Doug Sahm and His Band: Atlantic Recording.

Reviewed by Gordon Campbell.

'I'd like to think that Bob Dylan's performances on this album are yet another elaborate joke; another mask, (like that Rolling Stone, interview) behind which a duty is performed while giving the least possible clue to where he is really at. But over the last few years he's been working so hard at hiding his artistry that the suspicion is growing that the pretence has become a reality, the cupboard is bare, and in a very depressing sense he's invisible now with no secrets to conceal. Certainly he has never sung worse, played worse or written more wretched material than what appears here. It seems that while he's outgrown the homespun homilies of "Skyline" and "Self Portrait" no new direction has yet formed. Mr Dylan, meet Mr Lennon and welcome to the void.

Doug Sahm himself is a variation on the same theme. Since 1964 he's fronted the Sir Douglas Quintet, a goodtimey Texas outfit that, in their time, dispensed some loose limbed Border blues without ever fulfilling their definite promise. Only two singles ever made it, "She's About a Mover" which was one of the best records of that very good year of 1965, and "Menocino" which carried their good time sound to the very precipice of bubblegum. Predictably, it was their biggest hit. Doug was always a little too weird, a little too stoned, a little too uncoordinated to ever come across with the goods. But he is the fastest talker in the rock business so he managed to round up all the heavies for this session. But its the same old story, for despite the presence of Dylan, Dr John and David Bromberg, and despite the chance this record gave Sahm to move onto a completely different artistic level, he still throws it all away. Dull songs, dull performances and the all time lousy mixing job for which he himself was responsible. Cultural suicide.

In fact, all the energy and creativity here went into the drawing on the cover. But why does everyone on the cover look so happy? Why those shit-eating grins? Considering the quality of the music its enough to make you very paranoid.