So how do you pay tribute to
Doug Sahm without playing any
Doug Sahm songs?
Ben Vaughn, the Philadelphia native and well-known musical omnivore, has figured out how to do that and do it with style on his 2014 album
Texas Road Trip.
Vaughn is an avowed fan of the legendary Texas groover
Sahm, especially his work with the
Sir Douglas Quintet, and for
Texas Road Trip, he wrote a set of songs he thought would sound right played in the
Sir Doug manner. Sensibly,
Vaughn decided to go to the source and headed to Austin, Texas to record the tunes, with a band anchored by three former
Sahm associates -- organ and squeezebox man
Augie Meyers (who was
Doug's cohort in the
SDQ as well as
the Texas Tornados), fiddler Alvin Crow, and bassist
Speedy Sparks -- as well as Lone Star journeyman John X. Reed on guitar and former
LeRoi Brothers and
Fabulous Thunderbirds drummer
Mike Buck. While the songs on
Texas Road Trip are very
Ben Vaughn material, shot through with his trademark humor and regular-guy perspective (especially "Miss Me When I'm Gone" and "Seven Days Without Love"), the melodies genuinely do lend themselves to
Sahm-style arrangements, and you couldn't ask for a better man to help bring them to life than
Meyers, whose trademark organ sound and Tejano-style accordion is all over this album like melted cheese on an enchilada. Meanwhile,
Sparks and
Buck are a killer rhythm section, full of fire but just as effective when the tempo slows on "Texas Rain" and "Heavy Machinery," and the guitar work from
Vaughn and Reed fits this music like a glove.
Vaughn never sounds like he's pretending to be
Doug Sahm on
Texas Road Trip, but he clearly understands what made his music so great, and he bends a bit of that magic his own way, and the result is a small triumph and a whole lot of fun. ~ Mark Deming