Texas Tornados

The ultimate Tex-Mex supergroup, Texas Tornados were composed of some of the genre's most legendary figures: <a href="spotify:artist:2PL6uHCPVIWjmr6lK2U9pG">Doug Sahm</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7aTFUEVGRV6D8pQvcWqwl0">Augie Meyers</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:2PL6uHCPVIWjmr6lK2U9pG">Sahm</a>'s bandmate in the groundbreaking <a href="spotify:artist:3A2UXqQgMDJ3YNvLPyX5NW">Sir Douglas Quintet</a>), Hispanic country star <a href="spotify:artist:0SNdq9iJyup4XY6JbNHbt6">Freddy Fender</a>, and accordion virtuoso <a href="spotify:artist:0VKuugYO6uuSOCGO62vk0M">Flaco Jimenez</a>. The group's infectious, party-ready sound blended country, early rock & roll, Mexican folk music, R&B, blues, and whatever other roots musics crossed their paths. The Tornados first assembled in 1989 at a concert in San Francisco, billing themselves as the Tex-Mex Revue. They enjoyed the collaboration so much they decided to stick with it and generated far more publicity together than they would have solo; <a href="spotify:artist:0VKuugYO6uuSOCGO62vk0M">Jimenez</a> had released several acclaimed albums by that point, but <a href="spotify:artist:2PL6uHCPVIWjmr6lK2U9pG">Sahm</a> had recorded only sporadically during the '80s, and <a href="spotify:artist:0SNdq9iJyup4XY6JbNHbt6">Fender</a> hardly at all. Their self-titled debut album was released on Reprise in 1990 -- in both English and Spanish versions -- to rapturous reviews and also sold pretty well, reaching number 25 on the country charts. The group toured extensively behind it and issued the Grammy-nominated follow-up album Zone of Our Own in 1991, again to hugely positive reviews. By the time of 1992's Hangin' on by a Thread, the group's primary audience was Latino, and <a href="spotify:artist:0VKuugYO6uuSOCGO62vk0M">Jimenez</a> accordingly took more and more of the spotlight. After more touring, the group went their separate ways to concentrate on other projects and work on new material; most notably, <a href="spotify:artist:2PL6uHCPVIWjmr6lK2U9pG">Sahm</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7aTFUEVGRV6D8pQvcWqwl0">Meyers</a> formed a new version of <a href="spotify:artist:3A2UXqQgMDJ3YNvLPyX5NW">the Sir Douglas Quintet</a>. In the meantime, Reprise issued a compilation, The Best of Texas Tornados. The Tornados reconvened in 1996 for the album 4 Aces, which didn't attract quite as much attention or acclaim as their previous work. The group's late-1998 concert at Antone's in Austin was recorded and released the following summer as Live From the Limo, Vol. 1; unfortunately, it would prove to be the only volume, as <a href="spotify:artist:2PL6uHCPVIWjmr6lK2U9pG">Sahm</a> died of a heart attack in late 1999. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi