Sir Douglas Quintet - The Best Of The Sir Douglas Quintet (1966)

The Sir Douglas Quintet were a Texan rock band formed in the mid-60s by frontman Doug Sahm.

The Sir Douglas Quintet were formed in Texas, their name intended to cash in on the British Invasion and fool listeners into thinking they were English. The title of their first album often causes confusion, as it's not actually a 'best of'. Led off by their 1965 hit single "She's About A Mover", which blends a raw garage rock sound with a Tex-Mex two-step groove, it touches on various roots music forms including blues, folk, Cajun and country. So despite their English-sounding name their music was undoubtedly American. The lineup at this early stage of their career consisted of Doug Sahm (vocals, guitar), Augie Meyers (organ), Jack Barber (bass), Johnny Perez (drums) and Frank Morin. Morin is usually credited as being the group's sax player, but he also played percussion, harmonica and extra keyboards (sax is actually featured on only one song on this album - most of the time he is playing shakers or tambourine).
Alongside strong Doug Sahm originals are covers of "Quarter To Three" (Gary U.S. Bonds), "In The Jailhouse Now" (Jimmie Rodgers), "It's A Man Down There" (Elmore James' "One Way Out") and the folk standard "In The Pines". All these different genres are brought together by the distinctive vibe the band had managed to forge, a raw British Invasion influenced garage rock sound characterised by Sahm's soulful vocals and Meyer's Vox Continental organ (which sounds distinctly different to the Hammond B3 organ more commonly used in rock music, and instantly became an important part of the group's sound).

|> Sir Douglas Quintet + 2 = Honkey Blues (1968)
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