''Hell of a Spell'' is an album by singer-songwriter

Doug Sahm Douglas Wayne Sahm (November 6, 1941 – November 18, 1999) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in San Antonio, Texas. Sahm is regarded as one of the main figures of Tex-Mex music, and as an important per ...

released by

Takoma Records Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by guitarist John Fahey in the late 1950s.

in January 1980. Sahm was signed to the label in 1979 after it was acquired by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

the same year. Upon request of the president of Takoma, Sahm recorded blues numbers and he dedicated the record to

Guitar Slim Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), better known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song "The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in th ...

. While the album was well received by the critics, it was a commercial failure.

Background

After the release of '' Texas Rock For Country Rollers'', Sahm's sales and live performances decreased. Sahm coached a local

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

team in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

and he hosted a jazz show at a local radio. Sahm was unhappy with the growth that the city of Austin experienced since his move in 1971, and he grew interested in the musical scene of the East coast. With Roy Bechtol, Sahm started Rolling Stranger Productions in 1979. In 1979, the label

purchased

Takoma Records Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by guitarist John Fahey in the late 1950s.

and it expanded its lineup of artists.

and the

Sir Douglas Quintet The Sir Douglas Quintet was an American Rock music, rock band, formed in San Antonio in 1964. With their first hits, they were acclaimed in their home state. When their career was established (subsequent to working with Texas record producer Huey ...

were added to the lineup. Sahm recorded ''Hell of a Spell'' with

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

Dan Healy, his friend and collaborator of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

. The sessions took place at Sonoma Recorders in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

under the production of Healey. Upon request from Takoma Records president

Denny Bruce Denny Bruce (born in 1944 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) is an American record producer and artist manager. While living in Los Angeles in 1965 Denny was hired by Frank Zappa as a second drummer with The Mothers of Invention. After 6 months he cont ...

, the songs consisted in

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

numbers. Sahm dedicated the album to

Release and reception

''Hell of a Spell'' was released in January 1980. With the release of the album, Sahm started a national tour. The album received positive reviews, but it failed to succeed commercially. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' regarded the album as Sahm "returning to the basics" and defined him as "the reigning master" of the "Texas Blues style". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' gave the album three stars out of five. the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

'' considered that Sahm "archived a near time-warp effect of returning to a golden age of modern music". ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after ''The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its Al ...

'' defined the release as a "worthwhile trip into the past" that "delivers the goods". ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five. Critic

Bob Gottlieb Robert Henry Gottlieb (January 20, 1940 – November 23, 2014) was an American basketball coach for the NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee team from 1975–1980, and was also the head coach of Jacksonville University for two years ...

commented that ''Hell of a Spell'' "shows off some of the remarkable range of Sahm's abilities and genius". The album was reissued by the label in 1980, and then in 1988. The catalog of the Takoma label was purchased by

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

in 1995. ''Hell of a Spell'' was re-released by the label in July 1999.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians *

– vocals, guitar *John Reeds – guitar *Jack Barber – bass *John Oxendiner – drums *Kelly Dunn – keyboards *Louie Bustos –

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

and

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

*Charles McBurney – trumpet *Rocky Morales – saxophone Studio * Dan Healy – producer, engineer *Jerry Meltzer – executive producer *Paul Stubblebine – engineer *Russ Gary – mix

References

;Sources * * * * * * * * * * * {{Doug Sahm 1980 albums Doug Sahm albums Takoma Records albums