Augie Meyers, the Texas musician whose organ playing defined the sounds of the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados, as well as the Tex-Mex genre itself, died Saturday. He was 85. Meyers’ family announced the San Antonio native’s death in a post on his Facebook page.
“Augie Meyers, a true Texas Legend passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday, March 7th at 85 with his wife Sara at his side,” it read.
Born in San Antonio in 1940, Meyers met the musician Doug Sahm when they were just teenagers in 1953 and bonded over rock & roll. A little more than a decade later, the pair co-founded the Sir Douglas Quintet, a group that mixed psychedelic rock, blues, jazz, country music, and the ethnic vibes of the Texas and Mexican border into a uniquely bright and vibrant sound. While Sahm was the voice of the band, Meyers’ Vox Continental organ was responsible for the group’s unmistakable sonics. In songs like 1965’s “She’s About a Mover,” 1968’s “Mendocino,” and the following year’s “And It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down,” Meyers propelled the arrangements with bouncing, often irresistible rhythms, and underscored songs like “At the Crossroads” with well-chosen accents.
“There’s something to be said about simplicity. Augie had a way of reducing his organ fills to just the right part, whether soloing or that pulsing rhythm with minimalist note changes in the chord,” Jerry Dale McFadden, the keyboard player for the Mavericks, told Rolling Stone. “When you heard it in a song, you knew instantly that it was Augie Meyers.”
Despite never achieving mainstream success, the Sir Douglas Quintet is credited with influencing artists across the roots-music spectrum, from Steve Earle and Alejandro Escovedo to Uncle Tupelo and the Mavericks. After their dissolution in 1973, Meyers and Sahm continued to work together, most famously in the Nineties when they founded yet another influential Tex-Mex outfit, the Texas Tornados, with conjunto accordionist Flaco Jiménez and Tejano singing star Freddy Fender.
The Tornados released a string of albums, beginning with their self-titled 1990 debut, which contained one of the band’s most popular songs. “(Hey Baby) Que Pasó,” co-written by Meyers, was a love song delivered in both English and Spanish, and earned a reputation as San Antonio’s citywide anthem. When performed live onstage, like at a 1990 taping of Austin City Limits, Meyers and Jimenez would spar on their accordions, with Sahm playing keys.
In 1991, the group released their second studio effort, Zone of Our Own, and put their own spin on “Is Anybody Goin to San Antone,” a song originally made famous by the country singer Charley Pride that Sahm recorded for his 1973 solo debut. Meyers was the last living member of the Texas Tornados: Sahm died in 1999; Fender in 2006; and Jimenez last summer.
Along with his work with the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados, who reunited in the 2000s for a string of shows with Sahm’s son on vocals, Meyers also played on albums by Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, and Raul Malo. In 1997, he joined Bob Dylan in the studio to provide organ and accordion on Time Out of Mind, and reunited with Dylan in 2001 to play on Love and Theft.
Meyers continued to perform up until his death, sitting in with bands like the Mavericks and Los TexManiacs, and sailing with the Outlaw Country Cruise. He remained an inspiration to young artists, especially those coming out of the Lone Star state.
“Augie took the vibe, culture, and feel of San Antonio and put it into his music,” Emilio Navaira, drummer for the Last Bandoleros, told Rolling Stone. “He always took us under his wing and supported musicians from South Texas. He will be missed.”
