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Augie Meyers, Pioneer of Tex-Mex Music, Dies at 85
Augie Meyers, Pioneer of Tex-Mex Music, Dies at 85
His carnival-like swirls on the Vox organ helped define the sound of the border with groups like the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados.
Augie Meyers in 1983. His bright, syncopated riffs on the Vox organ functioned as the sonic engine of the Sir Douglas Quintet and set the model for countless groups to follow. Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
By Alex Williams
March 23, 2026
Augie Meyers, whose Tilt-a-Whirl stylings on his trebly Vox organ shaped the sound of Tex-Mex music with the celebrated Sir Douglas Quintet and the Grammy-winning Texas Tornados, and lent flavor to recordings by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and others, died on March 7 at his home in San Antonio. He was 85. ... The cause was pneumonia, his son, Clay Meyer, a drummer for the Texas Tornados, said. (Like his father, he adopted Meyers as his stage surname.)
The Sir Douglas Quintet formed in San Antonio in 1964, drawing from an array of influences as wide as Texas itself: garage rock, blues, jazz and R&B, along with Texas-Mexican border genres like conjunto and norteño. ... While never a commercial juggernaut, the group had three Top 40 hits on the Billboard chart: “She’s About a Mover” rose to No. 13 in 1965, “The Rains Came” made it to No. 31 the next year and “Mendocino” climbed to No. 27 in 1969. ... Its impact was far greater in its home state, where it became “one of the great Texas bands of all time,” Joe Nick Patoski, an author and historian who directed the 2015 documentary “Sir Doug & the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove,” said in an interview.
The members of the Sir Douglas Quintet, from left: Johnny Perez, Frank Moran, Mr. Meyers, Jack Barber and Doug Sahm. Gilles Petard/Redferns, via Getty Images
The band’s frontman, Doug Sahm, may have gotten the spotlight, but Mr. Meyers was hailed as a star in his own right. He filled in parts typically played on an accordion in traditional South Texas music with his bright, syncopated riffs, which functioned as the sonic engine of the band and set the model for countless groups to follow. ... “Augie Meyers and his Vox organ are the Tex-Mex groove,” Mr. Patoski said. “That is the groove, the element in Tex-Mex music that gives it the bounce, the appeal, that made Tex-Mex more than a regional sound.”
Part of what made Mr. Meyers’ sound distinctive was his choice of instruments. Instead of the ubiquitous Hammond B-3 vacuum tube organ, with its rich, gospel-ready sound, he opted for a lightweight, transistor-based Vox Continental, manufactured in Britain and known for its reedy, chirpy tone. He often claimed he had the first one in America. ... His tone was often described as “cheesy” or “cheap,” and he took that as a compliment. He often said that he preferred the more exuberant Vox sound, reminiscent of a merry-go-round or a circus calliope, in part because it could cut through the guitars onstage. ... Mr. Meyers recalled members of the Beatles approaching him to ask how he got his sound. (His secret: Play the Vox through a Fender Super Reverb amplifier.) His distinctive approach set the template for countless garage rock and new wave bands to follow.
Mr. Meyers in 2009 in his home in Austin, Texas. Bob Dylan said of him, “He’s the shining example of a musician, Vox player or otherwise, who can break the code.” John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle, via Getty Images
{snip}
August Edmond George Meyer Jr. was born on May 31, 1940, in San Antonio, the only child of August and Emma (Kosub) Meyer, who together ran a grocery store. ... He was born with a club foot and without his left ear. (He later wore a prosthetic, barely visible because of his long hair.) As a child, he contracted polio and eventually went to live with his grandparents outside town. “The doctors said the country would be a better environment than the city for my health,” he said in a 1974 interview with The Austin American-Statesman. He did not walk until he was 10. ... Limited by his health issues, he started writing poems and songs to keep himself occupied. Inspired by acts like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and blues artists like B.B. King, he taught himself guitar and piano. As a student at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, from which he graduated in 1958, he began gigging with local bands.
{snip}
The Tex-Mex supergroup the Texas Tornados in 1990, from left: Mr. Sahm, Mr. Meyers, Freddy Fender and Flaco Jiménez. Paul Natkin/WireImage, via Getty Images
{snip}
Alex Williams is a Times reporter on the Obituaries desk.
His carnival-like swirls on the Vox organ helped define the sound of the border with groups like the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados.
Augie Meyers in 1983. His bright, syncopated riffs on the Vox organ functioned as the sonic engine of the Sir Douglas Quintet and set the model for countless groups to follow. Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
By Alex Williams
March 23, 2026
Augie Meyers, whose Tilt-a-Whirl stylings on his trebly Vox organ shaped the sound of Tex-Mex music with the celebrated Sir Douglas Quintet and the Grammy-winning Texas Tornados, and lent flavor to recordings by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and others, died on March 7 at his home in San Antonio. He was 85. ... The cause was pneumonia, his son, Clay Meyer, a drummer for the Texas Tornados, said. (Like his father, he adopted Meyers as his stage surname.)
The Sir Douglas Quintet formed in San Antonio in 1964, drawing from an array of influences as wide as Texas itself: garage rock, blues, jazz and R&B, along with Texas-Mexican border genres like conjunto and norteño. ... While never a commercial juggernaut, the group had three Top 40 hits on the Billboard chart: “She’s About a Mover” rose to No. 13 in 1965, “The Rains Came” made it to No. 31 the next year and “Mendocino” climbed to No. 27 in 1969. ... Its impact was far greater in its home state, where it became “one of the great Texas bands of all time,” Joe Nick Patoski, an author and historian who directed the 2015 documentary “Sir Doug & the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove,” said in an interview.
The members of the Sir Douglas Quintet, from left: Johnny Perez, Frank Moran, Mr. Meyers, Jack Barber and Doug Sahm. Gilles Petard/Redferns, via Getty Images
The band’s frontman, Doug Sahm, may have gotten the spotlight, but Mr. Meyers was hailed as a star in his own right. He filled in parts typically played on an accordion in traditional South Texas music with his bright, syncopated riffs, which functioned as the sonic engine of the band and set the model for countless groups to follow. ... “Augie Meyers and his Vox organ are the Tex-Mex groove,” Mr. Patoski said. “That is the groove, the element in Tex-Mex music that gives it the bounce, the appeal, that made Tex-Mex more than a regional sound.”
Part of what made Mr. Meyers’ sound distinctive was his choice of instruments. Instead of the ubiquitous Hammond B-3 vacuum tube organ, with its rich, gospel-ready sound, he opted for a lightweight, transistor-based Vox Continental, manufactured in Britain and known for its reedy, chirpy tone. He often claimed he had the first one in America. ... His tone was often described as “cheesy” or “cheap,” and he took that as a compliment. He often said that he preferred the more exuberant Vox sound, reminiscent of a merry-go-round or a circus calliope, in part because it could cut through the guitars onstage. ... Mr. Meyers recalled members of the Beatles approaching him to ask how he got his sound. (His secret: Play the Vox through a Fender Super Reverb amplifier.) His distinctive approach set the template for countless garage rock and new wave bands to follow.
Mr. Meyers in 2009 in his home in Austin, Texas. Bob Dylan said of him, “He’s the shining example of a musician, Vox player or otherwise, who can break the code.” John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle, via Getty Images
{snip}
August Edmond George Meyer Jr. was born on May 31, 1940, in San Antonio, the only child of August and Emma (Kosub) Meyer, who together ran a grocery store. ... He was born with a club foot and without his left ear. (He later wore a prosthetic, barely visible because of his long hair.) As a child, he contracted polio and eventually went to live with his grandparents outside town. “The doctors said the country would be a better environment than the city for my health,” he said in a 1974 interview with The Austin American-Statesman. He did not walk until he was 10. ... Limited by his health issues, he started writing poems and songs to keep himself occupied. Inspired by acts like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and blues artists like B.B. King, he taught himself guitar and piano. As a student at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, from which he graduated in 1958, he began gigging with local bands.
{snip}
The Tex-Mex supergroup the Texas Tornados in 1990, from left: Mr. Sahm, Mr. Meyers, Freddy Fender and Flaco Jiménez. Paul Natkin/WireImage, via Getty Images
{snip}
Alex Williams is a Times reporter on the Obituaries desk.
Texas Tornados - "
Hey Baby) Que Paso" [Live from Austin, TX]
Live From Austin TX
51K Likes
6,178,520 Views
2017 Jun 30
From the Texas Tornados album 'Live from Austin, TX' available now on CD and DVD:
https://www.livefromaustintx.com/
Hey Baby) Que Paso" [Live from Austin, TX]
Live From Austin TX
51K Likes
6,178,520 Views
2017 Jun 30
From the Texas Tornados album 'Live from Austin, TX' available now on CD and DVD:
https://www.livefromaustintx.com/
Texas Tornados - "She's About A Mover" [Live from Austin, TX]
Live From Austin TX
1.1K Likes
114,735 Views
2017 Jun 30
From the Texas Tornados album 'Live from Austin, TX' available now on CD and DVD:
https://www.livefromaustintx.com/
Live From Austin TX
1.1K Likes
114,735 Views
2017 Jun 30
From the Texas Tornados album 'Live from Austin, TX' available now on CD and DVD:
https://www.livefromaustintx.com/
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Had this album for many years, until the 2010 flood in Nashville.
