Doug Sahm

Doug Sahm was born 6 November 1941 in San Antonio, Texas, USA and died 18 November 1999 in Taos, New Mexico, USA. He is probably most famous as the leader of Sir Douglas Quintet.

Doug Sahm excelled in a wide range of genres throughout his career and influenced both the Texas and national music scenes. Sahm was a musical prodigy who, at an early age, began playing with a local band. He was singing on the radio at the age of five and was so gifted that he could play the fiddle, steel guitar, and mandolin by the time he was eight years old. Around this age, he appeared on the Louisiana Hayride, and before he was a teenager, Little Doug Sahm, as he was known, had played onstage with such greats as Hank Thompson, Faron Young, and Hank Williams. When he was thirteen he was invited to the Grand Ole Opry, but had to decline so he would not miss school.

Sahm's career spanned over four decades and encomed a variety of musical styles, including German polkas, blues, rock, and Tejano. In the 1950s he attended Sam Houston High School, San Antonio, where he formed several bands, including the Dell-Kings, Pharaohs, and Markays. In 1964 he helped found the Sir Douglas Quintet under the direction of producer Huey P. Meaux. This outlandish group of Texans, which included Sahm's friend Augie Meyers, dressed up and pretended to be part of the so-called "British Invasion" of the mid-1960s. Sahm wrote the quintet's 1965 smash hit, "She's About a Mover," which made the Top 20 chart.

In the 1970s he moved to Austin and became a member of the "Cosmic Cowboy" scene, along with Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker. He released his solo debut as Doug Sahm & Band - Doug Sahm And Band, which included the song "Is Anybody Going to San Antone?"

In 1989 Sahm teamed up with Freddie Fender, Flaco Jiménez, and Augie Meyers to form the Texas Tornados. The group produced a soulful mix of country music, blues, ballad singing, Texas rock-and-roll, and conjunto. They were signed by Reprise Records in 1990 and released their first album, Texas Tornados, later that year.

Sahm was named Rolling Stone's 'Chicano Of The Year' in 1971.