1. Douglas Wayne Sahm was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from San Antonio, Texas.
60 Facts About Doug Sahm
1. 2.
Doug Sahm is regarded as a key Tex-Mex music and Texan Music performer.
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Doug Sahm made his recording debut as "Little Doug" in 1955.
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In 1989, Sahm formed the supergroup the Texas Tornados with fellow Tex-Mex musicians Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez.
5.
Alfred Doug Sahm was a musician who played with the polka band The Doug Sahm Boys.
6.
Doug Sahm began singing at age five, and took up the steel guitar at age six.
7.
Doug Sahm was regarded as a child prodigy on the steel guitar.
8.
Doug Sahm's mother took him to a local music school, but his teacher turned him down soon after.
9.
Doug Sahm's teacher explained he could not teach Sahm to read music, and the boy could already play by ear.
10.
Doug Sahm often appeared at a local club, The Barn, which his uncle co-owned with Charlie Walker.
11.
Doug Sahm performed shows with Hank Williams, Faron Young and Hank Thompson.
12.
In 1953, Doug Sahm met Augie Meyers while he purchased baseball cards at Meyer's mother's grocery store, and the two became friends.
13.
Meyers and Doug Sahm discussed forming a band, but nothing came of it as both played with different groups.
14.
Doug Sahm grew up on the East side of San Antonio, a predominantly black neighborhood.
15.
Doug Sahm listened from his home to the live performances of T-Bone Walker and other blues artists who appeared at a nearby blues bar, the Eastwood Country Club.
16.
Doug Sahm enjoyed success performing in San Antonio nightclubs, as he played a blend of music that consisted of rhythm and blues with the addition of the West Side tenor saxophone player Eracleo "Rocky" Morales.
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Meanwhile, Doug Sahm performed on guitar six nights a week with Jimmy Johnson's band.
18.
Doug Sahm fronted three bands: The Pharaohs, The Dell-Kings and The Markays.
19.
Doug Sahm released the song "Crazy Daisy", and he had a local hit with "Why Why Why" on Renner Records.
20.
Doug Sahm called Sahm and asked him to write songs based on that style, and to let his hair grow.
21.
Doug Sahm put together a band with Meyers, Frank Morin, Harvey Kagan and Johnny Perez.
22.
Dylan and Sahm met again in London while the Sir Douglas Quintet toured England.
23.
Doug Sahm moved to Salinas, California, and became involved in San Francisco's burgeoning hippie scene.
24.
Doug Sahm gathered again with the musicians of the Sir Douglas Quintet, excluding Meyers, whose parole officer did not allow to leave Texas.
25.
Doug Sahm became acquainted with the music acts playing in the Haight-Ashbury district, and performed at venues including The Fillmore and the Avalon Ballroom.
26.
In December 1968, Doug Sahm appeared with his son, Shawn, on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
27.
Doug Sahm left California in 1971 and returned to San Antonio.
28.
Doug Sahm released an album entitled The Return of Doug Saldana with the Sir Douglas Quintet; Chicano musicians in San Antonio had given him the nickname "Saldana".
29.
Doug Sahm moved to Austin that year as the local hippie scene grew.
30.
Doug Sahm appeared at the Armadillo World Headquarters and the Soap Creek Saloon in Austin.
31.
Doug Sahm performed on the film's song "Michoacan", but radio stations refused to play it because of its references to marijuana.
32.
In 1976, Doug Sahm collaborated again with Meaux on the release of Texas Rock For Country Rollers.
33.
Doug Sahm reformed the band after it had gained momentum from the success of new wave music, and the use of organs featured by Elvis Costello and The Attractions.
34.
Doug Sahm formed the band The Texas Mavericks in Austin in 1987 with Alvin Crow, Speedy Sparks, John Reed, and Ernie Durawa.
35.
Doug Sahm sang under the pseudonym "Samm Dogg", and he and the band performed wearing wrestling masks.
36.
In September 1989, six years after his last record release in the United States, Doug Sahm partnered with club owner and blues impresario Clifford Antone for the release of Juke Box Music on Antone's Record Label.
37.
Doug Sahm used the club's house band on the recording.
38.
In 1989, Doug Sahm formed the Texas Tornados with Meyers, Fender and Jimenez.
39.
Doug Sahm then formed The Last Real Texas Blues Band with the musicians he performed with at Antone's.
40.
Doug Sahm booked the Cherry Ridge Studios in Floresville, Texas, and he assisted with the recording of Burleson's debut album My Perfect World.
41.
Doug Sahm met Violet Morris at a Christmas party in 1961.
42.
Doug Sahm's first son, Shawn, was born in 1965, and Shandon in 1969.
43.
In 1973, during a visit to the Mexican restaurant La Rosa in San Antonio, Doug Sahm was apprehended by police officers who searched him, his car, and his companions for drugs.
44.
Doug Sahm followed several teams and visited their training camps through the years.
45.
Doug Sahm often refused to attend rehearsals to watch games, and on one occasion, he rejected a tour to be able to watch the World Series.
46.
Doug Sahm planned to visit a friend in Taos, New Mexico, then continue to a cabin in the Sangre de Cristo Range and finish the trip with a visit to Dan Healy in San Francisco.
47.
Doug Sahm left for New Mexico after a brief visit with his son Shawn in Boerne, Texas.
48.
Doug Sahm checked into the Kachina Lodge Hotel in Taos, New Mexico.
49.
Doug Sahm's son continued calling him over the next few days.
50.
Doug Sahm initially refused, but he agreed to drive himself to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to meet Hanson there for the drive back to Texas.
51.
Doug Sahm was advised to visit the local emergency room, but he did not do so.
52.
On November 18,1999, Doug Sahm was found dead in his hotel room.
53.
The results of the autopsy determined that Doug Sahm died of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, described as a heart attack.
54.
On November 23,1999, Doug Sahm's funeral took place at the Sunset Memorial Home in San Antonio.
55.
Doug Sahm was buried in a private ceremony at Sunset Memorial Park in San Antonio, next to his mother and father.
56.
Doug Sahm's presence was described as "impulsive, restless and energetic" by Texas Monthly, while his way of talking was characterized by a "rapid-fire" style and the use of hippie jargon.
57.
Doug Sahm was featured in the 1974 mural "Austintatious" at the Drag portion of Guadalupe street in Austin.
58.
In 2008, Doug Sahm was an inaugural inductee to the Austin Music Memorial.
59.
In 2015, Doug Sahm was inducted to the South Texas Music Walk of Fame.
60.
The Intro and Outro tracks consisted of phone messages that Doug Sahm left Jay Farrar over the years.