Doug, Dylan & the Tale of the Disputed Lyric
“It is failure that guides evolution; perfection provides no incentive for improvement, and nothing is perfect.”― Colson Whitehead
Happy Monday…and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to DOUG SAHM. Sir Douglas, the Texas Groover. The child prodigy who played with Hank Williams when he was 9, who pretended to be part of the British Invasion with his other Texan friends in the Sir Douglas Quintet, releasing hit records like She’s About A Mover and Mendocino, who introduced the pop world to Flaco Jimenez and reintroduced Freddie Fender, who also formed a band with Flaco and Freddie and childhood friend (and Quintet member) Augie Meyers, finding later-in-career fame with The Texas Tornados: Doug was signed to 6 major label deals during the course of his career. I was lucky to sign him to that 6th one at Reprise Records with the Tornados, and subsequently starting an independent label with him and my friend Bill Bentley that would sadly release his final, posthumous masterpiece, The Return Of Wayne Douglas.
Doug was old school music industry industrious, driving around the country in his Cadillac hawking his music to radio stations, to record stores, to distributors…to anyone who would listen…a trade he had learned from his early producer/label boss Huey Meaux. Working with Doug meant talking to Doug weekly…sometimes daily…trying to figure out how to best break the record at hand. If I was traveling, and he couldn’t find me, he would call my Mom, whose number he found in the San Francisco phone book, and Texas Gentlemanly sweet talk her for a while, until asking her where I might be at that given time. He would make sure she left a note for me with his name, and his number, just in case I happened to call her to say hello.
It is still hard to believe that he no longer walks this earth….harder to believe he has been gone for over 23 years. He certainly lives in in the recordings he has left behind (here is a mix to enjoy on this faithful day) and with the recent release of the Son Volt record of Doug Sahm covers called Day Of The Doug, it is safe to say that Sahm’s songs are being played all over the world more than ever. Check out Son Volt’s new animated video for Sometimes You’ve Got To Stop Chasing Rainbows which features Doug and friends driving around, hanging at gigs…before Sir Doug walks into the sunset.
One of the friends featured cracking it up with him in the video is Bob Dylan. Dylan and Sahm were good friends, Bob seeing Doug as an American original…an authentic Texas soul brother whose San Antonio artistic roots were fused in the tried-and-true country music traditions, the Mexican flavored rhythm and blues from San Antonio’s East Side, and with a rock ‘n’ roll try-anything-deny-nothing spirit (yes, and a little hippie in there too). Doug and Dylan hung out…Dylan played on Doug’s Atlantic records. In honor of Doug Sahm’s birthday I am going to relate a story Doug used to tell me about one hot Texan summer day, when he and Bob were out drinking…
It was the early 1970s. Dylan had given up touring…given up the lifestyle of a working musician. Yes, he did some recording…sometimes with The Band…sometimes mere (brilliant) demos to send to other artists to record. But Dylan had all but retired from the day-to-day grind. He had grown his beard long…was pretty much unrecognizable in public and he and Doug would find themselves wandering around, pondering around, digging deep into paint-drying philosophizing, drinking longnecks and maintaining the strict itinerary of aimlessness.
The two friends were deep into a hot afternoon, sitting in a steamy bar, fighting over the lyrics of a song (I wish…I truly wish…I could remember what song they were fighting over. Bill, if you are reading this: do you?). It was over the lyrics of the second verse going into the chorus. Doug thought the line was sung one way, Bob thought another. This bar had an acoustic guitar leaning nooked into a corner…right near the barely-lit pool table. To prove his point, Dylan got up from his barstool, walked across the barroom, grabbed the guitar and pulled back up to the counter. And he started playing.
As Doug told it, it was the first time Dylan had played in public in years.
Dylan got through the first verse…Doug singing along a little…Dylan got through the chorus. So far so good. And then came the verse in question…Doug got silent waiting for Dylan to get to then line they were arguing about. Suddenly, the music stopped. Out of nowhere came a hand with sausage fingers…grabbing the neck of the guitar, muting it. Looking down from above stood the bartender, eight o’clock shadow across his annoyed ruddy face, black worn t-shirt barely making it to his jeans. Pulling the instrument out of Dylan’s hands, he snarled, “Give me that guitar, son! You sound awful. You cannot make that kind of noise in my place.”
Yes, it had been the first time Dylan had played live in front of anyone in years. And the last time for a few more. He just grinned and went back to his beer.
As for that grin…Doug read it as Bob Dylan slyly admitting to being wrong about the lyric, even though the two ended the conversation with the silencing of the guitar. Of course Doug would take the win…
Happy Birthday, Doug!
“I Wanted To Be You”: Joan Baez, in Conversation with Jane Fonda
A truly compelling, beautiful conversation…
Years ago, when Shirley MacLaine wrote “Out on a Limb,” I thought, “Oh, this woman is bonkers. This is so ridiculous, talking to trees. What other bullshit is she going to come up with?” In my opinion, she was right on all of it. So, yeah. I started talking to trees about 15 years ago, more than that maybe, when the tree next door was going to be cut down. I went over and started talking to the tree about it, and I said, “Are you okay? How are you feeling about this?” Tree says, “Well, I’d rather be cut down with a ceremony than fall on somebody’s house.” So I started these ceremonies and banging on drums. The neighbors were tolerant. “Do you have any requests?” I asked the tree. He said, “Yes, when I’m down, put a blue blanket over my stump.” And I said, “Sure, why?” He said, “Well, I’ll think it’s the sky.”-Joan Baez
Yes, I sell on discogs. And yes…I was totally bummed with their increase in fees. With Bandcamp and discogs both getting less artist and seller friendly, where is the next frontier for people selling music to aim for?
The newly opened Louis Armstrong Archives at The Armstrong House looks absolutely incredible. “The total collection in the Louis Armstrong Archive numbers more than 60,000 items, including books, records, tapes, photos, letters, and scores. The house, 34-56 107th Street in Corona, Queens, is preserved more or less as it was at the time of Armstrong’s death.”
San Francisco Silent Film Festival announces move to the Palace of Fine Arts
The final night of the Silent Film Festival at the Castro will be on December 2nd for their Day Of Silents 2023. It looks like the Castro is closing for a major renovation. We shall see what happens….after all this time and uncertainty.
A Stunning Mark Rothko Retrospective in Paris Illuminates the Artist’s Lesser-Known Sides
It took me a while to figure my way in, but once I did…allowed myself to be taken over by Rothko’s patterns and deep deep emotional colors…I was in. This retrospective looks incredible. I hope it finds its way to the states.
Opening a Lock with the Owner's Voice ca 1908
Fascinating early 20th century attempt at a technological innovation. From the article’s writer Allen Koenigsberg about the"Countersign Lock": Is it really possible that a person could secure his home by previously recording the sound of his voice (talking or singing), and gaining access only when the electro-acoustic machinery did a quick on-the-spot comparison. In 1908-1909, this 'accomplishment' became the subject of some controversy in the pages of The Talking Machine World…..
José Guadalupe Posada’s Lively Calaveras and Enduring Legacy
The Library Of Congress published this article about their collection of José Guadalupe Posada’s prints from the late 1800s/early 1900s as well as a link to the collection that is a fascinating and inspiring digital exhibit. “Posada’s striking illustrations graced the covers of books, newspapers, magazines, flyers, posters and commercial ads. His legacy inspired artists in the Chicano movement in the 1970s and continues to influence artists in the U.S., Mexico and beyond as they seek to address political and social issues through various art forms.”
This Signal is dedicated to the memory of Bob Mack. RIP.
Daedalus, After Icarus
By: Saeed Jones
Boys begin to gather around the man like seagulls.
He ignores them entirely, but they follow him
from one end of the beach to the other.
Their footprints burn holes in the sand.
It’s quite a sight, a strange parade:
a man with a pair of wings strapped to his arms
followed by a flock of rowdy boys.
Some squawk and flap their bony limbs.
Others try to leap now and then, stumbling
as the sand tugs at their feet. One boy pretends to fly
in a circle around the man, cawing in his face.
We don’t know his name or why he walks
along our beach, talking to the wind.
To say nothing of those wings. A woman yells
to her son, Ask him if he’ll make me a pair.
Maybe I’ll finally leave your father.
He answers our cackles with a sudden stop,
turns, and runs toward the water.
The children jump into the waves after him.
Over the sound of their thrashes and giggles,
we hear a boy say, We don’t want wings.
We want to be fish now.
BEHIND THE SCENES DURING THE MAKING OF METROPOLIS
