Doug Sahm was a Texas singer, songwriter and musician who was musical styles covered a wide spectrum, from country to Cajun to blues to western swing to rock. He was Tex-Mex. And he was Americana, some 30 years before the term was coined. A child prodigy, Sahm mastered at least a dozen instruments, his earliest being the guitar, violin and guitar by the time he was five. It was that same year he made his radio debut, and when he was 11, he made his first record. He even performed on stage with Hank Williams Sr. before he turned 12. By the end of the ’50s, Sahm was fronting his own band and touring around the clubs of Texas. In the mid ’60s, he formed the Sir Douglas Quintet, choosing the name as to be less conspicuously American during the British invasion. It only worked until Sahm opened his mouth and the band kicked into their obvious Tex Mex flavored rock ‘n roll. The band did score a top 20 hit in 1965 with “She’s About a Mover.” Three years later they hit again with “Mendocino” which cracked the top 15 and sold in excess of 3 million copies worldwide. Sahm was also a favorite session player and singer throughout his career. He’s recorded with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and the Grateful Dead. In 1990, Sahm formed the Texas Tornados, a so-called Tex-Mex supergroup with Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez and old friend, Augie Meyers. The group recorded four albums including their Grammy wining debut, Texas Tornados. On November 19, 1999, Doug Sahm, 58, suffered a fatal heart attack while asleep in a Taos, New Mexico hotel room.
Country Dick Montana (Born Daniel McLain)
May 17, 1955 – November 8, 1995
The bigger-than-life Country Dick Montana was the founding drummer, co-lead vocalist, and heart and soul of the great San Diego roots rock band, the Beat Farmers. Formed by Montana, Jerry Raney, Buddy Blue and Rolle Love in 1983, the band quickly became an institution in and around the college communities of San Diego County. The band’s musical talent and songwriting abilities were undisputed, while their live shows were nothing short of greatness. particularly if you were lucky enough to be close to the stage for one of Montana’s beer dousings. The Beat Farmers’ first album, Tales of the New West, was released in 1985 and is considered by many to be the blueprint for the Americana movement to come some twenty years later. Two of it’s songs, “Happy Boy” and “California Kid,” both sung with Montana’s deep and iconic voice, generally became the most raucous moments of the Beat Farmers’ energetic live shows. The band continued to release fan-pleasing albums over the next decade, helping them build a base outside the comforts of Southern California. On November 8, 1995, while the Beat Farmers were on stage at a Whistler, Canada club, Country Dick Montana suffered a fatal heart attack while performing “The Girl I Almost Married.” He died as he should have, with his boots on. That following year, Devil Lied to Me, his only solo album which had been working on before his death, was released.
Amy Farris was an Austin fiddler who in recent years was living in Los Angeles. Throughout her career, the much-respected musician and singer had collaborated with a who’s-who of Austin and Los Angeles musicial fixtures. That list includes Brian Wilson, Peter Case, Alejandro Escovedo, Exene Cervenka and Kelly Willis. As a session player in Los Angeles, she played on musical tracks on such television shows as Mad Men and CSI: Miami. She was also part of Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, both the album and the current tour. According to the Yep Roc Records website, Farris died of an undisclosed illness, while other online sources indicate she may have committed suicide. Official cause has yet to be released. She was 40 years old.
Gram Parsons (Born Cecil Connor)
November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973
Gram Parsons was a highly influential singer-songwriter who helped launch what would later be called country rock and then alt-country or Americana. Parsons began playing the guitar as a teenager to escape a less than ideal home life. The first group he played with, the Shilohs, were a folk band in the tradition of the Kingston Trio. When the band broke up, he and other Boston area folk musicians formed the International Submarine Band with whom he began to develop a sound the borrowed the best from country, folk and rock. They enjoyed moderate success, primarily getting airplay on the up-and-coming progressive radio stations. In 1968, Parsons was asked to join the Byrds as a replacement for David Crosby and Michael Clarke. He started on keyboards but soon switched to guitar, helping guide the group down a more country rock path. Parsons left the Byrds in the summer of 1968. He joined back up with the Byrds’ Chris Hillman soon after to form the Flying Burrito Brothers whose debut, The Gilded Palace of Sin would be a direct influence on the likes of the Eagles, Dwight Yoakam and later, Wilco and Ryan Adams. By the early ’70s, Parsons was working as a solo artist while recording and performing with good friend, Emmylou Harris. It was during this period that Parsons’ inner demons were taking control in the form of substance abuse. He was also spending more and more time in an area he had become fond of, Joshua Tree National Monument in the desert outside of Los Angeles. He liked to go thre and take LSD while searching for UFOs. It was during one of these trips that Gram Parsons apparently overdosed on morphine and alcohol and died at the age of 26.
Johnny Cash
February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003
Technically considered a country music artist, Johnny Cash actually transcended the genre to be one of the most important singer-songwriters of any music, period. With an authoritative deep voice, a cannon of songs that sounded like a freight train coming your way, and lyrics that made you feel as if he lived them, Cash exemplified all that is American music. To many, he and his wife and musical partner, June Carter Cash are considered country music’s first couple. During a career that spanned almost 5o years, Cash was equally at home performing rockabilly, folk, gospel, country, rock ‘n roll and blues. His stable of songs included some of the greatest of any genre, “Walk The Line,” “Hey Porter,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and “A Boy Named Sue.” Cash regularly covered songs by some of the world’s greatest artists, such as Bruce Springsteen, Trent Reznor, Depeche Mode, Bob Dylan, U2 and Tom Petty. In many cases, his interpretations eclipsed the originals, and most of the original artists would agree to that. Cash’s final years were bittersweet. Although he was experiencing a true renaissance thanks to a series of haunting albums produced by Rick Rubin, he was living through both physical and emotional pain. In the late ’90s he was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease associated with diabetes and was hospitalized with a serious case of pneumonia that damaged his lungs. And in May of 2003, he lost his wife June due to unexpected complications of heart surgery. The 71 year old Johnny Cash passed away less than four months later.
Bernard “Jack” Nitzsche
April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000
Jack Nitzsche was a respected arranger, composer, producer and session musician who was involved in many of the greatest west coast pop recordings of the ’60s and ’70s. His first significant contribution to pop music came in 1955 when he co-wrote “Needles And Pins” with Sonny Bono. The song was a hit for Jackie DeShannon and was later recorded by the Searchers, Cher and the Ramones. By the early ’60s, Nitzsche was working as an arranger for Phil Spector, orchestrating the celebrated “wall of sound” on hits like Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep Mountain High.” Nitzsche was also part of the famed Wrecking Crew, a group of studio musicians that included Glen Campbell, Leon Russell, and Hal Blaine. Much like their Motown counterparts, the Funk Brothers, the Wrecking Crew were the faceless band behind many ’60s pop hits coming out of Los Angeles. They could be heard on records by the likes of the Monkees and the Beach Boys. Nitzsche also worked on classic recordings by the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, Graham Parker and Willy DeVille to name a few. During the ’70s, Nitzsche created the music for several motion pictures including One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Starman, 9-1/2 Weeks, and An Officer And A Gentlemen, for which won the best song Oscar for “Up Where We Belong.” Jack Nitzsche died of cardiac arrest at the age of 63.
Stephen Bruton was a beloved Texas songwriter, guitarist, and producer. Born in Fort Worth, Bruton’s first big break came at age 22, when he was asked to play in Kris Kristofferson’s band. Since then, Bruton has been an entertainment jack of all trade. After many years as a sideman, Bruton stepped out to the front of the stage and became a headliner himself. As a respected songwriter, he’s written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffett, Martina McBride and many more. As a producer, he worked the board for such greats as Joe Ely, Alejandro Escovedo, Hal Ketchum and others. Bruton also engineered albums by the likes of Ziggy Marley, John Mellencamp and R.E.M. He even had some acting credits, appearing in such films as A Star Is Born, Miss Congeniality, and Heaven’s Gate. But it was his outstanding guitar work that might end up being his strongest legacy. Over the years, he’s been heartily invited to play on projects by Elvis Costello, Delbert McClinton, Carly Simon, Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge, and many more. Bruton was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2007 and succumbed to it in Los Angeles where he was working on the soundtrack to Jeff Bridges’ upcoming film, Crazy Heart.
B.W. Stevenson (Born Lewis Stevenson)
October 5, 1949 – April 28, 1988
Born in Dallas, TX, B.W. Stevenson was singer-songwriter of country pop songs. He had one big hit, 1973’s “My Maria,” which reached #9 on the Billboard pop singles chart. The song became a #1 country hit for Brook & Dunn in 1996. Stevenson died while undergoing heart valve surgery on April 28, 1988. He was 38.
Oklahoma singer-songwriter Bob Childers passed away on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 of emphysema and related lung disease. Childers was a the so-called godfather or Red Dirt Music, a hard to define sub-genre of country/Americana that includes elements of country, rock and folk. After touring much of the country’s dive bars and honky tonks through the ’70s, Childers released his debut album at the dawn of the ’80s. Over his career, he wrote over 1500 songs and earned accolades from no less than fellow Oklahoman, Garth Brooks who wrote a song with him. He was even invited to perform at the White House in 1982. 2004 saw the release of Restless Wind – A Tribute To The Songs of Bob Childers, a THREE-CD set that included Jimmy Lafave, Cross Canadian Ragweed and The Red Dirt Rangers.
Duane Jarvis was one of those great talents that should have been more famous than they were. Although Jarvis was born in Portland, OR, both Los Angeles and Nashville like to claim him as their own as well. Much more than a supurb singer and songwriter, Jarvis was also a master of the guitar, mandolin and bass. Over the years he has worked with the Divinyls, Rosie Flores, Dave Alvin, John Prine, Victoria Williams, Dwight Yoakam, M. Ward, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Duane Jarvis passed away on March 31, 2009 while in hopice care for cancer.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the lead.
Although he’s not a household name, Townes Van Zandt has earned a place alongside Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Guy Clark if they ever build a Mount Rushmore of Texas singer-songwriters. Call it folk; call it country; call it Americana; call it what you will, but Van Zandt was one of the greatest. Van Zandt was born into oil money in Fort Worth. His family helped found Fort Worth and even had a county named after them in 1848. By the time Van Zandt was in college, he had developed a drinking problem, and after failing to get into the Air Force due to what a doctor diagnosed as acute manic depression, he decided to give up school and concentrate on his song writing. And thanks to that, we now have “If I Needed You,” “No Place To Fall,” and of course, “Pancho and Lefty,” the number one hit for Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. Despite all the accolades and money, he continued to live the life of a vagabond, playing dumpy bars and living in cheap motels or on friends’ couches. He was also notorious for his exsess consumption of drugs and alcohol. He tried many times to beat it, but failed each time. Van Zandt’s final days are too heart wrenching to rehash here. He ultimately passed away at the age of 52 as a result of what the substance abuse did to his body.
Still not convinced of his greatness? Watch him bring the man next to him to tears in this video.
Doug Hopkins graduated from Tempe’s McClintock High School in 1979, and two years later, while attending Arizona State University, he formed his first rock band with Bill Leen. Hopkins was the guitarist and Leen was the bassist, although neither knew how to play the instruments. He graduated from Arizona State in or 1985 with a degree in sociology. By 1987, the two played well enough to start the Gin Blossoms, and in 1988 Jesse Valenzuela (Hopkins’ skateboarding friend) and Phillip Rhodes signed on as the band’s second guitarist and drummer, respectively. Hopkins had suffered from chronic depression since childhood and had been battling alcoholism for several years. However, in 1990, the Gin Blossoms were one of the hottest local bands in Tempe and the surrounding areas, and they signed a contract with A&M Records.He was also resistant to signing to a major label, feeling like its property, and reacted with stubbornness and more drinking.When the band recorded its debut album New Miserable Experience in February 1992,it was reported that Hopkins was unable to stand during his recording sessions. Faced with the prospect of firing Hopkins or being dropped by A&M, the band terminated Hopkins. Doused in aftershave and mouthwash to cover the effects of his days-long drinking binge, he was flown back to Arizona.He was replaced by Scott Johnson. As result, the band withheld $15,000 owed to Hopkins until he agreed to sign over half of his publishing royalties to his replacement, which he reluctantly agreed to do because of his dire financial situation, and while New Miserable Experience did not make a strong debut, it went on to become a multi-platinum album. After he returned to Tempe, Hopkins started another band, The Chimeras, with brothers Lawrence & Mark Zubia. Hopkins’s role in the band came to an abrupt end during a show one night, when, after a less-than-fantastic solo, he quit. It would be the last band he ever played with in public as a member. He did appear on stage with DeadHotWorkshop and Hans Olsen in Tucson shortly before his death. The Chimeras later changed names to The Pistoleros, upon signing a short-lived recording contract. The first several singles released by the Gin Blossoms, and the only mainstream hit released by the Pistoleros, prior to being dropped by their label, were penned by Hopkins. As the Gin Blossoms experienced mounting success, principally on the back of songs he had written, Hopkins became increasingly despondent.Though he had always dreamed of having a gold record, when he received one for the song “Hey Jealousy”, he hung it up for two weeks before taking it down and then destroying it. Nine days later, during an intake consultation in the detox unit of Phoenix’s St. Luke’s Hospital, Hopkins snuck out and bought a .38 caliber pistol. The next day, with the constant reminder of his former band’s success being heard on virtually every radio station, Hopkins committed suicide on December 4, 1993. – From wikipedia
Doug Sahm was a Texas singer, songwriter and musician who was musical styles covered a wide spectrum, from country to Cajun to blues to western swing to rock. He was Tex-Mex. And he was Americana, some 30 years before the term was coined. A child prodigy, Sahm mastered at least a dozen instruments, his earliest being the guitar, violin and guitar by the time he was five. It was that same year he made his radio debut, and when he was 11, he made his first record. He even performed on stage with Hank Williams Sr. before he turned 12. By the end of the ’50s, Sahm was fronting his own band and touring around the clubs of Texas. In the mid ’60s, he formed the Sir Douglas Quintet, choosing the name as to be less conspicuously American during the British invasion. It only worked until Sahm opened his mouth and the band kicked into their obvious Tex Mex flavored rock ‘n roll. The band did score a top 20 hit in 1965 with “She’s About a Mover.” Three years later they hit again with “Mendocino” which cracked the top 15 and sold in excess of 3 million copies worldwide. Sahm was also a favorite session player and singer throughout his career. He’s recorded with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and the Grateful Dead. In 1990, Sahm formed the Texas Tornados, a so-called Tex-Mex supergroup with Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez and old friend, Augie Meyers. The group recorded four albums including their Grammy wining debut, Texas Tornados. On November 19, 1999, Doug Sahm, 58, suffered a fatal heart attack while asleep in a Taos, New Mexico hotel room.
The bigger-than-life Country Dick Montana was the founding drummer, co-lead vocalist, and heart and soul of the great San Diego roots rock band, the Beat Farmers. Formed by Montana, Jerry Raney, 
Amy Farris was an Austin fiddler who in recent years was living in Los Angeles. Throughout her career, the much-respected musician and singer had collaborated with a who’s-who of Austin and Los Angeles musicial fixtures. That list includes Brian Wilson, Peter Case, Alejandro Escovedo, Exene Cervenka and Kelly Willis. As a session player in Los Angeles, she played on musical tracks on such television shows as Mad Men and CSI: Miami. She was also part of Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, both the album and the current tour. According to the 
Oklahoma singer-songwriter Bob Childers passed away on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 of emphysema and related lung disease. Childers was a the so-called godfather or Red Dirt Music, a hard to define sub-genre of country/Americana that includes elements of country, rock and folk. After touring much of the country’s dive bars and honky tonks through the ’70s, Childers released his debut album at the dawn of the ’80s. Over his career, he wrote over 1500 songs and earned accolades from no less than fellow Oklahoman, Garth Brooks who wrote a song with him. He was even invited to perform at the White House in 1982. 2004 saw the release of Restless Wind – A Tribute To The Songs of Bob Childers, a THREE-CD set that included Jimmy Lafave, Cross Canadian Ragweed and The Red Dirt Rangers.
Although he’s not a household name, Townes Van Zandt has earned a place alongside Willie Nelson, 
