Texas Rock For Country Rollers was the first Doug Sahm album I ever bought. 1992 at Melody Records in Chico, CA. Found an old vinyl cut-out that looked like it might’ve been used to chamois a ’74 Pinto. That was the bad news. The good news is that the record itself was in fine condition. Unfortunately, I think I played it twice and then filed it away.
Fast-forward one year: Greg Collinsworth and I move to Seattle at the absolute apex of grungemania. Labels were signing any band with long hair, drop D chords, and total humorlessness like crackwhores spread-eagling for a hit off the pipe. Sure, we loved the Nirvanas, and to a lesser extent, Soundgarden, as much as the next brooding twentysomethings, but we also loved The Muffs, Silkworm, and this country rock band who’d just released a new album called Anodyne.
Uncle Tupelo (w/Doug Sahm) – Give Back The Key To My Heart
Anodyne, 1993
Amazon
Uncle Tupelo (w/Doug Sahm) – Give Back The Key To My Heart
Of course, Anodyne was the product of Uncle Tupelo. As I recall, it took a little time for the album to stick its hooks in us, but the one song that jumped out — at me, for sure — was their cover of “Give Back The Key To My Heart.” Hearing Doug Sahm’s voice kick in on the third verse reminded me, “Hey, I think I got this song!” I went to my vinyl collection, searched under ‘S,’ and sho nuff, there was the barely-played Texas Rock For Country Rollers, glaring out at me with an “I told you so” countenance. Fair enough.
Doug Sahm – Give Back The Key To My Heart
Texas Rock For Country Rollers, 1976
Amazon
Sir Doug & The Texas Tornados – Give Back The Key To My Heart
From that day forward, my love for both Tupelo and Sahm only intensified. In fact, I moved to Austin in part because Sir Doug had called it a “groover’s paradise” on his 1974 LP of the same name. Yes, most normal people ask other normal people for geographic recommendations. Not me. I seek out obscure allusions from the ’70s. Now you know why I make the medium bucks.
Fast-forward fifteen years: Last weekend I was listening to an Alvin Crow/Doug Sahm set from 1997. They were playing Sons Of Hermann Hall in Dallas, opening for the great Ray Price. While their set mostly featured Alvin’s vocals, Sir Doug took the mic for a few songs, including “Give Back The Key To My Heart.” The intro was priceless. Remember now, this was ’97, so Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar were only two albums into their post-Tupelo careers and still pretty much cult figures. Plus, this was a Ray Price gig, so you have to think that the average age of the audience was … well, let’s just say, “Social Security-eligible.” So, when Doug namedrops Uncle Tupelo, Tweedy, and “Mr. Jay Farrar” in his intro, the applause from the 30 people in the room recognizing these names has the feel of unexpected, but intense insiderishness. Pretty cool.
Alvin Crow, Doug Sahm & The Pleasant Valley Boys – Give Back The Key To My Heart
Sons Of Hermann Hall, Dallas, TX
January 4, 1997
Alvin Crow, Doug Sahm & The Pleasant Valley Boys – Give Back The Key To My Heart
Anyway, I love this song like an old pair of jeans and figure anyone with a love for country and roots-rock would as well. Funny how songs travel over time. Some age with all the subtlety of botulism, others age like fine wine. This tune is most definitely in the latter camp.
BTW, for a more comprehensive look at the Sahm album, check out my post, For LP Fans Only: Texas Rock For Country Rollers.
Cool post, cool blog. More!
Great post. The world needs to hear more Doug Sahm.
so strange. i was on a road trip this w/e, and the uncle tupelo version popped on when my friend told me the story about Doug Sahm singing on this track. I had no idea it was even a Sahm tune, and I would a forgot all about it if not for this post!
looks like i need to graduate to the tornados. adios, you gotta good thing going here.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Brendan, if you’re interested in exploring more Doug Sahm, I think the ideal starting point is “The Brown Comp,” aka The Best Of Doug Sahm & The Sir Douglas Quintet: 1968-1975. It covers an astounding range of material with a deft ear for his many musical cul-de-sacs (i.e. blues, country rock, tex-mex, hispter jazz, etc.)
Unfortunately, Texas Rock For Country Rollers falls just outside the scope of that comp. Also, the album went out of print about 3 weeks after its release, no label has plans for doing a proper reish, and you can only find it for about $30 used. Therefore, in the interests of getting more Doug Sahm into the world, I’ve made the executive decision to do a track-by-track review of Texas Rock with the full album available for download. Stay tuned, I should have it done within the month. In the meantime, I’ve posted another of its tunes at the Sahmtastic new blog, Star Maker Machine.
word up LD. i have mendocino, sahm and band, together after five, and return of doug saldana. but that’s it so i’m rearing to keep going.
i also got a hold of this great cd called Louie and the Lovers. smokin chicano rock group that was produced by Sahm. heavy ccr influence.
see here: http://therisingstorm.net/louie
Brendan, thanks for the link to that Louie & The Lovers album. I’m definitely checking that out. Louie actually joined the SDQ in the early ’80s. If you can find the album, Quintessence, he plays on that. Pretty solid record, actually.
Speaking of which, I think you already have a pretty good grounding in the Sahm. If I were you, my next step would either be Honkey Blues or 1+1+1=4. Or hell, maybe you oughta just spring for The Complete Mercury Recordings. You won’t be disappointed. Texas Tornado would also be a good next step, as would The Last Real Texas Blues Band, The Return Of Wayne Douglas, or maybe even a Texas Tornados comp. All good choices.
i usually don’t go for box sets. but i sprang! looks like a good one. thanks for the link, i really appreciate that. i’ll get you one back.