Tradition runs rampant around Thanksgiving: generations of old recipes, football, Alice’s Restaurant, The Last Waltz, and, of course, a parade of balloons shutting down NYC. What else do you need? If you thought you were covered in the Thanksgiving tradition department, we did too…until a few years ago, when someone blew the dust off a long lost tape – Doug Sahm’s Thanksgiving Jam.

Thanksgiving weekend, 1972: the Grateful Dead found themselves in Austin, allowing Garcia and Lesh to rendezvous with an old Bay Area running buddy, Mr. Tex-Mex himself, Doug Sahm, and piano-journeyman Leon Russell, at the famed Armadillo World Headquarters for a musical cornucopia of roots music. No genre was left untouched — blues, bluegrass, R&B, rock & roll, honky tonk and, naturally, Bob Dylan. All played with an ad hoc band, including members of Texas psychedelic pranksters The 13th Floor Elevators and Shiva’s Headband, with a setlist that effortlessly bounces from hellcat versions of Kristofferson’s “Me & Bobby McGee” and the Stones’ “Wild Horses”, to a don’t-spill-your-beer “T For Texas”, saddled with stompin-the-nails-out-of-the-floorboard cuts like “Hey Bo Diddley” and “Money Honey”. This is a shitkicker of show, best served turned up, with fistfuls of turkey and pint glass of your favorite sumthin’. words/ d norsen

download/tracklisting after the jump…





Download: Doug Sahm And Friends — Austin, TX 1972 (zipped folder)

November 23, 1972 — Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin, TX

First Set

01 High Heel Sneakers (Tommy Tucker)

02 Wild Side Of Life (Hank Thompson)

03 Swingin’ Doors (Merle Haggard)

04 Me & Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson)

05 Stormy Monday (T-Bone Walker)

06 That’s All Right (Mama) (Arthur Crudup)

07 Come On In My Kitchen (Robert Johnson)

08 T For Texas (Jimmie Rodgers)

09 Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan)

10 (Is Anybody Goin’ To) San Antone (Charley Pride)

11 Sugarfoot Rag (Hank Garland)

12 I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams)

13 Jambalaya (Hank Williams)

14 Today I Started Loving You Again (Merle Haggard)

15 Columbus Stockade Blues (Traditional)

16 Honky Tonkin’ > Dear John (Hank Williams]

Second Set

01 Orange Blossom Special (Bill Monroe)

02 Kentucky Waltz [Bill Monroe)

03 Big Boss Man (Jimmy Reed)

04 Searchin’ (The Coasters)

05 Those Lonely Lonely Nights (Earl King) > Shake A Hand (Faye Adams)

06 Hey Bo Diddley (Bo Diddley)

07 It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Bob Dylan)

08 A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan)

09 Wild Horses (Rolling Stones)

10 Slippin’ Into Christmas (Leon Russell)

11 Money Honey (Drifters/Elvis Presley)

12 Chug-A-Lug (Roger Miller)

13 Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) > Good Golly Miss Molly (Little Richard) > Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry)

The Players: Doug Sahm, Leon Russell, Jerry Garcia, Mary Egan, Benny Thurman, Phil Lesh, Jerry Barnett