Doug Sahm Hill

This afternoon, the Austin City Council approved the naming of Doug Sahm Hill, situated a few blocks from the former site of the Armadillo World Headquarters. It's worth noting that the hill (captured in Google Street View above) is the highest point in the lovely new Town Lake Park. Awesome.

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.

Doug Sahm

Doug Sahm and Band - 1973

Here in central Texas, Doug Sahm is a bona fide legend. But despite his rise in international popularity as the leader of the Sir Douglas Quintet in the '60s, his steady but off-the-radar solo career in the '70s and as a member of the Tex-Mex supergroup the Texas Tornadoes up until his death in 1999, Sahm has remained largely unnoticed outside of his home state. That aside, he was always been looked upon favorably by his fellow musicians, and his 1973 LP Doug Sahm and Band is undeniable proof. Supported by a band consisting of Bob Dylan (on guitar and backup vocals throughout), Dr John (piano), Sir Douglas hold-over Augie Meyers (Vox organ), David "Fathead" Newman (horns) and a slew of other early '70s giants, And Band is a tremendous album that despite being recorded in New York City, manages to maintain the freewheeling, southwestern flavor to which Sahm had staked his claim. And while the egos at this session could've easily overwhelmed the final product, the result is the most collaborative LP in the man's entire catalogue - only 3 of the 12 songs here are Sahm originals, and "Wildflower" was written by Dylan specifically for the album. Loose, fun, and magnificently executed by its all-star staff Doug Sahm And Band serves as a tiny reminder of all the fun everyone who wasn't listening to this back in 1973 was missing out on. For some more precious Doug Sahm gems, pay a visit to the fantastic That Was Then, This Is Now. They know what's going on.

Willie Nelson

Shotgun Willie 1973

"Shotgun Willie sits around in his underwear..." What a fantastic way to start an album! Following a brief retirement from the country music machine and the stranglehold that was the "Nashville Sound", Willie Nelson headed for Austin and began performing sporadic gigs for throngs of hippies at the (now legendary) Armadillo World Headquarters. While a few recognized him as the writer behind Patsy Cline's "Crazy" or Ray Price's "Night Life", the majority of the crowds knew of Willie Nelson as the man who famously ran back into his burning house to save his weed stash. That all changed with the release of Shotgun Willie. Led by the one-two punch of its title track and the anthemic "Whiskey River", the album was a potent brew of southern horns, Willie's laid back vocal delivery and a crack team of session players that included Doug Sahm and Augie Myers on guitar, James Clayton Day on a heavenly pedal steel and, of course, Willie's sister Bobbie Nelson on acoustic and electric pianos. Shotgun Willie simultaneously kicked off the "outlaw country movement", served as a towering monument to original, un-formulaic country music and was a giant middle finger aimed in the direction of Nashville, Tennessee. The version here is doubled in length by a wealth of outtakes and alternate versions. Much like Willie himself, it's every bit as incredible today as it was then.

The LP was reissued a few years back as part of the amazing Complete Atlantic Sessions box, which bundles his first couple of Atlantic albums with a live set from that period. Absolutely essential.