TEXAS TORNADOS

Flaco Jiménez, Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm, and  Freddy Fender are the four members of this supergroup that was put together in 1990 by record company execs looking to find business in regional music.  But these guys had been playing music with each other off and on for most of their musical careers. Guitarist Sahm and keyboardist Meyers were founding members of the Sir Douglas Quintet, who had hits She's About A Mover and Mendocino in the 1960s.  Accordionist Jiménez was well known in Tex-Mex circles as the father of Conjuto music for the Conjuto accordion he plays incredibly well.  While vocalist/guitarist Fender had big hits on both sides of the border with Wasted Days And Wasted Nights and Before The Next Teardrop Falls.  Augie Meyers finds a way to make the Vox Jaguar organ as vital today as it was in the sixties, while Doug Sahm was described by Fender as "the only gringo who can play the Bajo Sexto."   

Their music, a collection of their respective careers, along with new music they wrote as a band is a fantastic blend of rock, ranchera, ballads and blues all flavored with their own unique lyrics in a language that can only be described as Spanglish.  It's infectious, upbeat, and goes together like a plate of carnitas, enchiladas and frijoles topped with Texas hot sauce.  Their hit A Little Bit Is Better Than Nada was the great intro song that opened the Kevin Costner movie Tin Cup.  

Doug Sahm passed in 1999 followed by Freddy Fender seven years later.  The band continues to record with Doug Sahm's son Shawn taking "control of the bus" as Augie Meyers put it.  Start with their Greatest Hits album, and before long you'll be exploring their whole catalog.       

Listen To The Band: Is Anybody Goin to San Antone (Glenn Martin and Dave Kirby) (c) 1970