The consistency of the output of Doug Sahm and his Sir Douglas Quintet was worth betting the homestead on back in his heyday of the late 1960s and 70s, but it's only through the benefit of hindsight that one can appreciate the giant curve ball he threw with the release of the Quartet's first album. Sure, it's loaded with a heavy Tejano influence, an occasional shout out to the folks back in San Antonio, and his usual melange of styles and influences, but the overwhelmingly psychedelic nature of the album is the what makes Honkey Blues such a treat and a complete anomaly in the Doug Sahm canon. It's also worth noting that the LP is one of his few without the wheezing Vox Continental of longtime cohort Augie Meyers. The tunes here, as strong as any in Sahm's repertoire, are drenched in reverb, linked in reverse tape effects and patched together using such bizarre editing that the result is an album that is remarkable for inducing such an aural trip between the ears of its listener rather than one that sounds like the band were simply out of their heads when recording it. A tremendous listening experience and one of the great underappreciated psychedelic LPs of all time.
Thursday
Sir Douglas Quintet
Sir Douglas Quintet +2 = Honkey Blues - 1968
The consistency of the output of Doug Sahm and his Sir Douglas Quintet was worth betting the homestead on back in his heyday of the late 1960s and 70s, but it's only through the benefit of hindsight that one can appreciate the giant curve ball he threw with the release of the Quartet's first album. Sure, it's loaded with a heavy Tejano influence, an occasional shout out to the folks back in San Antonio, and his usual melange of styles and influences, but the overwhelmingly psychedelic nature of the album is the what makes Honkey Blues such a treat and a complete anomaly in the Doug Sahm canon. It's also worth noting that the LP is one of his few without the wheezing Vox Continental of longtime cohort Augie Meyers. The tunes here, as strong as any in Sahm's repertoire, are drenched in reverb, linked in reverse tape effects and patched together using such bizarre editing that the result is an album that is remarkable for inducing such an aural trip between the ears of its listener rather than one that sounds like the band were simply out of their heads when recording it. A tremendous listening experience and one of the great underappreciated psychedelic LPs of all time.
The consistency of the output of Doug Sahm and his Sir Douglas Quintet was worth betting the homestead on back in his heyday of the late 1960s and 70s, but it's only through the benefit of hindsight that one can appreciate the giant curve ball he threw with the release of the Quartet's first album. Sure, it's loaded with a heavy Tejano influence, an occasional shout out to the folks back in San Antonio, and his usual melange of styles and influences, but the overwhelmingly psychedelic nature of the album is the what makes Honkey Blues such a treat and a complete anomaly in the Doug Sahm canon. It's also worth noting that the LP is one of his few without the wheezing Vox Continental of longtime cohort Augie Meyers. The tunes here, as strong as any in Sahm's repertoire, are drenched in reverb, linked in reverse tape effects and patched together using such bizarre editing that the result is an album that is remarkable for inducing such an aural trip between the ears of its listener rather than one that sounds like the band were simply out of their heads when recording it. A tremendous listening experience and one of the great underappreciated psychedelic LPs of all time.
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12 comments:
I've gotta say thanks for posting this one. I picked up a 45 from these guys last month which was superb!
Peace and blessings and as always, thanks for the support!
Nice one, man. Long live The Sahm. (You've seen the movies "Cisco Pike" and "More American Graffiti," yes...?) Cheers!
-- GreenAlienChick
I used to like these guys songs 40 years ago and I can't remember why, just that I did.
Time, with thanks to Heat Warps, to get back and find out...
Wait, I remember that Vox Continental sound, maybe that was it.
Oh well, this should be interesting too.
Thanks for posting this and the Bobby Charles. They are both great. Is the Pharoah Sanders Deaf dumb blind link down or is it supposed to be directed to Amazon? Any chance you would repost? Keep up the good work. I really enjoy this blog.
I have this and most of Doug's stuff. Great!! Everyone who likes music should own as much Doug Sahm as possible!!
I totally agree that this is one of the great underappreciated albums of the late-60s SF scene. I lost my copy for 2+ decades and really missed it, until I finally found a replacement. I was working the R&B (white-boy version a la Loading Zone etc.) club circuit in the late 60s, saw Sir Douglas several times. By the way, I bought my violin, which I still play professionally, from the guy credited on the album with "sorry we broke your axe." If you have good pitch and listen, you'll see why; Doug had tuned it up a full half-step, and the bridge must have punched a hole in the top...
Anyway, thanks again!!
later,
John (Tenney)
Friendly regards from Spain. An Sahm 's admireer for more of 35 years.
it's wonderful, it really is!
Great album,I'm a big fan of west coast scene.Thanx for this stuff!I have Mendoccino, it's also great.Little like of Paul Butterfield b.b. but have specific sound. Just super!Greetings from Serbia !!!
where is the link?
great stuff up here
Thanks for dropping by, anon. All of the links to official releases have been removed.
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