played with bandleader Adolph Hofner, mentored him. The music of Lefty Frizzell, Howlin' Wolf, Lonesome Sundown, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, T-Bone Walker, Floyd Tillman, and San Antonio musicians Johnny Owen and Ricky Aguirre influenced him during his teenage years. Sahm enjoyed success performing in San Antonio nightclubs, as he played a blend of music that consisted of rhythm and blues with the addition of the West Side tenor saxophone player Eracleo "Rocky" Morales. The "West Side Sound", characteristic of San Antonio, consisted of a blend of genres: country music, conjunto, rhythm and blues, polka and rock and roll. Meanwhile, Sahm performed on guitar six nights a week with Jimmy Johnson's band. Saxophonist Spot Barnett invited him to play at the Ebony rhythm and blues club. Sahm fronted three bands: The Pharaohs, The Dell-Kings and The Markays. He released the song "Crazy Daisy" (1959), and he had a local hit with "Why Why Why" (1960) on Renner Records. Sahm graduated from high school the same year. He had another local hit with "Crazy, Crazy Feeling" (1961); "Just A Moment" (1961) and "Lucky Me" (1963) followed. By 1964, Sahm was dropped by the Renner label and he tried to convince Huey P. Meaux to sign him. Meaux, the owner of SugarHill Recording Studios, was enjoying success with Dale and Grace and Barbara Lynn, and turned Sahm down. The Sir Douglas Quintet Meaux produced songs that appeared on the music charts in the 1960s, but because of Beatlemania and the British Invasion, his records stopped selling well. Determined to find the reason for the commercial success of The Beatles sound, Meaux said he purchased several of their records and rented three rooms at the Wayfarer Hotel in San Antonio. According to his account, he drank a case of Thunderbird wine in the process. Meaux felt the Beatles' songs shared a common ground with traditional two-step Cajun music. He called Sahm and asked him to write songs based on that style, and to let his hair grow. Sahm and Meyers appeared with The Dave Clark Five in San Antonio, where they were featured on the program, with their respective bands, as the opening acts. Sahm appeared with the Markays, and Meyers the Goldens. Meyers attributed Meaux's interest in recording Sahm and himself to their performance at the concert. Sahm put together a band with Meyers (keyboard), Frank Morin (saxophone), Harvey Kagan (bass) and Johnny