Sir Douglas Quintet - Together After Five (2002)

A supreme example of the Doug Sahm sound and aesthetic is at work here in their third complete studio album. There is perhaps the best recorded version of the Augie Meyers "cheap organ" sound, a well from which many a garage rock organist hath drunken deep. And it is great the way this instrument emerges out of arrangements emphasizing stark interplay between acoustic guitar and drums. A real ringer but one of the highlights of the album is the instrumental "T-Bone Shuffle," which rivals the Art Ensemble of Chicago for raucous boogie on the edge of lunacy. The songs include some of Sahm's best lyrics and most heartfelt singing, although he goes a bit overboard at times and threatens to come across like a burnout overstaying his welcome on an open stage. This and a few strange errors in judgment such as the song "Dallas Alice" -- imagine something that sounds too close to "Honey" for comfort and also has a flute solo -- are the only things preventing this from being one of the best Sir Douglas Quintet albums.