The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975 - CD

Produced for CD by Greg Greller. Personnel: Doug Sahm (vocals, guitar, fiddle, piano, organ); Frank Paredes, Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar); Wayne Douglas (vocals); Chip Young, John Reed, Ray Edenton (guitar); Pete Drake, Charles Owens, Charlie Owens (steel guitar); David Bromberg (dobro); Kenny Kosek, Tommy Jackson, Buddy Spicher (fiddle); Flaco Jim?nez (accordion); George Coleman (alto saxophone); Martin Fierro (tenor saxophone, horns); David "Fathead" Newman , Rocky Morales (tenor saxophone); Mel Martin (baritone saxophone, horns); Willie Bridges (baritone saxophone); Jack Walrath, Jack Wilmoth, Charley MacBirney, Wayne Jackson (trumpet); Neal Rosengarden (flugelhorn); Jimmy Knepper (trombone); Terry Henry, Bill Atwood, Frank Morin (horns); Barry Goldberg (piano, organ, keyboards); Wayne Talbert, Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano); Red Angeli, Mike Nock (electric piano); Augie Meyers (organ, keyboards); Dr. John (organ); Link Davis Jr. (keyboards); John Perez, George Rains, Jim Jenkins, Johnny Perez, Ernie Durawa, Kenny Buttrey (drums); Benny Velarde (congas); Leonides Baety, Pancho Morales (percussion). Audio Mixer: Bert Frilot. Liner Note Author: Gene Santoro. Recording information: Amigos De Musica, Los Angeles, CA (05/1968-??/1975); Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, NY (05/1968-??/1975); Devonshire Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA (05/1968-??/1975); Doyle Jones' Studios, Houston, TX (05/1968-??/1975); Mercury Sound Studio West, San Francisco, CA (05/1968-??/1975); Monument Recording Studio, Nashville, TN (05/1968-??/1975); San Francisco, CA (05/1968-??/1975); Wally Heider Studio, San Francisco, CA (05/1968-??/1975). Photographer: Baron Wolman. Arranger: Frank Morin. During his lifetime, Doug Sahm came to embody Texas music. Under various guises (Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornados, and Wayne Douglas to name a few), Sahm mastered every conceivable form of Lone Star roots music, from blues and country to Western Swing and Tejano. THE BEST OF DOUG SAHM & THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET 68-75 offers 22 tracks of the singer/songwriter/guitarist in his absolute prime. Listening to Sir Doug front the Quintet on "Mendocino" and "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Grove Day," it's clear that, while Sahm and his band (which boasted, among others, the incomparable Augie Meyers on keyboards) were steeped in C&W, blues, and Tex-Mex, they could effortlessly translate those forms into groovin' 1960s rock & roll. Given the brief time span this collection covers, BEST OF 68-75 is by no means definitive, and the Quintet's signature song, the garage-rock classic "She's About a Mover," is unfortunately absent. Still, tracks like the beautifully mournful "At the Crossroads," the mid-tempo, hippie lope "I Wanna Be Your Mama Again," and Sham's ragged take on the Charlie Pride hit "San Antone, (Is Anybody Going To)" are so soulful and so fun that the collection remains a must-have for music lovers across the board.