Track Listing

1. Hey Baby Kep-Pa-So
2. South of the Border
3. Soy de San Luis
4. I Don't Want to Be Lonley
5. Dinero
6. Eighteen Yellow Roses
7. Mucura/A Mover el Bote
8. Adios Mexico
9. Marina
10. Laredo Rose
11. Nitty Gritty
12. Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
13. Mendocino
14. Who Were You Thinkin' Of?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142932 in Music
• Released on: 1999-07-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Amazon.com
Supergroup live albums are rare things; rarer still are those that work strictly on musical terms, rather than star fascination. This first volume of Texas Tornados concert recordings surpasses expectations partly because, after nine years together, the Tornados are no longer an uber-collaboration but instead are a road-wizened ensemble. Part Texas bar-band deluxe (as on the shout-along "Hey Baby Kep-Pa-So"), part keepers of the conjunto flame (as on Flaco Jimenez's scale-scorching accordion showcase "La Múcura/A Mover el Bote"), the Tornados have developed a swaggering on-stage personality without ever devolving into Tex-Mex jam-band territory. Blending together performances from two December '98 shows in Austin, the album lacks the thrill of a single hot night on stage (some tracks fade in and out awkwardly) but compensates with fairly gutty song selection. Familiar Tornados tunes are matched with classics by Freddy Fender ("Wasted Days") and Sir Douglas ("Mendocino"), plus a few surprises including a stirring waltz through "Eighteen Yellow Roses" and the Gene Autry warhorse "South of the Border." Jimenez, Fender, Doug Sahm, and Augie Meyers are backed by a faultless rhythm section, some R&B-style horns, and, best of all, some savory pedal steel work, all of which helps to lift these performances above the mere rehash category. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews

Great Music!!
Since I live in Austin, Texas, I was one of the lucky ones that was able to attend both shows from which this album was recorded. As with most live CDs, the recording cannot meausre up to the live show, but the music on this CD is great.

I agree with Amazon's review that it tends to skip around too much. I don't understand why they don't just put the songs in the order the band played them. (Nothing was better than them opening the show with the "tornado" sound and "Hey Baby Que Paso?" but here it is the last track). However, this is the only fault I can find with the CD and I will listen to it for years to come.

My only other hope is that there is a Volume 2 on the way!!

4 1/2 stars. South of the border, down Mexico way...!
This was Tex-Mex super group The Texas Tornados' last record, taped just before Christmas 1998, less than a year before the untimely death of singer and multi-instrumentalist Doug Sahm.

"Live from the Limo" is a bit tighter at 55 minutes than the group's other live album, "Live from Austin, TX", with excellent, crisp sound and an enthusiastic audience.
It draws heavily from the Tornados' 1990 debut album, which supplies about half the tracks, and in that respect it is not that different from "Live from Austin, TX". But to me it is the better of the two, actually, although only by a shade. "Live from Austin, TX" is an excellent record for sure, but it suffers a little bit from a lack of variety, being dominated so heavily by mid-tempo shuffles, organ, and Flaco Jimenez' characteristic accordion.

Recorded in a crowded club, "Live from the Limo" is a warmer, tighter record; it moves effectively between up-tempo Tex-Mex-R&B rave-ups, country & western, melodic ballads, and Mexican folk-rock, including beautiful, exquisitely swinging renditions of "Laredo Rose" and "South of the Border", a tough, punchy "Adios Mexico", and a rollicking "Who Were You Thinkin' Of".
We also get a great rendition of Augie Meyers' driving "Dinero", Freddy Fender's hit "Wasted Days, Wasted Nights", and an irresistable "Mendocito", the old Sir Douglas Quintet-hit, 57-year-old Doug Sahm singing gleefully about his 'teenage lover'.
And yes, Bobby Darin's "Eighteen Yellow Roses" is a smaltzy, weepy ballad of the worst kind, really, but the Tornados manage to pull even that one off.

This is a terrific, spirited live album, the finest item in the group's catalogue alongside their eponymous debut album. Even casual fans are sure to enjoy this melodic, passionate record.
4 1/2 stars - highly recommended!

great songs, poor recording
This would have been a great show to have witnessed. Very few live recordings have the quality of sound that we are so accustomed to these days and this is no exception. This recording does convey the spirit of the event and the sheer enjoyment of the musicians in performing. Hopefully their studio recordings have the same good qualities and good recording as well. That is what I am purchasing next and advising whoever reads this to do.