Last week, I posted a Sir Douglas Quintet song called She’s About A Mover. Many people commented about the song and about another Sir Douglas Quintet song Mendocino as well. So, hearing the Texas Tornados with Doug Sahm do it, I had to post about Doug again because I couldn’t resist. I’ve been listening to his other music and I love it. This song was a top 40 hit in 1969. It peaked at #27 on the Billboard 100 and #14 in Canada. The song has been covered over 100 times, according to Secondhand Songs.
They were a Tex-Mex supergroup before anyone called them that: Doug Sahm (Sir Douglas Quintet), Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet), Freddy Fender (the man of many hits), and accordion ace Flaco Jiménez. They first gigged under the name “Tex-Mex Revue,” then took the name from Sahm’s earlier Texas Tornado. They formed around 1989-1990. It was lightning in a bottle.
Sahm wrote it, he rode it up the charts with the Sir Douglas Quintet back in 1968-69, and then, a couple of decades later, he brought it back to the table with his Tex-Mex supergroup, the Texas Tornados, Augie Meyers, Flaco Jiménez, and Freddy Fender. Flaco Jiménez, who had a long career, just passed on July 31 at age 86.
What I love here is how the Tornados make nostalgia feel alive. Plenty of bands drag their old hits around like they are carrying bulky luggage; these guys plug in and let it go. They play loose, not trying to change the song, but not bound to the original record. They revitalize this song, and it sounds like it was written yesterday. It’s not an easy thing to do, but they pull it off.
BTW… Mendocino is a small town located in Northern California; it’s about 150 miles north of San Francisco.
This song was off the album Live from Austin, TX released in 2005 from a performance in 1990.
Here is the original band, Sir Douglas Quintet, doing Mendocino. This is the Playboy After Dark studio. Bring back muttonchops!
Mendocino
Teeny Bopper, my teenage loverI caught your waves last nightIt sent my mind to wonderin’.You’re such a groovePlease don’t movePlease stay in my love house by the river.Fast talkin’ guys with strange red eyesHave put things in your headAnd started your mind to wonderin’I love you so, please don’t goPlease stay here with me in Mendocino.Mendocino, Mendocino,Where life’s such a grooveYou blow your mind in the morning.We used to walk through the park,Make love along the way in Mendocino.(Ah, play it, Augie! Yeah!)Like I told you, can you dig it?If you wanna groove, I’ll be glad to have you.‘Cause I love you so, please don’t go,Please stay here with me in Mendocino,Mendocino, MendocinoWhere life’s such a groove,You blow your mind in the morningWe used to walk through the park,Make love along the way in MendocinoMendocino, Mendocino, Mendocino
…
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 