow quaint or old-fashioned. Instead, this music holds up surprisingly well. Hawkins, whose playing influenced several generations of musicians, not just in Jazz but across the genre gap to include Rock & Roll and pop music, created timeless music that has as much appeal today as when it was first recorded.

For my generation, driving music was and probably is epitomized by John Kay rocking out “Born to be Wild” on the radio. The music on this CD takes a quieter approach, but I drove around for several days with these songs on the CD player. There’s a rhythm in this music and a power that fills the space of the car and carries you along. It may be elements of Hot Jazz or Be Bop that linger in these later recordings by Hawkins or it may be something more subtle, but At Ease with Coleman Hawkins makes very cool music to drive by.

The first track, “For You, For Me, Forevermore” sets the tone for the rest of the album. the song starts off soft and warm with just Tommy Flanagan on piano alternating with Hawkins’ sax. It’s sultry and smooth music made for romance. Out of this warm glow grows something cool and groovy as sax and piano are joined by Wendell Marshall on bass and Osie Johnson on drums. The song takes on a swing that carries the listener along without ever sacrificing the romantic mood set by the opening bars.

It’s difficult to say much more about the remaining seven tracks on this release. Ranging from a quiet lounge-music affect through the Latin swingtime of “While We’re Young” to jazzy blues and close-dancing music and even the almost classical sense of “Poor Butterfly” originally released by The Hilltoppers, these songs all have an intimate feel suitable for a small club or perhaps a romantic couple sharing wine in front of the fireplace.

What impresses most is the grace with which Hawkins releases his notes almost effortlessly. There is a sense that this musician was born with the music inside him and that it just naturally flows from him through his instrument and into the room. The ease with which Hawkins plays makes these performances something very special. The fact that he is supported by three excellent jazzmen enhances his performance to perfection.

While it may serve well as music to drive by, the music on this release is really the stuff of romance. There’s a seductive quality to this music that would make a beautiful backdrop to a romantic evening with a special friend. It has a timeless quality that takes the listener away from the harshness of the real world and into someplace warm and comfortable, perfect for cuddling or for dancing cheek to cheek.

Any jazz fan will want to add this album to his or her collection, but I recommend it for any fan of excellent music of any genre. This is a wonderful set of music that definitely deserved to be re-released.

Beyond the music, this CD includes Ron Eyre’s liner notes from the original album; a brief reflective note by Rudy van Gelder, who was the engineer on the original recording sessions and also made the masters for this CD release; and extensive new liner notes for this release by Zan Stewart. These notes provide an interesting and informative read, filling out the story of both the artist and his music.

To learn more about Jazz legend Coleman Hawkins, go to the Red Hot Jazz website or to Wikipedia.

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Music DVD Review: Live From Austin TX (Texas Tornados)

Live From Austin TX
Texas Tornados
New West Records
2006
DVD 19 songs

Some forty years ago, a new term was coined in the world of Rock music and the “super-group” came into existence. This term was applied to Bands such as Cream and Supertramp, where several already highly popular artists had come together to form a new band. For some reason, the term never crossed over into other genres. If the term had crossed over to Rockabilly or Country music, then surely Texas Tornados must be considered a super-group. The epitome of the Tex-Mex sound, Texas Tornados brings together four Texas superstars: Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers, founders of rocking Texas band Sir Douglas Quintet; Freddie Fender, singer of romantic Tex-Mex R & B; and Flaco Jimenez, who managed to meld Mexican, Cajun, and European polka sounds into something new and unique.

Growing up in Alberta in mid-century, I heard a wide variety of musical genres on the radio. In a pioneer society where many of us were new arrivals from Poland, the Ukraine, and other areas of Eastern Europe, much of the popular music on the radio was polkas performed by stars like Gaby Hawes, Frankie Yankovic, and the Six Fat Dutchmen. With much of the population being of Scots-Irish and French descent, we also heard old timey reels, scottishes, jigs, and even Cajun music. Into the mix came American and British pop music, Country & Western hits, Jazz, Blues, and even the occasional Rock & Roll song. This Texas Tornados concert is just like that, a wonderful stew of musical genres, often blended into one variegated song.

Although there is a certain unity to the nineteen songs in this set, as each artist adds to and enhances the sound of the others, the distinctive styles of the four can clearly be heard throughout. This, more than anything, may be what contributes to the feeling of a radio broadcast back when stations didn’t mind playing a mix of genres on the same program.

Establishing both the collaborative nature of this Tejano band and a Tex-Mex ambience, the set opens with an ensemble performance of “Soy de San Luis” featuring vocals in Spanish and English by Jiminez, Fender, and Sahm along with the unique sound of Jiminez’ button accordion. Jiminez brings his polka sound to the forefront in “Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio” but brings a very Mexican sound to “Cancion Mixtega.” Throughout the set, his accordion can be heard rocking behind Sahm, adding a romantic bed to Fender’s vocals, and enhancing Meyers’ Tex-Mex songs.

On most songs, Meyers can be heard playing his classic Vox organ but, when he sings, he switches to accordion with Sahm subbing in on keys. Meyers songs have perhaps the most country sound on this release, always with a certain Mexican sound supported and enhanced by Jimenez’ accordion. Having grown up in a culture where, instead of piano, kids took accordion lessons, I enjoyed hearing those twin accordions pumping it out. Meyers’ vocals have a dry matter-of-fact sense well suited to the wry humour of his lyrics. “(Hey Baby) Que Paso” and “Dinero” both have a light touch that will make the listener smile with recognition. “Dinero” seems like a retelling of Lefty Frizzell’s “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time” but with a Mexican edge. “Mathilda” takes the listener back fifty years to rocking Blues-based love songs, complete with edgy piano triplets played by Sahm and some excellent Rock & Roll guitar by Fender.

Freddy Fender softens and slightly slows this Rock and Roll sound, his sweet-voiced vocals reminiscent of some of the most romantic songs of the Fifties. In fact, “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” was first a hit in 1959 before hitting the charts a second time in 1975. Fender also performs his tear-jerker “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” from 1975, as well as the equally romantic “Only One” and “A Man Can Cry.” Each of these songs is especially enhanced by the vintage sounds of Sahm on piano, Fender on guitar, and Jiminez on accordion. “If That’s What You’re Thinking” is a sweet love song made more touching by Fender’s soulful vocal. Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me to Do” reveals an even bluesier facet of Fender and the band, rocking on for five and one half minutes.

Besides his Sir Douglas Quintet, Doug Sahm has created a whole series of bands with various configurations and has consistently crossed genres. His performances here present several aspects of his long and varied career. The set ends with a version of ? and the Mysterions’ 1966 hit “96 Tears” that features superb performances by these four superstars, but especially Sahm, who has recorded this song with several of his bands. This is a definite jamband version of the song, with a solid groove that goes on for more than seven minutes. Excellent performances of the Sir Douglas Quintet hits “She’s About a Mover” and “Mendocino” bring fond reminiscence of that marvelous partnership between Sahm and Meyers nearly forty years ago. Songs like “Laredo Rose” and “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me” expose a quieter, more countrified facet of Doug Sahm. “Adios Mexico” is pure Rock & Roll with a Tex-Mex overlay and “Who Were You Thinkin’ Of” adds a touch of humour that’s just on the safe side of prurient.

Sometimes, when you bring together just the right elements, you get something that is far more than their sum total. The result is exponential and very, very special. This Texas Tornados concert brings together four artists, any one of whom would put on a great show, but the show recorded on this DVD is very special indeed and a must see performance.

Those who may be interested can find a great deal of information on Texas Tornados at Wikipedia. Wikipedia also has separate articles on Doug Sahm, Freddie Fender, and Flaco Jiminez. You can find more information on Augie Meyers at the Official Augie Meyers website

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Music DVD Review: Live From Austin TX (Sir Douglas Quintet)

Live From Austin TX
Sir Douglas Quintet
New West Records
2006
DVD 17 songs

Don McLean was mistaken when he spoke of the day the music died. The music never died. True, for a while the Big Music establishment buried it in the commercial pop of Bobby Vees and Frankie Avalons, but the music couldn’t be held down for long. Out of Buddy Holly’s Texas, Detroit, across the United States and around the world, Rock & Roll came back better than ever. A powerful influence in that revitalization of the music that never died was the Sir Douglas Quintet. On this live concert, recorded some sixteen years after “She’s About a Mover” became their first big hit, this all-star band still rocks it out with the best of them.

Fronted by the indefatigable Doug Sahm and powered by the driving, and driven, organ riffs and accordion wizardry of Augie Meyers, this group may just rival a certain British band for the title of The Greatest Rock & Roll Band Ever. Certainly the Sir Douglas Quintet had a powerful influence on the sound of many contemporary and later bands. It doesn’t hurt that in this concert Sahm and Meyers are backed up by Speedy Sparks on bass, John Perez on Drums, Shawn Sahm (Doug’s son) on guitar, and the wonderful Alvin Crow on guitar and fiddle.

Although this is nominally Sahm’s band, it’s definitely not a one-man show. Originally formed as a union of two bands, one led by Doug Sahm and one led by Augie Meyers, this band has kept that sense that it’s less about top-down leadership than collaboration. It may be the Texas roots, but this Rock & Roll band comes across with the comfortable ambience of an old-time barn dance. When the Sir Douglas Quintet performs, everyone on stage gets an opportunity to shine. Besides Sahm, Meyers and Crow both have featured vocals, and each of the players is featured on several songs.

Recorded in 1981 for the half-hour Austin City Limits television show, this DVD features one full hour of great music. Packed with seventeen live tracks, it’s a treat to watch and a joy to hear. In fact, while this would make a great concert CD, having the visuals is a real bonus. This band has a collective charisma that draws you in and lets you feel like you’re actually there, watching the performance live in Austin.

The concert is bracketted by the band’s two biggest hits, beginning with “Mendocino” and ending with “She’s About a Mover.” The band does a rousing version of “96 Tears” [Actually a hit for ? and the Mysterions, a Michigan band whose members mostly came from Texas or Mexico and whose sound was also built around the classic Vox organ.] Other songs include “Groover’s Paradise” and other Sir Douglas Quintet hits as well as other songs recorded by Doug Sahm with various configurations of his band.

Although Doug Sahms’ stylish guitar rides through every song and although every musician in this set is superb, the hallmark of this group’s sound is the classic Vox Continental Organ, stretched to its limits by Augie Meyers. Meyers style has been credited with influencing numerous other keyboard players, including The Doors’ Ray Manzarek.

During this concert, Meyers also plays lively Cajun flavoured accordion and sings. “Going Down to Mexico” is a very Tex Mex sounding country song driven by a simple two-step rhythm and lots of ee-ha shouting by band members in the background. Watching him perform this song, it’s clear that Meyers is having a ball.

“Tonight, Tonight” features Alvin Crow on guitar and vocals, and what a rocker that is. It helps that Crow has his rockabilly image down pat. He’s on stage in a shiny satin red and white cowboy shirt straight out of 1957, with both sleeves removed. Crow’s vocal and guitar are extremely reminiscent of fellow Texan Buddy Holly at his best. Augie Meyers rocking Vox in the the background adds more than a touch of Chris Montez to the sound.

There’s even a bonus song in this concert, not listed on the cover or in the liner notes. The group performs its own version of Charlie Pride’s hit “(Is Anybody Going To) San Antone” featuring some bright fiddling by Crow. In the middle of the song, the band transitions smoothly into a full length version of Sahm’s roots rocker “Texas Tornado” and then transitions just as smoothly back to complete the rest of “San Antone.” It’s two great songs for the price of one.

You don’t have to watch. The music on this release works well played in the background while you do other things, just like playing a music CD. To sit and watch the show adds a whole other dimension. Either way, if you want to hear one of the best rock and roll bands of the last forty years, you have to own this DVD.

Go to Wikipedia for more information on the Sir Douglas Quintet. You can find information on Austin City Limits at pbs.org.

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CD Review: Black Talk! (Charles Earland)

Black Talk!
Charles Earland
Prestige Records
2006
5 tracks

Groovy! That about covers it, but there’s more to this album than that. When this music was originally released, the word “groovy” had not yet become cliché. Especially when spoken or written in reference to music, to be referred to as groovy was a very special thing. Charles Earland is groovy not just for this music but because he was a pioneer. Even now, nearly forty years after this album was first released, this music sounds fresh, alive, and up-to-date. There’s a creativity here and a power that simply can’t be replicated.

Long ago and far away, or so it seems now, a number of progressive musicians ventured into unknown territory somewhere between Jazz, popular music forms, and Rock & Roll, bringing with them a massive dose of soul. These musical innovators included artists as diverse as Isaac Hayes, Bill Cosby [yes, The Cos in his alternate persona as bandleader Badfoot Brown], and Charles Earland. Earland’s Black Talk, with its highly successful translation of contemporary hit music into a creative new style of jazz, was early and influential in the development of this new sound.

Although there are only five tracks on this CD, they bring the listener more than forty minutes of the finest jazz performance to be heard any time, any place. Any one of these songs makes this album well worth the price of admission.

“Black Talk” took the essential shape of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and ran with it, taking the music in an entirely new and innovative direction. With its rhythmic breaks, groovin’ organ, and interplay of sax and trumpet, this song sounds very much of the Sixties, yet there’s also something there that even now sounds fresh and new.

“The Mighty Burner” is a nice little jump jive blues number that would as easily have pleased an audience ten or twenty years earlier. Written for WHAT Radio DJ Sonny Hopson, this song straddles the line between great Jazz and great Rock and Roll.

“Here Comes Charlie” takes a more standard direction, with a feel much like many of the better contemporary jazz intrumentals of the day. Like each song on this release, the song leaves lots of room for the players to strut their stuff, and strut they do.

Before or since, you’ve never heard “Aquarius” played like this. Here’s a long [well over eight minutes], lush, opulent version of this new age pop song. The sound is big and lively with a full-bodied flavour available only in the finest jazz performances.

It may have been a hit record, but I got real tired of hearing the Spiral Starecase song “More today Than Yesterday” repeatedly on the radio so long ago. This was a sickenly saccharine love song that, in my opinion at the time, could have been relegated to the remainders bin. Here I am listening to eleven and one-quarter minutes [I've typed the whole thing out just to give a sense of how really long that is] of this song, over and over again. It’s wonderful. It’s jazzy. It’s, well… groovy.

Players on this set included Charles Earland, organ; Virgil Jones, trumpet; Houston Person, tenor saxophone; Melvin Sparks, guitar; Idris Muhammad, drums; and Buddy Caldwell, congas. Together, these highly talented artists make a joyful noise.

Did I tell you that I like this set a lot or that the music is just wonderful. It’s true. This music is so creative and innovative that, if it came out today, it would still be setting standards for young artists to aspire toward. Now that’s groovy.

This CD includes both Bob Porter’s original liner notes from the 1969 album and new liner notes written by Porter in 2006 plus a brief note from sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder, who made the masters for both releases. These notes give the reader an interesting historical perspective on this artist and the music he created.

Those who my be interested will find a concise biography of the late Charles Earland (1941-1999) on the SoulWalking website. You can find all that and more at Fuller Up, The Dead Musicians Directory.

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CD Review: Fever Tree/Another Time, Another Place (Fever Tree)

Fever Tree/Another Time, Another Place
Fever Tree
Collectors’ Choice Music
2006
19 tracks

One of a series of retrospective albums released by Collectors’ Choice Music, this CD is a special bargain, combining two albums, Fever Tree and Another Time, Another Place, originally released in 1968 and 1969 respectively, into one 19 song set that gives more than 70 minutes of diversified music.

Never a real force in the psychedelic era, Fever Tree had only one minor hit, “San Francisco Girls (Return Of The Native)” in 1968, which made it to #91 on the charts. At first, it’s hard to understand why anyone would be motivated to release this retrospective of such a little-known band. True, Fever Tree/Another Time, Another Place might be of interest to a collector of psychedelia, but there can’t be much more of an audience than that. For those who do decide to give this release a listen, they’ll find some very interesting music.

For the most part, this music is locked in time, defined by and defining the era in which it was born and died. Not timeless as classics tend to be, the songs here are artifacts of a past era and are, as such, anachronisms. Throughout this set, there can be heard echoes of The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and even Jefferson Airplane. Even so, this music is not purely psychedelic and the set is filled with unusual song choices and quirky performances.

Much has been made of the fact that many of these “psychedelic” songs were written by a married over-thirty couple, Scott and Vivian Holtzman, who had also written songs for cowboy singer Tex Ritter and for the Mary Poppins film score. This in an era where Jerry Rubin was advising kids not to trust anyone over thirty. Also the band’s producers, this couple would clearly have had an influence over the selection of songs and may have contributed to the album’s diversity.

Tucked away among the band’s original compositions are a medley of “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out” from Lennon and MacCartney; “Ninety Nine and One-Half,” a screamer written by Wilson Pickett and Eddie Floyd; Little Willie John’s classic “Fever;” and songs penned by Neil Young and others. It’s an eclectic mix of genres and flavours, only loosely blended and not always cohesive.

This is a playful album. Watch out for musical and verbal fun throughout. Up from the primal electronic stew rise excerpts from classical music, sometimes credited and sometimes not; excerpts from contemporary folk music [including an uncredited "We Shall Overcome"]; sound effects to rival Spike Jones; and nature effects that include a marvelous rainstorm. As you move through the songs, watch out for clever wordplay, including some very bookish literary allusions, and bad puns. Probably the worst [best?] example of the latter is the song titled “Grand Candy Young Suite” to echo Ferde Grofé’s masterpiece.

While Fever Tree may not be a well-known band or this CD an important release, the music is interesting and gives very good value. If this collection of songs holds up a mirror to the era in which it was created, it’s a flawed mirror and the image is to some degree distorted. I’m not sure this matters in the end. If not taken too seriously as a retrospective, this set can make a fun listen.

This CD includes extensive liner notes by Richie Unterberger giving much of the history of this band and their music.

You won’t find a lot of information about Fever Tree online, but there’s a possibly inaccurate article on Wikipedia that does provide some interesting information.

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CD Review: Doug Sahm and Band (Doug Sahm and Band)

Doug Sahm and Band
Doug Sahm and Band
Collectors’ Choice Music
2006
12 tracks

Doug Sahm and Band is a superb compilation of classic Country & Western songs, Blues, and new songs that blend right into the mix. Besides the selection of songs, what makes this release special is that anonymous band backing Sahm. Really a pick-up band formed for this session, this is a super-group that prefigures another Sahm band, the Texas Tornados. Musicians in this band include several members of Sahm’s earlier group, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Dr. John, David Bromberg, Flaco Jimenez, and Bob Dylan. With talent like that, how could this session, originally released in 1973, not be wonderful?

As I’ve suggested, while the songs are mixed throughout the set and there’s some overlap that gives the set consistency, the music on this CD breaks down into three discrete categories. There’s classic mid-century country music, slow electric blues, and original folk-pop songs that overlap the other two styles.

Country songs covered here include “(Is Anybody Going to) San Antone” (Charlie Pride, 1970), “Poison Love” (Johnnie and Jack, 1951), “Faded Love” (Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, 1950), and “Me and Paul” written by Willie Nelson. The sound in these segments is pure Country and Western and would easily get dancers boot-scootin’ across the sawdust covered floor of any cowboy bar in America.

The blues songs in the set tend to be slow rockers, played and sung with agonizing emotion that takes the listener back two decades to the hard-bitten post war era when artists like Johnny Ace were rocking the blues on obscure labels. “Don’t Turn Around” (a rocking Doug Sahm composition), “Blues Stay Away From Me” and “Your Friends” all have this slow, driven quality, bringing a rock edge to what might otherwise simply have been a country music album.

Written by T-Bone Walker, “Papa Ain’t Salty” is more of a jump blues of the sort that you may have often heard played in local blues bars over the past decade or so. It’s music with a bit of a Wilson Pickett soul beat to it. Sahm’s composition “Dealer’s Blues” has much the same feel to it and also harks back to a much earlier era.

Bob Dylan, who shared vocals on three of these songs, played the guitar solo on “Blues Stay Away From Me” and organ and harmonica here and there through the set, also contributed one song to the set. At the time, this recording of Dylan’s “Wallflower” drew some attention from the media because it was a song of Dylan’s that he had not yet recorded himself. {As a point of interest, years later a young Jakob Dylan would name his band “The Wallflowers.”]

If the songs on this release had been recorded by anyone but Doug Sahm and if I had never heard of any of his band members, I would still recommend it highly. That the CD features such an elite cast of characters is a bonus that makes this release just that much more special.

This CD includes copious, detailed liner notes by Richie Unterberger that cover the entire musical career of Doug Sahm as well as the history of the recording sessions that resulted in this CD. These notes provide an interesting and informative read, filling out the story of both the artist and his music.

Go to Wikipedia to learn everything you ever wanted to know about Doug Sahm. You can find a variety of songs by Doug Sahm at the Sir Douglas Quintet and Genuine Texas Groover MySpace pages.

Doug Sahm passed away on November 18, 1999. There are many tributes and personal stories of Doug Sahm and his music on the Doug Sahm Memorial Page.

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CD Review: Texas Tornado (The Sir Douglas Band)

Texas Tornado
The Sir Douglas Band
Collectors’ Choice Music
2006
11 tracks

Although I’ve been a fan of the late Doug Sahm’s music for more than four decades, I’ve really been aware of only one facet of this artist’s multi-facetted work. I first discovered Sahm (1941-1999) through rockers like “She’s About A Mover” and “Mendocino” released by his Sir Douglas Quintet. Decades later, I found Sahm again at the heart of the Texas Tornados, a rocking band with a solid Tex-Mex attitude. My image of Sahm has been as a Tex-Mex rocker. In fact, Sahm is credited with having created much of the Tex-Mex sound as we recognize it today. Texas Tornado, an obscure title originally released in 1973, has shown me several new sides to the music of Doug Sahm.

Texas Tornado is a mixed bag of jazz, swing, Cajun, country and rock sounds that somehow hangs together in spite of itself. Most of the songs have that quiet sensibility that would relegate them to the afternoon drive slot on AM radio. While a couple of the songs are rockers, this is definitely not a rock album.

The impression I have is much the same as the first time I heard Bobby Darin sing a jazz song. I had first heard Darin singing songs like “Queen of the Hop” and “Splish Splash” as a young rock and roll star. I was very impressed to hear songs like “Mack the Knife” and “Beyond the Sea” performed so well by the same artist. Doug Sahm makes that same sort of seamless transition on this release, often sounding less like the lead singer of the Sir Douglas Quintet than Sammy Davis Jr. or John Prine. It appears that, in music, there was little if anything that this man could not do.

The title track, “Texas Tornado” is very much a country song, a roots rocker that would play well on any Americana chart. The lyric is a sort of Mellenkamp story of what happens as a tornado sweeps its way across Texas, clearing everything in its path. The interplay between Sahm’s guitar and the rocking piano provides a lively contrast to the steady drive of the rhythm section and gives a Rockabilly feel to Sahm’s very Country and Western vocal.

In contrast, songs like “Someday” and “Blue Horizon” take us back to jazz crooners like Mel Torme or Sammy Davis Jr. The band has a lively jazz sound, including flutes, brass section, and hand drums and Sahm proves that he can croon with the best of them. “Ain’t That Loving You” brings back the big band swing sounds of the same era with Sahm coming on strong like Frankie Laine or Bobby Troupe.

“Chicano” and “I’ll Be There” have a Cajun sound with a difference. Perhaps because much of the instrumentation is the same in the two styles, the ambience of these two songs seems to swing between Louisiana Cajun and Mexican country music. The result is a bright, interesting sound that makes good listening and should make good dancing.

While they have more of a swing-rock sound, “San Francisco FM Blues” and “Nitty Gritty” bring back some sense of the original Sir Douglas Quintet songs. As the first and last songs on this set, they bring this release a sort of historical continuity that serves it well.

Beyond the music, this CD includes extensive liner notes by Richie Unterberger. These notes provide an interesting and informative read, filling out the story of both the artist and his music.

Go to Wikipedia to learn everything you ever wanted to know about Doug Sahm. You can find songs by Doug Sahm in his various incarnations at the Sir Douglas Quintet and Genuine Texas Groover MySpace pages. There are many personal stories of Doug Sahm and his music on the Doug Sahm Memorial Page.

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