Augie Meyers

by Bradley Torreano
Augie Meyers began his career as a keyboardist in a bizarre fashion. Raised by his grandparents, he had polio and could not walk very well. He still enjoyed wandering around, enough that his grandparents tied a six-foot rope to his leg and connected it to their piano. He simply took to the piano, eventually moving on to the Vox organ and the piano-key accordion. Starting in the 50s, Meyers began to join popular San Antonio bands, eventually finding a musical partner in singer/guitarist Doug Sahm. The two eventually started the Sir Douglas Quintet, started by their producer as a British Invasion rip-off. The band was better than that however, and after a few hit singles they eventually founded the Texas Tornados. Both bands were local favorites and never really broke up until 1999, when Sahm died from a heart attack. The experience affected Meyers greatly, but he continued to play on as a keyboardist for John Hammond. Meyers joined Hammonds road band and played on his Wicked Grin album, but also did session work for Bob Dylan and Tom Waits on top of that.