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He attended Sam Houston High School, San Antonio, during which time he formed
several bands, including The Dell-Kings, The Pharoahs and the Markays (not to be
confused with the later Stax band of a similar name).

However, country music was not his only interest. The family lived in an area of San
Antonio that was also inhabited by a large number of African-Americans, and he

came under the spell of their music. Sahm explains - “Across a ploughed field from
my home was a place called Eastwood Country Club. On any given night you had
T-Bone Walker, Junior Parker, The Bobby Blue Bland Review, Hank Ballard and James
Brown. At about 12 or 13 years old, my neighbour Homer Callaghan, a red-headed

Irishman who loved to fight
and listen to Howlin’ Wolf,
would bring over these great

45s with colourful labels like
Excello, Atlantic and Specialty,
and dudes like Lonesome
Sundown, Jimmy Reed, and

Fats Domino. My Mother, bless
her soul, couldn’t understand
the profound effect these

records had on her white son
who was growing up fast in the
predominantly black section of

San Antonio. Bear in mind,
these weren’t ghettos with
crime filled streets, but for a

white boy to be accepted at The
Ebony Lounge was like being
signed to the New York
Yankees”!

He went on to explain that steel guitar was the first instrument he studied in some
depth, already being proficient on acoustic guitar - at least, until he saw Bob Wills
and the Texas Playboys, around the age of 10, as a result of which he started learning

the fiddle, at which he also became adept. Indeed, by age 11 he was performing at a
joint called The Barn.

“Then, when I was about 13, this was in the mid-50s, I Iistened to Bobby Bland, Junior
Parker, Guitar Slim, and early Fats. The great man, T-Bone Walker, he played around
here. He knew me when I was a kid because I was already playing in some good

bands. I used to go to Gevers Street, and buy blues records at the jukebox distributor
for a nickel. Sometimes the Guitar Slim records were so scratched he didn’t have the
heart to charge me, so he gave them to me. I picked up tunes like ‘Going To The River’
by Fats Domino, ‘Right Around The Corner’ by The Five Royals, and so on. We also

had great blues djs like Scratch Phillips and Flin Forest.