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The Last Real Texas Blues Band Featuring Doug Sahm
Studio album by Doug Sahm
Released	February 1995
Recorded	1988 and 1995
Venue	Antone's (Austin, Texas)
Studio	Perdernales Studio, Arlyn Studios (Austin, Texas)
Genre	Rhythm and blues, blues
Length	56:30
Label	Antone's Record Label
Producer	Doug Sahm, Derek O'Brien
Doug Sahm chronology
Juke Box Music (1989) The Last Real Texas Blues Band Featuring Doug Sahm (1995) Get a Life (1998)

The Last Real Texas Blues Band Featuring Doug Sahm is an album by Doug Sahm released by Antone's Record Label in February 1995.

Following the release of his label debut Juke Box Music, Sahm recorded studio tracks that complemented 1988 recordings of his live performances at Antone's nightclub in Austin, Texas, which he then combined with the earlier live recordings into his second release for the label. The album was favored by the critics and received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Background and recording

During the beginning of the 1990s, Doug Sahm was part of the Texas Tornados. In 1994, he formed another lineup of the Sir Douglas Quintet. Intermittently, he continued to perform at the Austin blues nightclub Antone's. Sahm started to perform at the club following his return to Austin in 1988, and he was signed by Clifford Antone to Antone's Record Label. His first release, Juke Box Music, was issued in 1989. In 1993, Sahm performed during the eighteenth anniversary of the club with a backing group that consisted of house band musicians Derek O'Brien and Randy Garaby, with the addition of Sahm's usual collaborators: saxophonist Rocky Morales, keyboardist Sauce Gonzalez, drummer George Rains and bassist Jack Barber.

In early 1995, he performed blues at Antone's with the Doug Sahm Orchestra. In 1995, Sahm and the band recorded material at Pedernales Studio and Arlyn Studios for a new album. Sahm's live performances from 1988 had been recorded by Reelsound Recording Company. The album was produced by Sahm and O'Brien.

Release

An album consisting of the collection of tracks was presented by Sahm at Antone's in January 1995, at which time he was calling his backing band "The Last Real Texas Blues Band". Sahm then announced an album release called The Last Texas Blues Band featuring Doug Sahm due for February 1995, and a subsequent tour. The album was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards.

The Austin American-Statesman favored the album in its review, while it remarked that the release was "less consistent and polished" than that of Juke Box Music. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five; of the performances, the reviewer considered the band as "well-rehearsed, but still loose", while he felt that Sahm "sings his skinny behind off". The Atlanta Constitution gave it three stars out of five as it declared that the release "mixes the right amount of reverence and hokum". The Detroit Free Press found it "nothing startling, but a lazy good time", as it rated it with two-and-a-half stars out of five. The Lincoln Journal Star gave it four stars out of five; the reviewer felt that the record was "about loving and living the music and playing and singing it with heart and soul." The Central New Jersey Home News deemed it Sahm's "best release in years." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch delivered a favorable review; the reviewer felt that Sahm "sings his heart out", while the band "is stunning throughout". AllMusic gave it three stars out of five, with critic Thom Owens opining that it was "a nearly perfect roots record" and "arguably (Sahm's) best record ever."

Track listing

Personnel

References

1. Marks, Craig 1993, p. 18.
2. Huey, Steve 2021.
3. ^ McLeese, Don 1995, p. B6.
4. Boehm, Mike 1989, p. 12.
5. McLeese, Don 1993, p. F5.
6. Kelly, Carolyn 1995, p. B10.
7. ^ Antone's Record Label staff 1995.
8. Grammy staff 2021.
9. Ferman, Dave 1995, p. 11.
10. Townsend, Bob 1995, p. 17.
11. Whitall, Susan 1995, p. 32D.
12. Wolgamott, Kent 1995, p. 5H.
13. Skelly, Richard 1995, p. O5.
14. Pick, Steve 1995, p. 4E.
15. Owens, Thom 2010.

Sources

• Antone's Record Label staff (1995). "The Last Real Texas Blues Band" (CD). Antone's Record Label. ANT 0036.
• Boehm, Mike (January 12, 1989). "Doug Sahm, a Man of Many Styles and Backdrops: 'Still a Vagabond'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• Ferman, Dave (February 24, 1995). "Capsule Reviews". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• Grammy staff (2021). "38th Annual Grammy Awards (1995)". Recording Academy. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
• Huey, Steve (2021). "The Sir Douglas Quintet". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
• Kelly, Carolyn (January 28, 1995). "Random acts". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 124, no. 187. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• Marks, Craig (January 1993). "That Texas Swing". SPIN. 8 (10). Retrieved February 3, 2021 – via Google Books.
• McLeese, Don (July 20, 1993). "Ghosts share stage with Sahm at Antone's". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 122, no. 360. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• McLeese, Don (January 31, 1995). "Album shows breadth of Sir Douglas' Blues". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 124, no. 190. Retrieved February 11, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• Owens, Thom (2010). "The Last Texas Blues Band - Doug Sahm". AllMusic. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
• Pick, Steve (April 15, 1995). "Clubs Serve Up Music That Lives". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Vol. 117, no. 104. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspaper.com.
• Skelly, Richard (March 17, 1995). "Record Notes". The New Jersey Home News. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• Townsend, Bob (March 4, 1995). "The Last Real Texas Blues Band". Atlanta Constitution. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• Whitall, Susan (March 4, 1995). "Recordings". Detroit Free Press. Vol. 164, no. 302. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• Wolgamott, Kent (February 19, 1995). "Lone Star blues". Lincoln Star Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

• 1995 albums
• Doug Sahm albums