Sahm died of a heart attack, in Taos, New Mexico, on November 18, 1999, twelve days after his 58th birthday. As co-producer Bill Bentley[7] recalls, "Shawn Sahm and I tried to do a tribute album right after Doug Sahm died in 1999, but it was just too soon. Ten years later, we found a partner in Vanguard Records, through David Katznelson, and it all fell together."[8]
The album, described as "a warm evocation of Sahm's spirit and sensibility, how he effortlessly encompassed almost every element of Texan music", was favourably reviewed:
Bookended by Sir Doug's two best-known songs — "She's About a Mover", here performed by Little Willie G., the vocalist for Thee Midniters and Malo, supported by Ry Cooder among others, and "Mendocino," performed by Sahm's son Shawn...(t)he order of the day isn't reinterpretation, it's celebration, and there are many joyful performances here, highlighted by Los Lobos' relaxed, breezy "It Didn't Even Bring Me Down", Delbert McClinton's easy-rolling "Texas Me", Jimmie Vaughan's glorious slow crawl through "Why, Why, Why" (and) Joe "King" Carrasco's rollicking "Adios Mexico" supported by the Texas Tornados...[2]
According to another reviewer,
...it would be difficult to imagine a more deserving candidate (for a tribute album) than Doug Sahm. ...Sahm’s vision, which coupled the tangled roots of rock ‘n’ roll with the rhythms and spirit of Tex-Mex, is both broad enough to facilitate the tributes of a diverse range of artists, and specific enough to make it all hang together. ...As a tribute album, this set does the intended work of sending us back to the original recordings with fresh ears—and that may well be the best possible measure of its success.[6]
^Bentley, then an executive with Warner Bros. Records, had acted as executive producer of two Texas Tornados albums, featuring Sahm, in the years prior to Sahm's death: 4 Aces (1996) and Little Bit Is Better Than Nada Mixes (1997). Following Sahm's death, Bentley was the executive producer of The Return of Wayne Douglas (2000), completed prior to Sahm's death and released posthumously. Bentley was also the producer of the Doug Sahm compilation, Genuine Texas Groover: Complete Atlantic Recordings (2004).
^Additional track added when record purchased through Amazon.com; see Keep Your Soul track listing; www.amazon.com, referenced for informational purposes only.
