| Texas Tornados | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | San Francisco, California U.S. |
| Genre: | Tejano, country rock |
| Years Active: | 1989–present |
| Associated Acts: | Sir Douglas Quintet, Los Super Seven |
| Current Members: | |
| Past Members: |
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Texas Tornados is an American Tejano supergroup, composed of some of country music's biggest artists who modernized the Tex-Mex style including Flaco Jiménez, Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm, and Freddy Fender. Its music is a fusion of conjunto (German and Norteño Mexican fusion music of Texas) with rock, country, and various Mexican styles.
The initial combination of Flaco Jiménez, Augie Meyers, and Doug Sahm performed in front of a San Francisco audience. After they initially performed as the Tex-Mex Revue, they took the title Texas Tornados, after Sahm's song "Texas Tornado", from the album of the same name.
Another account of the group's birth says they formed when record company executives looking to cash in on regional music sales approached Sahm and Meyers around 1990, and they brought in longtime friends and collaborators Fender and Jiménez. Sahm had released albums under the name Texas Tornados as early as the 1970s, some featuring Fender or Meyers. Jiménez and Meyers played on Sahm's Atlantic Records debut in 1971. As Fender once said, "You've heard of New Kids on the Block? We're the Old Guys in the Street."
Individually, this quartet has had major success:
The band's 1990 debut was recorded in both English and Spanish versions. The Texas Tornados were asked to perform all over the world, such as at the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton and the Montreux Jazz Festival, and made regular appearances at Farm Aid and the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show. They won a Grammy award in 1990 for Best Mexican/American Performance. Their 1996 single "A Little Bit Is Better Than Nada" accompanied the opening credits of the golf movie Tin Cup, which was released the same year, and is included in the official soundtrack.
Among their other albums is Live From the Limo, the last album to be recorded with the original lineup, as Sahm died in 1999, the year of its release. Fender, who had health problems in later years, died in 2006. Their 2005 Live from Austin album was a recording of a 1990 performance on the TV series Austin City Limits.
People sometimes refer to their lyrics as Spanglish because of the mixture of English and Spanish in the same song, in addition to pronouncing the Spanish lyrics in an American accent, which is evident in their hit, "(Hey Baby) Que Pasó?". An example is the lyric "Don't you know I love you / and my corazón is real?", in which the word corazón (Spanish for "heart") is improperly pronounced, with an obvious American accent, instead of pronounced as /es/. The band's self-titled debut album was offered in Spanish and English-language versions.
In 2022, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus proposed "Hey Baby (Que Pasó)?" among the songs to be nominated for their inclusion on the National Recording Registry.[1]
Augie Meyers and Flaco Jiménez reunited with the son of Doug Sahm, Shawn Sahm, in a new recording that includes five previously unreleased vocal performances from the legendary Freddy Fender. The collection, entitled "Está Bueno," includes new songs written by Fender, such as the swamp pop ballad "If I Could Only"; an instant new Tornados-style classic written by Doug and Shawn Sahm, "Who's to Blame, Señorita?"; and several Augie Meyers songs recorded for the first time by the Tornados, such as "Velma from Selma" and "My Sugar Blue." The album was produced by Shawn Sahm and was released nationally by Ray Benson's Bismeaux Records on March 2, 2010.
Playing together again for the first time since the '90s and feeling what Shawn calls "the Tornado vibe," the group enlisted Shawn to take over and "drive the bus" for their first album in over a decade. His goal for the record was "to keep it a straight up Tex-Mex rock and roll record." When they first began recording, Shawn was very pleased but not surprised to hear them "sounding like they are playing at the top of their game." He stated, "When you hear this record, you hear why they are the legends they are."
Shawn Sahm has been around the music industry since he was 13 and was the perfect person to entrust with preserving the Tornados' legacy. He fine-tuned each track according to the group's feedback, giving each detail serious attention. Throughout the process, he insisted to all of them, "It is not done until you are happy." For the album's release, Benson's Bismeaux Records, in Austin, was an obvious choice. Shawn Sahm commented, "Everyone knew they had a great record and they felt it would be important to go with someone who understood the legacy of the Texas Tornados. I knew Ray was the right guy. They have been friends for a long time. If anyone understood the legacy of the band, it was Ray."
"Having known the original Texas Tornados, I was delighted when Shawn brought me the tracks of the new Texas Tornados CD," said Benson. "Besides the wonderful Freddy Fender songs recorded shortly before his passing, Augie, Flaco and Shawn have recorded an album true to the Tornados sound and vision. I am honored to present their CD on Bismeaux Records for old fans and I am sure a host of new ones, too."
In addition to the featured members, the recordings include Tornado original musicians Louie Ortega, Speedy Sparks, and Ernie Durawa. Flaco Jiménez stated, "The groove is back."
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US Regional Mexican | ||||
| 1990 | Los Texas Tornados | Reprise | ||||
| Texas Tornados | 25 | 154 | ||||
| 1991 | Zone of Our Own | 50 | ||||
| 1992 | Hangin' on by a Thread | 5 | ||||
| 1994 | Best of The Texas Tornados | |||||
| 1996 | 4 Aces | |||||
| 1999 | Live from the Limo, Vol. 1 | Virgin | ||||
| 2005 | Live from Austin, TX | New West | ||||
| 2010 | Está Bueno! | Bismeaux | ||||
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Who Were You Thinkin' Of" | Texas Tornados |
| 1991 | "A Man Can Cry" | |
| "Adios Mexico" | ||
| "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone" | Zone of Our Own | |
| 1992 | "Guacamole" | Hangin' on By a Thread |
| 1996 | "A Little Bit is Better Than Nada" | 4 Aces |
| "The Cibola Mixes" | re-mixed versions from 4 Aces | |
| 2010 | "Chicano" | Esta Bueno! |
| Year | Video | Director | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Who Were You Thinking Of"[2] | D. Gorton | |
| "Rosa de Amor" | |||
| 1991 | "Adios Mexico"[3] | Sherman Halsey | |
| "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone" | |||
| 1992 | "Guacamole"[4] | Thom Oliphant | |
| 1996 | "A Little Bit Is Better Than Nada"[5] | R. Brad Murano/Steven T. Miller |