Douglas Wayne Sahm (November 6, 1941 – November 18, 1999) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from San Antonio, Texas. He is regarded as a key Tex-Mex music and Texan Music performer. San Antonio's conjunto and blues and later the hippie scene of San Francisco helped create his blend of music, with which he found success performing in 1970s Austin, Texas.
He made his recording debut as "Little Doug" in 1955. In 1965, Huey P. Meaux produced Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet's "She's About a Mover." Atlantic Records signed Sahm and released his debut solo album Doug Sahm and Band in 1973. In 1989, Sahm formed the supergroup the Texas Tornados with fellow Tex-Mex musicians Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender and Flaco Jiménez. The Texas Tornados toured successfully, and one of their releases earned a Grammy Award. In 1999, Sahm died during a vacation trip.
Early life and start in music Doug Sahm was born in San Antonio, Texas, on November 6, 1941, to Victor A. Sahm, Sr. and Viva Lee (née Goodman). The Sahm family had migrated to the United States from Germany early in the 20th century, and settled initially in Galveston, Texas. Sahm's grandparents, Alfred and Alga, owned a farm near Cibolo, Texas. Alfred Sahm was a musician who played with the polka band The Sahm Boys. During the Great Depression, Sahm's parents moved to San Antonio, where Victor worked at Kelly Field Air Force base.
Sahm began singing at age five, and took up the steel guitar at age six. The same year, he appeared on San Antonio's radio station KMAC and performed the Sons of the Pioneers' "Teardrops in My Heart". He was regarded as a child prodigy on the steel guitar. His mother took him to a local music school, but his teacher turned him down soon after. His teacher explained he could not teach Sahm to read music, and the boy could already play by ear. Sahm often appeared at a local club, The Barn, which his uncle co-owned with Charlie Walker. By the time he was eight, he could play the fiddle and mandolin, and he began to appear on the Louisiana Hayride as "Little Doug". He also performed shows with Hank Williams, Faron Young and Hank Thompson. At age thirteen, he was offered a spot on the Grand Ole Opry that his mother declined, wanting him to finish school. In 1953, Sahm met Augie Meyers while he purchased baseball cards at Meyer's mother's grocery store, and the two became friends. Meyers and Sahm discussed forming a band, but nothing came of it as both played with different groups. Meyers mastered the accordion, piano and rhythm guitar. Sahm grew up on the East side of San Antonio, a predominantly black neighborhood. He listened from his home to the live performances of T-Bone Walker and other blues artists who appeared at a nearby blues bar, the Eastwood Country Club. Sahm's neighbor, Homer Callahan, introduced him to the records of Howlin' Wolf, Lonesome Sundown, Fats Domino, Jimmy Reed, and Atlantic and Excello Records.
In 1955, producer Charlie Fitch released Sahm's debut single on Sarg Records. Cataloged with the number 113-45 on the label's releases, the pairing of "A Real American Joe" with "Rollin' Rollin'" was credited to Little Doug. The same year, Sahm formed his first band, The Kings. A year later, one of his concerts in school was interrupted by the principal after Sahm started imitating Elvis Presley's gyrations. The students left the auditorium and headed to Sahm's house to continue listening to the band. As he continued performing country music, fiddler J. R. Chatwell, who played with bandleader Adolph Hofner, mentored him. The music of Lefty Frizzell, Howlin' Wolf, Lonesome Sundown, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, T-Bone Walker, Floyd Tillman, and San Antonio musicians Johnny Owen and Ricky Aguirre influenced him during his teenage years.
Sahm enjoyed success performing in San Antonio nightclubs, as he played a blend of music that consisted of rhythm and blues with the addition of the West Side tenor saxophone player Eracleo "Rocky" Morales. The "West Side Sound", characteristic of San Antonio, consisted of a blend of genres: country music, conjunto, rhythm and blues, polka and rock and roll. Meanwhile, Sahm performed on guitar six nights a week with Jimmy Johnson's band. Saxophonist Spot Barnett invited him to play at the Ebony rhythm and blues club.
Sahm fronted three bands: The Pharaohs, The Dell-Kings and The Markays. He released the song "Crazy Daisy" (1959), and he had a local hit with "Why Why Why" (1960) on Renner Records. Sahm graduated from high school the same year. He had another local hit with "Crazy, Crazy Feeling" (1961); "Just A Moment" (1961) and "Lucky Me" (1963) followed. By 1964, Sahm was dropped by the Renner label and he tried to convince Huey P. Meaux to sign him. Meaux, the owner of SugarHill Recording Studios, was enjoying success with Dale and Grace and Barbara Lynn, and turned Sahm down.
The Sir Douglas Quintet
Meaux produced songs that appeared on the music charts in the 1960s, but because of Beatlemania and the British Invasion, his records stopped selling well. Determined to find the reason for the commercial success of The Beatles sound, Meaux said he purchased several of their records and rented three rooms at the Wayfarer Hotel in San Antonio. According to his account, he drank a case of Thunderbird wine in the process. Meaux felt the Beatles' songs shared a common ground with traditional two-step Cajun music. He called Sahm and asked him to write songs based on that style, and to let his hair grow. Sahm and Meyers appeared with The Dave Clark Five in San Antonio, where they were featured on the program, with their respective bands, as the opening acts. Sahm appeared with the Markays, and Meyers the Goldens. Meyers attributed Meaux's interest in recording Sahm and himself to their performance at the concert.
Sahm put together a band with Meyers (keyboard), Frank Morin (saxophone), Harvey Kagan (bass) and Johnny Perez (drums). Based on The Beatles' "She's a Woman", Sahm wrote a song that integrated their style with the sounds characteristic of tejano music. Sahm called his new composition "She's A Body Mover". Meaux purchased the song from him for $25 (), but he felt the title would not help it get airplay. Instead, he renamed it "She's About a Mover". The song was released on Tribe Records in 1965 and credited to the Sir Douglas Quintet—an "English-sounding" name created by Meaux to capitalize on the success of the British Invasion. The first publicity pictures of the band were taken in silhouette to conceal the appearances of Frank Morin and Johnny Perez, the Latino members of the band. "She's About a Mover" peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. The success of the song propelled the Sir Douglas Quintet to tour, and to become an opener for The Beatles and The Beach Boys. They appeared on Hullabaloo, and host Trini Lopez revealed the real origin of the band. The quintet toured the United States with James Brown, and Europe with The Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones.
After meeting Sahm in New York City in 1965, Bob Dylan said in an interview he felt the Sir Douglas Quintet would be a commercial success on radio. Dylan and Sahm met again in London while the Sir Douglas Quintet toured England. During a stop in Corpus Christi, Texas, in December 1965, Sahm and Morin were arrested for possession of marijuana upon their arrival at the Corpus Christi International Airport. The bond for the musicians' release was set at $1,500 (). Sahm got the money from his family in San Antonio. The band pleaded guilty to the charge of "receiving and concealing marijuana without paying the required transfer tax". Judge Reynaldo Guerra Garza sentenced them to probation with supervision for five years in March 1966. Meyers was forbidden from leaving Texas for the duration of his probation. A series of appearances with the band in small towns around the state made Sahm unhappy. After his parole officer allowed him to leave Texas the same year, he decided to move to California with his wife and children.
Move to California and return to Texas Sahm moved to Salinas, California, and became involved in San Francisco's burgeoning hippie scene. He gathered again with the musicians of the Sir Douglas Quintet, excluding Meyers, whose parole officer did not allow to leave Texas. Sahm became acquainted with the music acts playing in the Haight-Ashbury district, and performed at venues including The Fillmore, the Avalon Ballroom, and The Ark in Sausalito. Through audio engineer Dan Healy, Sahm met and befriended Jerry Garcia. The Sir Douglas Quintet opened for the Grateful Dead in Oakland, California, and in October 1966 performed with Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin. Helped by lawyer Brian Rohan, who represented the Grateful Dead, Sahm was signed to Mercury Records and its subsidiary labels. In December 1968, Sahm appeared with his son, Shawn, on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. His arrival in San Francisco with the other Texan musicians was covered in the feature "Tribute to the Lone Star State: Dispossessed Men and Mothers of Texas". During the photo shooting, Sahm took his son and sat him on his lap to emulate a childhood photograph that had been taken of him with Hank Williams. In 1969, Meyers joined Sahm in San Francisco for the recording of Mendocino. The album's title track reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sahm left California in 1971 and returned to San Antonio. He released an album entitled The Return of Doug Saldaña with the Sir Douglas Quintet; Chicano musicians in San Antonio had given him the nickname "Saldaña". A cover of "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" on the album helped to reignite the career of its original singer, Freddy Fender. The same year, Rolling Stone featured Sahm on its cover again and ran his interview with Chet Flippo.
Sahm moved to Austin that year as the local hippie scene grew. He appeared at the Armadillo World Headquarters and the Soap Creek Saloon in Austin. In 1972, he disbanded the Sir Douglas Quintet. The same year, he made a cameo appearance in the film Cisco Pike, starring Kris Kristofferson. Sahm performed on the film's song "Michoacan", but radio stations refused to play it because of its references to marijuana.
Jerry Wexler signed Sahm to the newly created progressive country division of Atlantic Records in 1972. In October 1972, he recorded Doug Sahm and Band in New York City with guest appearances by Bob Dylan, Dr. John, David "Fathead" Newman, Flaco Jimenez, David Bromberg and Kenny Kosek. The release garnered mixed reviews and sold poorly, reaching number 125 on Billboards Top LPs & Tapes. In February 1973, he joined Willie Nelson during the recording of Shotgun Willie in New York City and featured on the album with his own musicians. Sahm also joined the Grateful Dead's recording sessions. As he continued to enjoy success in Austin's venues, Sahm used material left over from his October 1972 sessions with Atlantic Records for his 1973 release Texas Tornado. Atlantic folded its country music division in 1973. The following year Warner Records released his next album, Groover's Paradise, featuring Doug Clifford and Stu Cook, former musicians in Creedence Clearwater Revival. Texas Monthly wrote the album captured Austin's "insouciant essence" as a "carefree hippie mecca". As he toured to promote the album, Sahm made his debut performance at Carnegie Hall.