Texas Mavericks - Who Are These Masked Men & The Masked Men Live

Sparks had contacts to Europe, to New Rose Records in France, and they really wanted an album by the Texas Mavericks. So they went into a studio and recorded one. It was titled "Who Are These Masked Men?" At that time Doug wanted to be somebody else, so they put on masks and made up some fantasy names. Thanks to his good contacts in Europe Sahm booked a European tour parallel to the album release, which also brought the quintet to Germany in 1987. "I do remember that we played in Hamburg, Berlin, Stuttgart, Bremen and probably several other cities. Mostly it was clubs and smaller halls - just the right size for this kind of music and we really enjoyed it." At that time Mike Buck sat at the drums because Frosty Smith did not want to tour. "I did not have a clue that Radio Bremen had recorded our show - I only know since the summer of 2016 when I was listening to the recordings for the first time," Sparks reveals. "And I am thrilled with it - I like these recordings better by far than the studio recordings because they have captured all what it was about in the band at that time: pure energy, enthusiasm and simply class." After the visit in Germany the chapter Texas Mavericks within the history of Doug Sahm was soon finished again. After all, the re-release of "Who Are These Masked Men?" with the Bremen concert as bonus CD brings back the memory of the man that many regard as the forefather of the Tex Mex scene.