Hell of a Spell

This 1980 reissue is a hell of a disc. From the opening riffs this disc is crammed with Sahm's typical rompin' and stompin' Texas blues/rhythm & blues mix. This also includes liberal dashes of the Tex-Mex and rockabilly he grew up cutting his teeth on. Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell used to go to his school when Sahm was 11, as legend goes, and pose as his uncle and pull the musical prodigy out of school to play some of the gigs that required some travel. This compilation is dedicated to one of his heroes, Eddie Jones, better known as Guitar Slim. He does one of his tunes on the disc, but it is the horns and overall sound and feel of the disc that bring back the memories of Jones. Six of the 11 tunes were penned by Doug Sahm and they stand up as some of the best things he has done. He manages to take that voice of his and put all the ache and pain that things gone sour can evoke and guide you along with him down this road without ever getting sappy or maudlin. Listen to the tone and feel of "Hangin' on by a Thread" and the smooth shift to the Brook Benton heartbreak tune "I'll Take Care of You." He shifts gears with the precision of a Grand Prix driver. This disc shows off some of the remarkable range of Sahm's abilities and genius. This becomes clearer when you think of his work with Dylan, the Texas Tornados, and the early rock hits, such as "Mendicino" and "She's About a Mover." Also, this disc is the only one that comes to mind on which his longtime compadre, Augie Meyers, isn't helping with his familiar organ sound; instead, Kelly Dunn is handling keyboards. Sahm is Texas-bred, but his influences are as broad as the sky is big down there. Here he is concentrating on the blues, and he gets some exciting things down on the disc.