The Soulful Sound of Doug Sahm

The Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock group with a history almost as colorful as its music, even though the latter was so relentlessly soulful and independent that the group’s admirers have ranged over the years from Bob Dylan to Elvis Costello.

Both sides of the band and its leader, Doug Sahm, are saluted in a new PolyGram album titled “The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet / 1968-1975.”

As Gene Santoro explains in his liner notes for the album, Sahm grew up in south Texas and was exposed to the region’s rich and varied musical heritage, which encompasses country music, blues, rock, Western swing and the infectious Tex-Mex border sound.

Sahm had a few regional record hits, but was having trouble breaking nationally until record producer Huey P. Meaux called Sahm in 1964 with a novel idea. Noticing the success of the Beatles and other British groups, Meaux urged Sahm to dress his band like the British groups and adopt the name Sir Douglas Quintet so that it would sound British.

Shortly after, the quintet had its first national hit, “She’s About a Mover” (which was on Tribe Records and is not included in the PolyGram album). The group was soon opening for such acts as the Rolling Stones, James Brown and Otis Redding.

But the quintet’s true origins eventually became known, and Sahm--who reportedly found himself hassled in Texas because of his long hair and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle--moved to Northern California, where he later signed with Mercury Records and re-formed the group.

They returned to the pop charts in 1969 with “Mendocino,” a marvelous single highlighting an album that mixed many of Sahm’s most soulful musical roots--including the wonderfully engaging Vox organ parts contributed by Augie Meyers. (Sahm and Meyers resurfaced recently as half of the Texas Tornados.)

That single and alternative mixes of two other tracks from the “Mendocino” album (“Texas Me” and “At the Crossroads”) are among the 22 selections on the new PolyGram CD.

The other material ranges from additional quintet recordings to various Sahm solo efforts. Some of the songs are reminiscent of the Tex-Mex style of “Mendocino,” but others reflect an imaginative exploration of various blues-rock and country strains.

There are some key quintet tracks omitted from this overview, including “Lawd, I’m Just a Country Boy in This Great Big Freaky City” from the “Mendocino” album” and “Dynamite Woman,” the follow-up hit to “Mendocino.”

Still, “The Best of . . .” is a long-overdue CD collection showcasing the work of a man who ranks among America’s most gifted and original rock talents.

IN STOCK: Recent CD releases include ABC’s “Lexicon of Love” (remastered) . . . four Bachman-Turner Overdrive albums, including the 1973 debut and 1975’s “Four Wheel Drive” . . . the Nat King Cole Trio’s “Hit That Jive, Jack: the Earliest Recordings” . . . Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side & Other Hits” . . . four Thin Lizzy albums, including 1976’s “Johnny the Fox” and 1977’s “Bad Reputation” . . . and five Parliament albums, including 1976’s “The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein” and 1978’s “Motor-Booty Affair.”