Artist:Sir Douglas Quintet
Song:She's About a Mover
Album:Complete Singles 1964-1966
The 1965 single She's About a Mover was the biggest hit for the Sir Douglas Quintet. The band's leader Doug Sahm had a long career as a musical cult figure. But this is where it all started. Sahm was from San Antonio, TX and as a high school student he was already building a reputation as a musician. The story goes that veteran producer Huey P. Meaux was analyzing Beatles records to see if there was a way to compete with them. He came to the conclusion that the beats resembled Cajun dance songs. So he wanted a group that could mix the two music styles. He already knew about Sahm and Meaux told him his idea. Sahm formed a band with his childhood pal Augie Meyers on organ, Frank Morin on sax, Jack Barber on bass and Johnny Perez on drums. Meaux gave them the name Sir Douglas Quintet because it sounded British. He released the single Sugar Bee and it flopped. But the second single She's About a Mover on Meaux's Tribe label reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sahm wrote the song and sang lead. Meyers' organ riff distinguished it from other songs of the era. After the single The Rains Came was a top 40 hit, Meaux released the album The Best of Sir Douglas Quintet. Shortly after, Sahm moved to San Francisco and formed an all new Sir Douglas Quintet. And he signed with Mercury. The band had some success on Mercury. But they rerecorded all their early songs including She's About a Mover. This CD from Varese is the only one that I can be sure has the original Tribe recordings. Remember the San Francisco band was different than the original band. So of course it's going to sound different. The Sir Douglas Quintet recorded for Mercury until 1973 and Sahm led a version of the band until his death on Nov. 18, 1999 at age 58. Meyers continued to work with Sahm including in the 90s band The Texas Tornados. Here's Sir Douglas Quintet performing She's About a Mover on Hullaballoo 1966.
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