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The Return of Wayne Douglas

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The Return of Wayne Douglas
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 2000
RecordedDecember 28, 1998 (1998-12-28)–April 6, 1999 (1999-04-06)
StudioCherry Ridge Studios (Floresville, Texas)
GenreCountry
Length46:03
LabelTornado Records
ProducerDoug Sahm, Tommy Detamore
Doug Sahm chronology
Get a Life / S.D.Q. 98'
(1999)
The Return of Wayne Douglas
(2000)

The Return of Wayne Douglas is the last studio album recorded by Doug Sahm. It was released by his own label, Tornado Records.

Following his work producing the first record of the label with singer Ed Burleson, Sahm booked more studio time for himself and the band he used for the Burleson sessions. Sahm recorded all country music tracks. In November 1999, Sahm died during a vacation trip to New Mexico.

The album was finished by co-producer Tommy Detamore and released posthumously. It was made available in Austin in July 2000 and nationally in November 2000. The release received positive reviews from the critics.

Background and recording

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In 1998, Doug Sahm started the label Tornado Records with David Katznelson and Bill Bentley. Sahm's first project was the debut album release of Dallas singer Ed Burleson's My Perfect World. The album was recorded at Cherry Ridge Studios in Floresville, Texas. Following the sessions for Burleson, Sahm decided to book more studio time and he held sessions for an album release of his own.[1] The material was mainly recorded in two one-day sessions: one on December 28, 1998, and the next one on April 6, 1999.[2]

The tracks featured honky-tonk music, and the album was Sahm's first to feature only country music.[3] Sahm often used the pseudonym "Wayne Douglas" as his alter-ego for the album credits in which he performed country music songs. The name first appeared on the Sir Douglas Quintet album 1 + 1 + 1 = 4. The name is a transposition of Sahm's birth name.[3] Sahm covered songs that appeared in previous releases such as "Beautiful Texas Sunshine" and "Cowboy Peyton Place". The track "Oh No! Not Another One" criticized country music produced in Nashville. Sahm considered that the musical style of the new releases differed greatly from the genre,[4] and he considered "insulting calling that stuff country music."[5] The Return of Wayne Douglas was produced by Sahm and Tommy Detamore.[6] It featured appearances by Augie Meyers and former Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen's guitarist Bill Kirchen.[7]

During a vacation trip to New Mexico in November 1999, Sahm started to feel sick as he drove from Texas to his destination.[8] His condition worsened and Sahm was advised by the staff of the Kachina Lodge Hotel to visit the local emergency room. Sahm declined, and returned to his room. The cleaning staff of the hotel found him unresponsive and he was pronounced dead on November 18, 1999.[9][10]

Sahm's son, Shawn, then contacted Detamore for the final details of the recording. Detamore, Meyers, fiddler Bob Flores and Clay Blaker worked to finish the tracks.[5] A number of the songs had been recently written by Sahm, and did not have a name.[11] The final version featured an anecdote by Sahm at the end of "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me". Sahm recounted how he met the writer of the song, Leon Payne, as he traveled with his father.[11] Meanwhile, the album featured a hidden track: Sahm's answering machine greeting message.[12][7] Nine of the songs were written by Sahm.[12]

Release

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
BillboardFavorable
The MonitorFavorable
The News-PressFavorable
The Santa Fe New MexicanFavorable
Austin American-StatesmanFavorable
Austin Chronicle
AllMusic

The posthumous release of The Return of Wayne Douglas was announced for June 2000.[13] The release was then delayed after the distribution company, Alternative Distribution Alliance, dropped Tornado Records the month the record was scheduled to be released. The label's CEOs David Katznelson and Bill Bentley then made a deal with the Houston company Wholesale for the national distribution of the record.[14] Meanwhile, the album was locally released in Austin, Texas in July 2000.[15] It was made available at the stores Waterloo Records and Antone's Records.[2] It was released nationally in November 2000. A celebration of the album release and Sahm's birthday took place at the Hole in the Wall bar in Austin. The evening featured appearances by The Gourds, Alvin Crow and Joe Carrasco among others.[16]

Billboard praised the album as a "divine send-off for a great musician."[17] The Monitor called it a "near-patented Doug Sahm musical feast, a south Texas hippie album that twangs without mercy while two-stepping in tie-dye without apology."[18] For The News-Press the release "sounds at once timeless and old-fashioned".[19] The Santa Fe New Mexican considered it a "bittersweet joy".[20]

The Austin American-Statesman considered The Return of Wayne Douglas the second best album of 2000, and declared it "a reminder of Sahm's immortal versatility."[21] Austin Chronicle gave it three stars out of five. The review opined that The Return of Wayne Douglas represented "not so much a return to (Sahm's) many personas as it is a return to his first love: pure, Texas-style country music."[12] For AllMusic, critic Bryan Thomas gave the album four stars out of five. Thomas expressed that "the album is almost an homage to the state of Texas."[7]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Beautiful Texas Sunshine"Doug Sahm3:22
2."Oh No! Not Another One"Doug Sahm2:54
3."Love Minus Zero/No Limit"Bob Dylan4:59
4."You Was For Real"Doug Sahm3:11
5."Cowboy Peyton Place"Doug Sahm4:45
6."They'll Never Take Her Love from Me"Leon Payne3:46
7."Huggin' Thin Air"Doug Sahm2:52
8."Yesterday Got in the Way"Doug Sahm4:55
9."I Can't Go Back to Austin Anymore"Doug Sahm3:38
10."Dallas Alice"Doug Sahm3:38
11."I Don't Trust No One When It Comes to My Heart"Clay Blaker, Doug Sahm3:21
12."Texas Me"Doug Sahm4:28

Personnel

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Musicians[6]

References

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Sources

  • Austin American-Statesman staff (January 4, 2001). "Albums of the Year". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 130, no. 160. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  • Beal, Jim Jr. (July 28, 2000). "Singer Doug Sahm enjoys traveling various musical paths". The Monitor. Vol. 93, no. 25. McAllen, Texas. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  • Cromelin, Richard (November 20, 1999). "Doug Sahm; Musician Blended Rock, Country and Blues in Colorful Career". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  • Flippo, Chet (March 23, 2000). "Doug Sahm's Return of Wayne Douglas Marks Return to Country Roots". MTV. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  • Mansfield, Brian (June 30, 2000). "The Return of Wayne Douglas". News-Press. Vol. 203, no. 118. Fort Myers, Florida. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  • Morris, Chris (June 3, 2000). "Sir Doug Sahm, Aka 'Wayne Douglas,' Plays Inspired Country on Tornado". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 23. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Google Books. Open access icon
  • Morris, Chris 2 (July 22, 2000). "Staff Shuffled As Bayside, Wildcat Merge; Tony Seeger Exits Folkways". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 30. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Google Books.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Open access icon
  • Moser, Margaret (November 10, 2000). "Doug Sahm The Return of Wayne Douglas (Texas Tornado)". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  • Renshaw, Jerry (June 23, 2000). "The Return of Wayne Douglas". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  • Reid, Jan; Sahm, Shawn (2010). Texas Tornado: The Times & Music of Doug Sahm. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-72196-8.
  • Riemenschneider, Chris (June 22, 2000). "Street Horns". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 129, no. 330. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  • Riemenschneider, Chris 2 (June 29, 2000). "Street Horns". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 129, no. 337. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Open access icon
  • Riemenschneider, Chris 3 (July 6, 2000). "Doug Sahm". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 129, no. 344. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Open access icon
  • Riemenschneider, Chris 4 (July 6, 2000). "Doug Sahm's first pure country album turned out to be his last tornadic spin". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 129, no. 344. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Open access icon
  • Riemenschneider, Chris 5 (November 9, 2000). "'Twas Sahm Party". Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 130, no. 104. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Open access icon
  • Terrell, Steve (January 12, 2001). "Terrell's Tune Up". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Vol. 152, no. 12. Retrieved March 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  • Thomas, Bryan (2010). "Doug Sahm – The Return of Wayne Douglas". AllMusic. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  • Sahm, Doug (2000). The Return of Wayne Douglas (CD). Tornado Records. TTX 002.