For those unaware, the Sir Douglas Quintet came out of the box swinging in 1965 with the international hit She’s About a Mover. They quickly established a fan base in Texas before relocating their mix of regional Mexican conjunto and British Invasion flash to California.

Touring frequently, the Quintet was in top form when they visited Doug Weston’s legendary Los Angeles venue the Troubadour for this performance. Four-fifths of the original Quintet are on hand: sidekick Augie Meyers, the maestro of syncopation on the Vox organ; Frank Morin, who sings harmonies and plays shakers, sax, and harmonica; and drummer Johnny Perez, the former boxer who moved from San Antonio to L.A. to start his Amigos de Musica production company.

Martin Fierro, the blazing saxophonist from El Paso who started playing with Sahm on the adventurous Honky Blues + 2 album, is also present and Jimmy Stallings, aka JJ Light, is the high-energy, relatively new addition to the Quintet.

1. She’s About a Mover
2. Tortilla Flats
3. Be Real
4. Mendocino
5. I’m Glad for Your Sake (But I’m Sorry for Mine)
6. Heya, Heya
7. And It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down
8. Dynamite Woman

This lushly-sculptured, genius flashback live recording opens on the quintessential, monumental, Biblically torrential, planet-eating groove of She’s About a Mover and then the harmonica-driven Tortilla Flats and then we get the sweeping Be Real (and a great choice for the soundtrack of An Officer and a Gentleman), and then we get brought forth the exuberantly groovy Mendocino.

Along next is the delicate storytelling within the country-blues of I’m Glad for Your Sake (But I’m Sorry for Mine) and the rousing Heya, Heya, the recording short, but nonetheless sweet, rounding out on yet another lost gem from a classic era on And It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down, coming to a close on the marvelous layered rhythms within Dynamite Woman.

Texas Tornado Live features liner notes by Texas music historian Joe Nick Patoski. Due to its short running time (29:00), this title is pressed at 45 RPM for greater audio fidelity. The digital single She’s About a Mover is available now.

Sir Douglas Quintet @ Facebook

www.liberationhall.com