The Formerly Brothers
Sahm, Garret, Taylor
and friends
The Return of the Formerly Brothers
Rykodisc
available on amazon
Take a road trip from the swamps of Louisiana around through Texas and then head north and you will have an idea of the diversity of this music. This disc spans the musical genre from Zydeco to Boogie Woogie to blues to rhythm and blues with some country/folk thrown in for good measure and just to spice it up some of the border music that Doug Sahm grew up with. With Amos Garrett, who worked with Paul Butterfield and Better Days, on lead guitar; Doug Sahm, who founded the Sir Douglas Quintet and spends time with the Texas Tornadoes and Bob Dylan, on various instruments; and Gene Taylor, who provided piano for Big Joe Turner and The Blasters, all performing on lead vocals, you've got vocal power from the heart. When you add in all the other influences these men have accumulated in their years on the road, you have a magical journey through some vast country that remains rooted with the blues. This is one of those discs that goes in and out of print but is worth the effort it will take to find. A musical road trip through America.
The Band
- Amos Garrett - lead vocal, lead guitar
- Doug Sahm - lead vocal, lead guitar, organ and dobro
- Gene Taylor - lead vocal, piano
- Kit Johnson - bass, vocals
- Bohdan Hluszko - drums, vocals
- Special Guests on Big Mamou and Banks of The Old Pontchartrain:
Queen Ida - vocal duet, accordion
Wilbert "Chili Willy" Lewis - washboard
Stephanie Davis - Fiddle
The Songs
- Smack Dab in the Middle
- Big Mamou
- Teardrops on Your Letter
- Drunk
- Don't Tell Me
- Coming Back Home
- Sure is a Good Thing
- Amarillo Highway
- Banks of the Old Pontchartrain
- Just Like a Woman
- Gene's Boogie
- Queen of the Okanaga