Texas Troubadours - 100 Singer-Songwriter Albums
by henrygreen0203 
"If you're nobody's business or you're front page news
Folk, Rock, Country or Delta Blues
Tell your truth however you choose
And do it all for the sake of the song"
-Hayes Carll
The following are selected records from many Texas singer-songwriter folk icons. Each album contains mostly original songwriting material by the featured artist.
- Chart updated: 05/04/2021 20:45
- (Created: 10/24/2016 18:43).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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1970
Track: Me and Bobby McGee
All songs written or co-written by Kris Kristofferson
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-QmpH28Vynt7sHrDZ5lJp5QZR9rDvYWV
Kris Kristofferson is a living testament to the ethic of the singer-songwriter. Introspective and gregarious, astute observer of the ebb and flow of human emotion, courageous, independent. Kristofferson was there in the beginning, living the life, sowing the early seeds. Come to think, maybe he started the whole damn thing.
Born in Brownsville, Texas to a military family, Kristofferson has lived pretty much everywhere, and has done pretty much everything. Army Captain, helicopter pilot, boxer, rugger and runner. Rhodes Scholar, actor (with a Golden Globe Award) and pretty boy. But foremost, a songwriter.
Raised mostly in California and steered by his father towards a military career, his family never forgave him when he quit the army to become an artist. Kris got over it, and has had as much fun in this life as anybody, more than most, just being free and easy.
He landed in Nashville in 1965, swept floors to survive and did practically anything to get someone to listen to his songs. But he was never really part of the Nashville machine, nor would he become an “outlaw” from the traditional country scene like his buddies Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Kristofferson never pretended to be a country boy, never pretended to be anything other than what he was…a road hardened hippie California drifter from Texas. He was the absolute antithesis of the Nashville cowboys that whooped it up on Saturday night and still pretended to go to church on Sunday morning.
The full measure of this man’s work, and the real import of his influence on the art form, can only be appreciated from a distance. He has written great songs, of course, completely original and diverse barnburners that have become country standards. Songs like “For the Good Times”, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, “Help Me Make it Through the Night” and “Me and Bobby McGee”. Songs still instantly recognized and loved around the world.
But perhaps more important than what he did was the way he did it. Kristofferson wrote and produced the way he wanted, not the way some record executive told him to. His original recordings are raw and spare and dusty, delivered with a few scratchy guitar chords and a sandpaper voice, and they were much the better for it. Kris was one of those early preachers of the simple spoken word (along with the likes of Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt and Leonard Cohen), teaching us that the value of the music is in the message, not the package. The book rather than the cover.
Kris Kristofferson has had a long and beautiful journey, and we’re quite lucky that he took us along.
Three things you should know about Kris Kristofferson: (1) he has a Masters degree in English literature, and once wanted to be a novelist, (2) he was romantically involved with Janis Joplin when she died in 1970, and (3) to get Johnny Cash to listen to some of his early songs, Kris landed a helicopter in his front yard. [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
Track: Me and Bobby McGee
All songs written or co-written by Kris Kristofferson
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-QmpH28Vynt7sHrDZ5lJp5QZR9rDvYWV
Kris Kristofferson is a living testament to the ethic of the singer-songwriter. Introspective and gregarious, astute observer of the ebb and flow of human emotion, courageous, independent. Kristofferson was there in the beginning, living the life, sowing the early seeds. Come to think, maybe he started the whole damn thing.
Born in Brownsville, Texas to a military family, Kristofferson has lived pretty much everywhere, and has done pretty much everything. Army Captain, helicopter pilot, boxer, rugger and runner. Rhodes Scholar, actor (with a Golden Globe Award) and pretty boy. But foremost, a songwriter.
Raised mostly in California and steered by his father towards a military career, his family never forgave him when he quit the army to become an artist. Kris got over it, and has had as much fun in this life as anybody, more than most, just being free and easy.
He landed in Nashville in 1965, swept floors to survive and did practically anything to get someone to listen to his songs. But he was never really part of the Nashville machine, nor would he become an “outlaw” from the traditional country scene like his buddies Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Kristofferson never pretended to be a country boy, never pretended to be anything other than what he was…a road hardened hippie California drifter from Texas. He was the absolute antithesis of the Nashville cowboys that whooped it up on Saturday night and still pretended to go to church on Sunday morning.
The full measure of this man’s work, and the real import of his influence on the art form, can only be appreciated from a distance. He has written great songs, of course, completely original and diverse barnburners that have become country standards. Songs like “For the Good Times”, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, “Help Me Make it Through the Night” and “Me and Bobby McGee”. Songs still instantly recognized and loved around the world.
But perhaps more important than what he did was the way he did it. Kristofferson wrote and produced the way he wanted, not the way some record executive told him to. His original recordings are raw and spare and dusty, delivered with a few scratchy guitar chords and a sandpaper voice, and they were much the better for it. Kris was one of those early preachers of the simple spoken word (along with the likes of Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt and Leonard Cohen), teaching us that the value of the music is in the message, not the package. The book rather than the cover.
Kris Kristofferson has had a long and beautiful journey, and we’re quite lucky that he took us along.
Three things you should know about Kris Kristofferson: (1) he has a Masters degree in English literature, and once wanted to be a novelist, (2) he was romantically involved with Janis Joplin when she died in 1970, and (3) to get Johnny Cash to listen to some of his early songs, Kris landed a helicopter in his front yard. [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
10
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[First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
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1972
Track: Ballad of Spider John
All songs written by Willis Alan Ramsey
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH2az0p5cQK3f5jdyKO1-nKX8h1FI3fQ6
Confounding and eccentric, Willis Alan Ramsey thundered onto the scene in 1972 with the release of Willis Alan Ramsey, a rollicking, joyful, sexy masterpiece that forever changed the lives of critics and hippies alike. In the forty years since, he has been promising, but not delivering, his next big thing. Many of his disciples have tired of the wait, but we cannot forget his glorious impact on their youth. So they wait.
Born in Alabama and raised in Dallas’ toney Highland Park, Ramsey finished high school in the tumult of 1969 and hit Austin at the beginning of the progressive country movement. There were no blueprints or scripts for the magic that was being created at that time by the likes of Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, B. W. Stevenson and others, and Ramsey’s completely original work was a major influence on the scene. Maybe more folk than country, Willis Alan could be found at as many coffee houses as honky-tonks.
Willis’ greatest achievement was to paint a perfect picture of young love as so many of us were right smack dab in the middle of it. “Angel Eyes” is the story of every anonymous boy who wakes up one day to find himself with the girl of his dreams, and “Spider John” warns that she could disappear just as quickly. Maybe Ramsey’s most captivating words are saved for the subject of awakening sexuality. Check out “Geraldine and the Honeybee”, “Watermelon Man” and “Satin Sheets” for his almost innocent musings on the mysteries of carnal love.
Ramsey has done some serious adventuring since 1972, marrying fellow songwriter Alison Rogers in 1991 and living in such exotic places as Colorado, Nashville and England. Yours truly had the good fortune to catch the newlyweds perform together at a mystical oasis in the New Mexico desert, and the magic and memories of seventies Austin came flooding right back.
Find Willis Alan Ramsey, immerse yourself, and call it a day.
Three things you should know about Willis Alan Ramsey: (1) for a bittersweet hint of what we’ve been missing all these years, find a video performance of his unreleased “Boystown”, (2) his syrupy but delightful “Muskrat Candlelight” was covered by America and (regrettably) Captain & Tenille, and (3) his theoretical second release, Gentilly, has been almost ready since 2003. [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
Track: Ballad of Spider John
All songs written by Willis Alan Ramsey
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH2az0p5cQK3f5jdyKO1-nKX8h1FI3fQ6
Confounding and eccentric, Willis Alan Ramsey thundered onto the scene in 1972 with the release of Willis Alan Ramsey, a rollicking, joyful, sexy masterpiece that forever changed the lives of critics and hippies alike. In the forty years since, he has been promising, but not delivering, his next big thing. Many of his disciples have tired of the wait, but we cannot forget his glorious impact on their youth. So they wait.
Born in Alabama and raised in Dallas’ toney Highland Park, Ramsey finished high school in the tumult of 1969 and hit Austin at the beginning of the progressive country movement. There were no blueprints or scripts for the magic that was being created at that time by the likes of Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, B. W. Stevenson and others, and Ramsey’s completely original work was a major influence on the scene. Maybe more folk than country, Willis Alan could be found at as many coffee houses as honky-tonks.
Willis’ greatest achievement was to paint a perfect picture of young love as so many of us were right smack dab in the middle of it. “Angel Eyes” is the story of every anonymous boy who wakes up one day to find himself with the girl of his dreams, and “Spider John” warns that she could disappear just as quickly. Maybe Ramsey’s most captivating words are saved for the subject of awakening sexuality. Check out “Geraldine and the Honeybee”, “Watermelon Man” and “Satin Sheets” for his almost innocent musings on the mysteries of carnal love.
Ramsey has done some serious adventuring since 1972, marrying fellow songwriter Alison Rogers in 1991 and living in such exotic places as Colorado, Nashville and England. Yours truly had the good fortune to catch the newlyweds perform together at a mystical oasis in the New Mexico desert, and the magic and memories of seventies Austin came flooding right back.
Find Willis Alan Ramsey, immerse yourself, and call it a day.
Three things you should know about Willis Alan Ramsey: (1) for a bittersweet hint of what we’ve been missing all these years, find a video performance of his unreleased “Boystown”, (2) his syrupy but delightful “Muskrat Candlelight” was covered by America and (regrettably) Captain & Tenille, and (3) his theoretical second release, Gentilly, has been almost ready since 2003. [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
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1972
Track: Lonesome, Orn'ry and Mean
All but three songs written or co-written by Steve Young
. [First added to this chart: 12/30/2018]
Track: Lonesome, Orn'ry and Mean
All but three songs written or co-written by Steve Young
. [First added to this chart: 12/30/2018]
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1972
Track: Geronimo's Cadillac
All but one song written or co-written by Michael Murphey
. [First added to this chart: 05/28/2017]
Track: Geronimo's Cadillac
All but one song written or co-written by Michael Murphey
. [First added to this chart: 05/28/2017]
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1972
Track: Save a Little Time for Love [First added to this chart: 12/15/2018]
Track: Save a Little Time for Love [First added to this chart: 12/15/2018]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1
Rank in 1972:
Rank in 1970s:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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1973
Track: Willie the Wandering Gypsy
All songs written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYa84zSxTXm_30GAr350oLppDhU1is_4y
Stories abound about Billy Joe Shaver, the tragedies endured, the stands taken, the paths chosen. Suffice to say that there is not an insincere bone in the body of this man. A son of Corsicana and Waco, Texas, Shaver’s songs leap straight from the heart and speak to those parts of us that need some dignity, some justice. This is poetry straight from the black soil of East Texas, earthy and real.
The word outlaw has a bit of a nefarious meaning. To the Nashville establishment in the early seventies, it was tagged to a number of country and western artists who weren’t as welcome on the Grand Ole Opry stage as the likes of Porter Waggoner or Dolly Parton. At the helm of the “outlaw movement”, as these artists came to be known, were Texans Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and the lesser known Shaver…maybe the truest outlaw of them all.
The trio’s work, and more importantly their attitudes and actions, led to a minor exodus out of Nashville and into Texas, where they found a much better reception for their heartfelt music and their wicked ways.
“It’s all right to call me an outlaw, but it’s hard to be an outlaw when you ‘ain’t wanted”, Shaver said in an interview. “No, back in those days when we first started that movement, it was more like outcast than outlaw. They didn’t want us in there.”
For his part, Shaver stayed out of the spotlight, likely not by choice. Rather, his penchant was for crafting indelible, gruff and spare country songs that bled authenticity. The kind of stuff that didn’t get played on the Opry stage too often.
These songs eventually got the attention of Jennings after he was confronted by Shaver in a Nashville studio. Billy Joe famously warned Jennings to listen to his music or get his “ass whupped”, and Jennings wisely chose to listen. The result was Honky Tonk Heroes, Waylon’s 1973 album of Shaver’s songs that ushered in the outlaw movement, instilling a more rock ’n’ roll approach to country, and influencing a slew of artists then, such as David Allan Coe and Kris Kristofferson, and now, such as Hank Williams III and Wayne Hancock.
Yet, for all it has accomplished, outlaw country has yet to be accepted by the Nashville elite, and that’s just fine with Shaver. “They were afraid we’d mess up what they had and they had something that was good,” Shaver added, “but it wasn’t as good as what we brought to the table. We were probably ten or fifteen years ahead. They claimed it was rock ‘n’ roll; it wasn’t. It was just kick ass country, the way we play down here in Texas.”
Shaver stands as one of country music’s true originals that is still actively writing, his latest release being the highly acclaimed Long in the Tooth, an album which has shed a brighter light on the honky-tonk hero. The album’s opener is a duet with Nelson, aptly titled “Hard to Be an Outlaw.” It’s the perfect frosting on the cake that is Shaver’s hard fought career, one that was never ideal in terms of development. However, he’s still standing and he remains the epitome of Texas music… independent, ornery as hell, and steadfast. Country as it gets, in all the right ways.
Three things you should know about Billy Joe Shaver: (1) at a young age he lost two fingers working in a sawmill, which shaped the way he plays guitar; (2) Shaver’s son, Eddy, performed alongside his father up until a tragic heroin overdose in 2000, and (3) his on again/off again wife Brenda refused to let Billy Joe play on Honky Tonk Heroes, telling Jennings “He don’t want to be on no outlaw album. He don’t want to go back to that kind of life.” [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
Track: Willie the Wandering Gypsy
All songs written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYa84zSxTXm_30GAr350oLppDhU1is_4y
Stories abound about Billy Joe Shaver, the tragedies endured, the stands taken, the paths chosen. Suffice to say that there is not an insincere bone in the body of this man. A son of Corsicana and Waco, Texas, Shaver’s songs leap straight from the heart and speak to those parts of us that need some dignity, some justice. This is poetry straight from the black soil of East Texas, earthy and real.
The word outlaw has a bit of a nefarious meaning. To the Nashville establishment in the early seventies, it was tagged to a number of country and western artists who weren’t as welcome on the Grand Ole Opry stage as the likes of Porter Waggoner or Dolly Parton. At the helm of the “outlaw movement”, as these artists came to be known, were Texans Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and the lesser known Shaver…maybe the truest outlaw of them all.
The trio’s work, and more importantly their attitudes and actions, led to a minor exodus out of Nashville and into Texas, where they found a much better reception for their heartfelt music and their wicked ways.
“It’s all right to call me an outlaw, but it’s hard to be an outlaw when you ‘ain’t wanted”, Shaver said in an interview. “No, back in those days when we first started that movement, it was more like outcast than outlaw. They didn’t want us in there.”
For his part, Shaver stayed out of the spotlight, likely not by choice. Rather, his penchant was for crafting indelible, gruff and spare country songs that bled authenticity. The kind of stuff that didn’t get played on the Opry stage too often.
These songs eventually got the attention of Jennings after he was confronted by Shaver in a Nashville studio. Billy Joe famously warned Jennings to listen to his music or get his “ass whupped”, and Jennings wisely chose to listen. The result was Honky Tonk Heroes, Waylon’s 1973 album of Shaver’s songs that ushered in the outlaw movement, instilling a more rock ’n’ roll approach to country, and influencing a slew of artists then, such as David Allan Coe and Kris Kristofferson, and now, such as Hank Williams III and Wayne Hancock.
Yet, for all it has accomplished, outlaw country has yet to be accepted by the Nashville elite, and that’s just fine with Shaver. “They were afraid we’d mess up what they had and they had something that was good,” Shaver added, “but it wasn’t as good as what we brought to the table. We were probably ten or fifteen years ahead. They claimed it was rock ‘n’ roll; it wasn’t. It was just kick ass country, the way we play down here in Texas.”
Shaver stands as one of country music’s true originals that is still actively writing, his latest release being the highly acclaimed Long in the Tooth, an album which has shed a brighter light on the honky-tonk hero. The album’s opener is a duet with Nelson, aptly titled “Hard to Be an Outlaw.” It’s the perfect frosting on the cake that is Shaver’s hard fought career, one that was never ideal in terms of development. However, he’s still standing and he remains the epitome of Texas music… independent, ornery as hell, and steadfast. Country as it gets, in all the right ways.
Three things you should know about Billy Joe Shaver: (1) at a young age he lost two fingers working in a sawmill, which shaped the way he plays guitar; (2) Shaver’s son, Eddy, performed alongside his father up until a tragic heroin overdose in 2000, and (3) his on again/off again wife Brenda refused to let Billy Joe play on Honky Tonk Heroes, telling Jennings “He don’t want to be on no outlaw album. He don’t want to go back to that kind of life.” [First added to this chart: 03/24/2017]
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1973
Track: Sold American
All songs written or co-written by Kinky Friedman
. [First added to this chart: 04/07/2017]
Track: Sold American
All songs written or co-written by Kinky Friedman
. [First added to this chart: 04/07/2017]
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1974
Track: It's Not Supposed to Be That Way
All songs written by Willie Nelson
What can be said about this man that hasn’t already been debated, cussed and discussed? Not much, given his iconic status in country music and progressive culture, but maybe there is perspective to be gained about the larger than life existence of Willie Hugh Nelson, the favorite son of Abbott, Texas.
First, the voice. An natural instrument so extraordinary that it is instantly recognizable in every corner of the world. In the abstract it might be dismissed as a nasally Texas honk, but to listen is to bear witness to perfection: confident, controlled, welcoming and wise, a portal to other places, places of warmth, comfort and beauty. A voice unparalleled in popular American music, with the possible exception of Sinatra himself.
The guitar work is equally perfect, but understated, punctuating, almost hidden behind the voice. “Trigger”, he calls his instrument. Maybe the only classical guitar in American country music, and when he throws in a little lead the room goes quiet.
Then there is the writing. Willie has been performing for so long, often covering the work of others, that his songwriting prowess is sometimes overlooked. He started off in the fifties as a contract songwriter in Nashville. When the dust settles he will be remembered as a songwriter, having written or co-written over 2500 songs, including masterpieces like “Crazy”, “Funny How Time Slips Away”, “Whiskey River”, “Night Life” and “Hello Walls”.
But Willie’s highest purpose is not the writing or the voice or the guitar. It is, rather, his status as an icon of decency and unabashed humanity, a fine soul tossed around by the storms of life. But Willie has always come up smiling, caring more about us than about himself.
He was the engine of the “outlaw” movement of the seventies, and the course of that bloodless revolution tells us much about the strength and character of Mr. Nelson. Certainly the cause, resistance to the commercialization of the American folk idiom by Nashville corporatists, was noble, and the leaders of the movement, Willie and Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser and others, were certainly principled and courageous. But for Willie Nelson the movement was a natural and inevitable extension of his very being: a man who has lived his life with strength and conviction, with a personal and unerring sense of right and wrong, without a whit of concern for the opinions of others.
He has lived a generous life based completely on this notion of personal integrity and responsibility, and is universally loved by fans of all political persuasions. He has been an active proponent of LGBT rights, the ethical treatment of animals, the development of bio-fuels, and support for farmers through “Farm Aid”, which he began in 1985 with Neil Young and John Mellencamp.
Willie Nelson, one of the very tallest Texans.
Three more things to know about Willie Nelson: (1) he moved back to Texas in 1970 when his Tennessee home burned down after a long night of songwriting with his friend Hank Cochran, (2) he has appeared on screen over thirty times, including in movies like The Electric Horseman, Songwriter, The Red Headed Stranger, Barbarosa and Honeysuckle Rose, and (3) in 1980, he sang Ray Wylie Hubbard‘s “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” at the White House with First Lady Rosalyn Carter. [First added to this chart: 03/25/2017]
Track: It's Not Supposed to Be That Way
All songs written by Willie Nelson
What can be said about this man that hasn’t already been debated, cussed and discussed? Not much, given his iconic status in country music and progressive culture, but maybe there is perspective to be gained about the larger than life existence of Willie Hugh Nelson, the favorite son of Abbott, Texas.
First, the voice. An natural instrument so extraordinary that it is instantly recognizable in every corner of the world. In the abstract it might be dismissed as a nasally Texas honk, but to listen is to bear witness to perfection: confident, controlled, welcoming and wise, a portal to other places, places of warmth, comfort and beauty. A voice unparalleled in popular American music, with the possible exception of Sinatra himself.
The guitar work is equally perfect, but understated, punctuating, almost hidden behind the voice. “Trigger”, he calls his instrument. Maybe the only classical guitar in American country music, and when he throws in a little lead the room goes quiet.
Then there is the writing. Willie has been performing for so long, often covering the work of others, that his songwriting prowess is sometimes overlooked. He started off in the fifties as a contract songwriter in Nashville. When the dust settles he will be remembered as a songwriter, having written or co-written over 2500 songs, including masterpieces like “Crazy”, “Funny How Time Slips Away”, “Whiskey River”, “Night Life” and “Hello Walls”.
But Willie’s highest purpose is not the writing or the voice or the guitar. It is, rather, his status as an icon of decency and unabashed humanity, a fine soul tossed around by the storms of life. But Willie has always come up smiling, caring more about us than about himself.
He was the engine of the “outlaw” movement of the seventies, and the course of that bloodless revolution tells us much about the strength and character of Mr. Nelson. Certainly the cause, resistance to the commercialization of the American folk idiom by Nashville corporatists, was noble, and the leaders of the movement, Willie and Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser and others, were certainly principled and courageous. But for Willie Nelson the movement was a natural and inevitable extension of his very being: a man who has lived his life with strength and conviction, with a personal and unerring sense of right and wrong, without a whit of concern for the opinions of others.
He has lived a generous life based completely on this notion of personal integrity and responsibility, and is universally loved by fans of all political persuasions. He has been an active proponent of LGBT rights, the ethical treatment of animals, the development of bio-fuels, and support for farmers through “Farm Aid”, which he began in 1985 with Neil Young and John Mellencamp.
Willie Nelson, one of the very tallest Texans.
Three more things to know about Willie Nelson: (1) he moved back to Texas in 1970 when his Tennessee home burned down after a long night of songwriting with his friend Hank Cochran, (2) he has appeared on screen over thirty times, including in movies like The Electric Horseman, Songwriter, The Red Headed Stranger, Barbarosa and Honeysuckle Rose, and (3) in 1980, he sang Ray Wylie Hubbard‘s “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” at the White House with First Lady Rosalyn Carter. [First added to this chart: 03/25/2017]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1974
Track: Beautiful Texas Sunshine
All but one song written by Doug Sahm
Doug Sahm’s influence on Texas music is not well enough known, but impossible to overstate. With his original stew of rock and roll, country, soul, Tejano and rhythm and blues, a little Motown and a little psychedelic polka, Sahm pushed the scene along for close to fifty years until his untimely death in 1999. He pulled us into unexpected eddies and cultural confluences, always with a smile on his face and a Pearl in his hand. “You just can’t live in Texas unless you got a lot of soul”, he said, and then set out to prove it so.
Sir Doug was a child prodigy. He came of age on the stages of San Antonio, made his name posing as part of the British invasion, and moved to San Francisco (with the likes of Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter and Boz Scaggs) as a Texas ambassador to the Summer of Love. In the seventies he moved to Austin, his “Groover’s Paradise”, to help fuel its exploding musical adventure. He stayed for the rest of his life.
First there was the Sir Douglas Quintet, San Antonio boys with Beatle cuts, then the Texas Tornados, with Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez. The fabulous Augie Meyers was always by his side. Sahm could lay down a sad country tune, but his trademark was something else entirely, a sort of rolling Texas jump funk that pulled hippies, rednecks and old folks alike out on the dance floor. His lilting drawl and hammering guitar, Augie’s pumping Vox, the testifying honk of Rocky Morales and the West Side Horns. Joy, set to rhythm.
Check out “Beautiful Texas Sunshine”, a sketch of the carefree Austin of the seventies, and imagine laying on a big slab of limestone with the lover of your dreams, clear waters swirling all around you, “Cowboy Peyton Place”, a two-steppin’ ode to serial heartbreak and “Just Groove Me”, a classic Sahm bluesy groove that will have you sliding and swaying around the kitchen table.
Doug’s son Shawn carries on the tradition in Austin with the Tex-Mex Tradition, and second son Shandon is a noted drummer with the Meat Puppets. In 2008, Austin dedicated Doug Sahm Hill to the man, looking over the lake in downtown Austin. He would have considered that groovy.
The happy hippie in a ten-gallon hat, the original cosmic cowboy, the pied piper of the Texas Hill Country. Doug Sahm changed our music forever.
Three things to know about Doug Sahm: (1) he sang “Teardrops In My Heart” on San Antonio radio at the age of five, (2) in Austin, 1953, two weeks before his death, Hank Williams pulled Doug up onstage to play, (3) in 1973, Atlantic Records released Doug Sahm And Band, featuring appearances by Bob Dylan, Dr. John, David Bromberg and Flaco Jimenez. [First added to this chart: 03/25/2017]
Track: Beautiful Texas Sunshine
All but one song written by Doug Sahm
Doug Sahm’s influence on Texas music is not well enough known, but impossible to overstate. With his original stew of rock and roll, country, soul, Tejano and rhythm and blues, a little Motown and a little psychedelic polka, Sahm pushed the scene along for close to fifty years until his untimely death in 1999. He pulled us into unexpected eddies and cultural confluences, always with a smile on his face and a Pearl in his hand. “You just can’t live in Texas unless you got a lot of soul”, he said, and then set out to prove it so.
Sir Doug was a child prodigy. He came of age on the stages of San Antonio, made his name posing as part of the British invasion, and moved to San Francisco (with the likes of Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter and Boz Scaggs) as a Texas ambassador to the Summer of Love. In the seventies he moved to Austin, his “Groover’s Paradise”, to help fuel its exploding musical adventure. He stayed for the rest of his life.
First there was the Sir Douglas Quintet, San Antonio boys with Beatle cuts, then the Texas Tornados, with Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez. The fabulous Augie Meyers was always by his side. Sahm could lay down a sad country tune, but his trademark was something else entirely, a sort of rolling Texas jump funk that pulled hippies, rednecks and old folks alike out on the dance floor. His lilting drawl and hammering guitar, Augie’s pumping Vox, the testifying honk of Rocky Morales and the West Side Horns. Joy, set to rhythm.
Check out “Beautiful Texas Sunshine”, a sketch of the carefree Austin of the seventies, and imagine laying on a big slab of limestone with the lover of your dreams, clear waters swirling all around you, “Cowboy Peyton Place”, a two-steppin’ ode to serial heartbreak and “Just Groove Me”, a classic Sahm bluesy groove that will have you sliding and swaying around the kitchen table.
Doug’s son Shawn carries on the tradition in Austin with the Tex-Mex Tradition, and second son Shandon is a noted drummer with the Meat Puppets. In 2008, Austin dedicated Doug Sahm Hill to the man, looking over the lake in downtown Austin. He would have considered that groovy.
The happy hippie in a ten-gallon hat, the original cosmic cowboy, the pied piper of the Texas Hill Country. Doug Sahm changed our music forever.
Three things to know about Doug Sahm: (1) he sang “Teardrops In My Heart” on San Antonio radio at the age of five, (2) in Austin, 1953, two weeks before his death, Hank Williams pulled Doug up onstage to play, (3) in 1973, Atlantic Records released Doug Sahm And Band, featuring appearances by Bob Dylan, Dr. John, David Bromberg and Flaco Jimenez. [First added to this chart: 03/25/2017]
Total albums: 18. Page 1 of 2
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Texas Troubadours - 100 Singer-Songwriter Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 2 | 2% | |
| 1960s | 6 | 6% | |
| 1970s | 18 | 18% | |
| 1980s | 18 | 18% | |
| 1990s | 24 | 24% | |
| 2000s | 17 | 17% | |
| 2010s | 15 | 15% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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|
|
| Eric Taylor | 1 | 1% | |
| Lucinda Williams | 1 | 1% | |
| James McMurtry | 1 | 1% | |
| Kris Kristofferson | 1 | 1% | |
| Darden Smith | 1 | 1% | |
| Terri Hendrix | 1 | 1% | |
| Delbert McClinton | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Texas Troubadours - 100 Singer-Songwriter Albums chart changes
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86/100 (from 2 votes)
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| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 85/100  | 02/18/2019 00:39 | BorderFreeAndrew | | 81/100 |
| 85/100 | 06/03/2017 14:13 |  bobbyb5 | | 90/100 |
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85/100
From bobbyb5 06/03/2017 14:15
bobbyb5 06/03/2017 14:15
Cool. I just wanted to see if u put Jerry Jeff Walker, and sure enough u did. Awesome.
#191908 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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