This remains a stellar introduction to Doug Sahm's style. His recording career started before 1968, but he found a temporary home (one of many) among the San Francisco hippie set, and the years surrounding 1970 were highly fruitful for him and his band of San Antonio cohorts. “Mendocino,” “Texas Me,” “Nuevo Laredo," and “At the Crossroads” are immortal songs—more rootsy and eccentric than anything by the so-called psychedelic generation and yet wholly definitive of that era’s emphasis on individualism and creative freedom. The middle of the collection highlights some of the gorgeous country tunes that Sahm penned during this period (“I Wanna Be Your Mama Again,” “Be Real”). The last half focuses on the early '70s, at which point Sahm diversified his sound even further, doing great work in big-band R&B (“Papa Ain't Salty”), blues (“Westside Blues Again”), hard rock (“I’m Not That Kat Anymore”), and Tejano (“Michoacan”).