ROCKETS DO SAHM

THE BOTTLE ROCKETS

''SONGS OF SAHM''

FEBRUARY 19 2002

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1 Floataway 03:07

2 Mendocino 03:08

3 Be Real 02:33

4 At The Crossroads 05:15

5 She's About A Mover 03:49

6 Lawd, I'm Just A Country Boy In This Great Big Freaky City 03:07

7 Nitty Gritty 03:10

8 Song Of Everything 03:45

9 Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day 03:14

10 Stoned Faces Don't Lie 04:58

11 You Can't Hide A Redneck (Under That Hippy Hair) 04:04

12 I Don't Want To Go Home 03:08

13 I'm Not That Kat Anymore 03:50

All Tracks By Doug Sahm

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Mark Deming AMG

If there's an artist who deserves a tribute album, it's Doug Sahm, the tireless Texas groover whose Lone Star state of mind encompassed roots rock, blues, country, garage rock, norteño, psychedelia, and a countless number of spots in between over the course of a career that spanned five decades. One might have figured some bunch of Austin all-stars would have been the most likely candidates to honor Sahm on disc after his untimely passing in the fall of 1999, but the responsibility has instead fallen to those proud sons of Festus, MO, the Bottle Rockets, who take a lively stab at 13 of Sahm's compositions on their first album for Bloodshot, Songs of Sahm. The Bottle Rockets have long proven themselves a superb straight-ahead rock & roll band with a deep feeling for rough-and-tumble roadhouse country, but while those are both paths Sahm traveled, that was hardly the sum total of his accomplishment, and while there's never a moment on Songs of Sahm where you doubt that the BoRox love these songs with all their heart and soul, on a few cuts they sound as if they're playing a bit out of their league -- the easy shuffle of "Be Real" doesn't quite suit a band whose forte is stomp, the bluesy lament of "At the Crossroads" is a few notches too slow for comfort, and "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" sure sounds goofy coming from a band with no outwardly hippielike tendencies. Also, producer Lou Whitney doesn't get this band's power on tape with the same élan as Eric "Roscoe" Ambel. But, for the most part, Sahm's tunes fit the Bottle Rockets better than you'd have any right to expect, and this album's best moments are superb, especially the hard rock groove of "Floatway," the manic rave-up on "I'm Not That Kat Anymore," and the deathless "Lawd, I'm Just a Country Boy in This Great Big Freaky City." One hopes that Brian Henneman has another batch of quality originals on deck for the Bottle Rockets' next album, but Songs of Sahm is not only a fitting tribute to one of alt-country's primal influences, it's a healthy dose of rockin' country and lots of fun.

BIOGRAPHY/AMG

Jason Ankeny

Festus, Missouri's Bottle Rockets ranked as one of the leading lights of the 1990s roots rock revival, thanks to a sound that bypassed the punk heritage proudly upheld by most of the band's contemporaries in favor of a redneck fusion of Southern boogie, country-folk, and crunching rock & roll. The group was fronted by singer/guitarist Brian Henneman, a Missouri native who formed his first band, Waylon Van Halen & the Ernest Tubbadours, in 1977 with friends Tom and Bob Parr. After a succession of names and a steady rise in musical competence, the threesome began landing club dates both locally and in Illinois, where they became friends with the young Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, who would later start Uncle Tupelo.

In 1985, the trio was playing straight-ahead honky tonk under the guise of Chicken Truck (so named in honor of the John Anderson song) with a new drummer, Mark Ortmann. Instead of giving in to local crowds who wanted to hear covers rather than originals, the bandmembers focused solely on performing their own material, which they began roughing up with a Crazy Horse-like edge. Shortly after frequent tour mates Uncle Tupelo signed a 1990 record deal, however, internal problems led Chicken Truck to disband; while the Parrs returned to civilian jobs, Ortmann moved to Nashville to become a session player, and Henneman became a roadie with Uncle Tupelo, even playing on their March 16-20, 1992 album.

During his roadie days, Henneman recorded a demo tape of new material, which Tupelo manager Tony Margherita began discreetly shopping around. After cutting a solo single backed by Farrar and Tweedy, he re-formed his old band with Ortmann on drums, Tom Ray on guitar, and Robert Kearns on bass, renaming the outfit the Bottle Rockets. After a 1993 self-titled effort, a year later the band issued its second independent LP, The Brooklyn Side, named after a bowling term. A portrait of life in rural blue-collar America, The Brooklyn Side was the subject of lavish critical praise, and the positive notices led to the band signing with a major label, Atlantic, which promptly reissued the 

album

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Shakeups at the label led to delays in the release of their next album, 1997's 24 Hours a Day, and when the album sold poorly, the Bottle Rockets were dropped. In 1998 they signed with the small Doolittle label and released an odds-and-ends EP, Leftovers; by the time they completed their next album, 1999's Brand New Year, the label had gained major-label distribution, but that deal proved to be short-lived, and in 2000 the Bottle Rockets were once again without a label. In 2001 they signed a deal with alt-country trailblazers Bloodshot Records; their first album for the label, a tribute to Doug Sahm, was released early the following year. Tom Ray left the Bottle Rockets in 2002, and the band moved ahead as a three-piece, signing yet another new record deal -- this time with Sanctuary -- in 2003, and releasing a new album, Blue Sky, in the fall of that year. Zoysia arrived on Bloodshot Records in 2006, followed by Lean Forward in 2009.

Not So Loud: An Acoustic Evening

In 2011 the band released Not So Loud: An Acoustic Evening, which was recorded in an old schoolhouse and featured material drawn from all eras of the band's history. By now, the group once again had a stable lineup, with Henneman and Ortmann joined by guitarist John Horton and bassist Keith Voegele. In 2012 the Bottle Rockets teamed up with Marshall Crenshaw for a series of tour dates, with the Bottle Rockets playing a full set as openers and then backing Crenshaw for the second half of the show. In 2013 Bloodshot brought out a deluxe reissue of the Bottle Rockets' first two albums, accompanied by rare bonus material and endorsements from a handful of well-known fans. As the Bottle Rockets continued to play short tours with Crenshaw, they began previewing new material in their sets, and in October 2015 they released a new album produced by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, South Broadway Athletic Club.

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Brian Henneman/Guitar, Vocals

Robert Kearns/Bass, Organ, Vocals, Wurlitzer

Matt Netzer/Handclapping, Vocals

Mark Ortmann/Bongos, Claves, Cowbell, Drums, Maracas, Tambourine

Tom Parr/Clarinet, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic)

Lou Whitney/Guitar (Acoustic) On 3

Dudley Bron/Organ On 9

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THE BROTHERS

The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida on March 26, 1969, and consisted of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Jai Johanny Johanson. Brothers Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, and had been playing music publicly since the early 1960s. They formed a garage band called the Escorts in 1963, which evolved into the Allman Joys in 1965.From there the brothers formed The Hour Glass and moved to Los Angeles. The Hour Glass released two failed albums on Liberty Records in 1967 and 1968. They were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential.] Gregg and Duane had previously met Butch Trucks and his band The 31st of February while touring as the Allman Joys, and decided to record an album with them in September 1968, shortly after the breakup of The Hour Glass. This album was eventually released as Duane & Greg Allman on the Bold Records label in 1972. Duane Allman played on Wilson Pickett's hit version of "Hey Jude" and became the primary session guitarist for FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, recording with Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, Percy Sledge, and others. Allman started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville. Eddie Hinton, with whom Duane Allman had played in Muscle Shoals, was considered to play guitar, but Hinton refused in order to join the Muscle Shoals studio band. Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with in the past. Gregg was in Los Angeles, fulfilling the Hour Glass contract with Liberty Records. He was summoned back to Jacksonville.

THE PSYCHEDELIC COWBOYS

For most of the early '70s, the New Riders of the Purple Sage™ (yes, the name is trademark-protected) were the successful offshoots of the Grateful Dead. Although they never remotely approached the success or longevity of the Dead, they attracted a considerable audience through their association with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, whose fans couldn't be satisfied with only the Dead's releases -- the New Riders never reached much beyond that audience, but the Deadheads loved them as substitutes (along with Garcia's periodic solo projects) for the real article. Their initial sound was a kind of country-acid rock, somewhat twangier than the Dead's usual work and without the Dead's successful forays into experimental jams, but they later acquitted themselves as straight country-rockers.

THE NASHVILLE BARN

After taking the Beau Brummels to the pop/folk psychedelic edge, producer Lenny Waronker took the band to Nashville, literally. Possibly influenced by the Byrds Sweetheart experiments, the group (now down to just Sal Valentino on vocals and Ron Elliott on guitars) wedded with Nashville's finest, including guitarist Jerry Reed and drummer Kenneth A. Buttrey, both veterans of Dylan's Nashville sessions. These players were not just good musicians, but musicians, easily embellishing the Elliott/Valentino duo as if they had been playing with the two for years, not days. The resulting masterpiece, no doubt due to the awesome Brummels original songs (especially "Cherokee Girl," "Turn Around," and "Deep Water"), is a virtual tapestry in country and rock.

1 Turn Around
2 An Added Attraction (Come and See Me)
3 Deep Water 4 Long Walking Down to Misery
5 Little Bird
6 Cherokee Girl
7 I'm a Sleeper
8 Loneliest Man in Town
9 Love Can Fall a Long Way Down
10 Jessica
11 Bless You California

TEXAS TORNADO

Doug with son Shawn



So while Neil, Poco, and The Byrds were shaping the west coast. And the Daredevils were setting the standards in the mid west, Doug Sahm and the many variations of Sir Douglas Quintet or Tornados were adding an element to country rock that brought the Tex-Mex influence to the music . Doug was an interesting man in that he had been playing in and around the music scene since a little boy. He first gave us a big pop hit with "She's About A mover" as The Quintet. He then took his band to San Francisco during the Haight Scene and the Quintet became popular among the hippies and the band became an honoraray Frisco band. From there Doug returned Texas and the Tex Mex influence became even more prevalent even in the recordings he done while living in the Scandinavian countries. The Texas Tornados and Doug 's Solo work made him a legend and in my opinion(OMO) he should be a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

FOR LUSTER ORVILLE

Clarence and Roscoe in the background "The Men From Earth"

Hailing from the Ozark Mountain area of Missouri the Devils were great at their craft of bringing a rural feel to it's own brand of country rock. They were extremely popular in the mid west U.S. for several years and even had a national hit with the tune "Jackie Blue"
Luster Orville was my father's name and he was from that same vein of men from earth out of rural Missouri' I always think of him when I see these gentlemen and their simple way of life.

The Band:
* Buddy Brayfield - keyboards, oboe
* Steve Cash - harp, persission. vocals
* Randle Chowning - lead guitar, vocals
* John Dillon - guitar, fiddle, mandolin, mouthbow,vocals
* Michael "Supe" Granda - bass, vocals
* Larry Lee - drums, percussion, accoustic guitar, vocals

The Songs:
1.Country Girl
2. Spaceship Orion
3. If You Wanna Get To Heaven
4. Chicken Train
5. Colorado Song
6. Standing On The Rock
7. Road To Glory
8. Black Sky
9. Within Without
10. Beauty In The River

POGO - SON OF BUFFALO

Rusty Young, George Grantham, Timothy Schmidt, Rich Furay, And Jim Messina

We all know that the Buffalo Springfield was primarily a rock and roll band. We also know that under that rock and roll surface was a country rock band waiting to be born.The raw talent in the Springfield was to hard to contain in that framework, We know that Neil Young went solo. Stephen Stills laid the the groundwork with Crosby and Nash. So in pickin' up the pieces of the collapse of their band Richie Furay and Jim Messina went out and formed their own band ...POGO.. That name lasted a couple of weeks before they were given a court order by the cartoonist of that well known strip to cease and desist on the name. No problem change the G to a C and
40 years later they remain legends in the country rock realm .POCO lives today. This band over it's history and personnel changes has given the country rock genre a legendary status.

The songs
1. Hurry Up
2. You Better Think Twice
3. Honky Tonk Downstairs
4. Keep On Believin'
5. Anyway Bye Bye
6. Don't Let It Pass By
7. Nobody's Fool/El Tonto De Nadie, Regresa

THIS HAS TWANG

On February 15, 1968, they played at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the first group of longhairs ever to do so, and immediately started recording their next album in a wholly Country style, with Parsons choosing and singing many of the songs. However, on July 29, Parsons quit the band just before they flew to South Africa because he refused to play to segregated audiences. At the same time, Sweetheart of the Rodeo was released, most of Parsons' vocals being replaced by either McGuinn or Hillman due to legal problems with Parsons' previous record company. The album was commercially unsuccessful on its release (US # 77), but contains the yearning Parsons song which has become a standard, "Hickory Wind", as well as a couple of Dylan tunes from his then-unreleased Basement Tapes collection, and more traditional songs from such unlikely sources as The Louvin Brothers ("The Christian Life"). It is the first country-rock album to be released by an established rock band, coming six months before Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline". (The first country rock album was arguably released by Gram's International Submarine Band on the indie record label that later created legal problems for Gram with the Byrds.)

FULL SPEED AHEAD CAPTAIN PARSONS

The birth of country rock. Where do you start? There has always been a song here and there that flirted with this premise. There has always been rockabilly as in country singers who could do some rock and roll. But when the " longhairs" began to dabble in country a new music type was born. Many believe that this band fronted by Gram Parsons brought the genre to a serious level. One after another the psychedelic longhairs began picking up new instruments and began making them a part of their sound. The International Submarine Band has a great psychedelic ring to it,however it is a true country rock LP almost all the way through,This album was cut in early 1967 and as mentioned before was lead by Gram Parsons ( a country star in true form in the body of a psychedelic rocker) Before this LP even made it to the streets Gram had moved on and taken his country background to the Byrds changing their sound almost overnight with the Sweetheart LP

1. Blue Eyes
2. I Must Have Been Somebody Else You've Known
3. Satisfied Mind, A
4. Folsom Prison Blues / That's All Right
5. Miller's Cave
6. I Still Miss Someone
7. Luxury Liner
8. Strong Boy
9. Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome?