1-1 1 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 456 1-3 WHEREAS, The Texas Senate is proud to recognize The Texas 1-4 Tornados, who have brought brilliant musical entertainment to 1-5 Texas and to the world; and 1-6 WHEREAS, The original idea for the Tornados came from 1-7 Doug Sahm, who brought the group into existence in 1989; members 1-8 of the original group, besides Doug Sahm, were Augie Meyers, 1-9 Freddy Fender, and Flaco Jimenez; they first played together at 1-10 Slim's 303 Club, owned by Boz Scaggs, in San Francisco in 1-11 December, 1989; and 1-12 WHEREAS, As individuals who composed the band, each player 1-13 had years of musical working experience: Doug Sahm, the musical 1-14 genius who contributed his enthusiasm, knowledge of musical 1-15 styles, and skill as a stellar guitar player; Augie Meyers, 1-16 lifelong friend of Doug, who played guitar, accordion, and 1-17 keyboards; Freddy Fender, vocalist and guitarist, who had already 1-18 had two successful careers as a Hispanic pop star and a country 1-19 pop star; and Flaco Jimenez, an outstanding conjunto accordionist 1-20 who is still winning Grammy Awards; and 1-21 WHEREAS, Individually, each member of the Tornados has had a 1-22 successful career on his own; together, they made a unique sound 2-1 composed of country and western two-steps, waltzes and polkas, 2-2 romantic ballads, and Hispanic-flavored rock and roll; after 2-3 signing a recording contract in 1990, the first record the group 2-4 made, "The Texas Tornados," contained two songs which did extremely 2-5 well on the charts; and 2-6 WHEREAS, While stretching its musical boundaries, the group 2-7 maintained a cohesive identity in its recordings and appearances; 2-8 next, in 1991, they recorded "Zone of Our Own," which was met with 2-9 great popular acclaim; the group then made a hit record roughly 2-10 every two years; the last CD the group recorded was "Live from the 2-11 Limo, Volume 1," and the group included Ernie Durawa, Speedy Sparks, 2-12 Louie Ortega, Max Baca, and Oscar Tellez; and 2-13 WHEREAS, Throughout the 1990s, The Texas Tornados performed 2-14 many times in Europe; they appeared at places as far away as 2-15 Australia, New Zealand, and Japan; the Tornados made appearances 2-16 regularly at Farm Aid benefits, innumerable state fairs, the 2-17 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and in 1997, they were invited 2-18 to perform at an inaugural ball for President Clinton; and 2-19 WHEREAS, Always in demand for live performances, the group 2-20 spent many months each year touring; after the untimely death of 2-21 Doug Sahm, in November, 1999, The Texas Tornados disbanded; now, 2-22 therefore, be it 2-23 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 2-24 77th Legislature, hereby pay tribute to the artistic excellence 3-1 of The Texas Tornados and wish the remaining members success in 3-2 all their endeavors; and, be it further 3-3 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for 3-4 them as an expression of the highest regard of the Texas Senate. 3-5 Armbrister 3-6 ______________________________________ 3-7 President of the Senate 3-8 I hereby certify that the above 3-9 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 3-10 on March 15, 2001. 3-11 ______________________________________ 3-12 Secretary of the Senate 3-13 ______________________________________ 3-14 Member, Texas Senate