Fabulous Thunderbirds – The Jimmie Vaughan Years – Complete Studio Recordings (1978-1989) (Last Music Company)
The Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American treasure. Their unique blend of blues and rock, with an emphasis on danceability, catapulted them from the clubs of Austin, Texas to worldwide fame. The Jimmie Vaughan Years – The Complete Studio Recordings, 1978-1989, is a new, 4-CD set that collects, for the first time, the seven albums the band recorded with Vaughan on lead guitar, along with a recently-discovered series of recordings the band laid down with legendary songwriter Doc Pomus, that actually predate their first album.
Disc one opens with the Pomus tracks – a few of which snuck out on the Jimmie Vaughan Story box set back in 2021. Here’s a baker’s dozen tracks showing off the early fire that this band was emitting. The tracks are of surprisingly good quality – sounding, from the drum sound, like live, in the studio performances. There is a little tape hiss, but otherwise very good.
“Dirty Work is Going On” is the first single issued to promote the box, and it’s a horn-driven, mid-tempo burner. Kim Wilson’s voice has a timbre here that would deepen with age, while Jimmie Vaughan rips off a scorching solo. Also good is “The Things That I Used to Do,” where Vaughan echoes Wilson’s vocals, and “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” showing how Wilson really could sound like Sonny Boy Williamson.
“I Got Eyes” is a blues shuffle with cool lyrics that the band would revisit four decades later on their 2024 album, Struck Down. While “She’s Tough” is the first time the band would tackle the “tuff” topic. “Snake Hips” is a very gritty track featuring just Vaughan and Wilson trading licks. While this collection puts Vaughan’s name in the title, let’s not forget that Kim Wilson was an absolute force of nature. “Pecker Wrecker” is a 4 1/2 minute showcase of his mastery of the harmonica.
“Wait on Time” signals a step up, both sonically and cohesively, the band sounds here like a well-oiled machine, as the lead off track from their 1979 debut, Girls Go Wild, while “Scratch My Back” has that definitive T-Bird groove. There’s still room for improvement here, as “Rich Woman” is pretty formulaic. “Marked Deck” is also a straight blues, but it’s more spirited, featuring a growled Wilson vocal. Then, when the solo starts, Vaughan dials in an extra dirty setting. Even better is the stop/start shuffle of “Walkin’ to My Baby.” “C-Boy Blues” is a great showcase for both Wilson and Vaughan, over a simmering, slinky beat.
1980’s What’s the Word starts with a maturity in “Runnin’ Shoes.” The band is developing their own sound, a blend of traditional blues, rock, with some spices from South of the Border thrown in for good measure. “You Ain’t Nothing But Fine” is a pounding rocker that ends too soon, while “Extra Jimmies” is a juiced-up boogie showcase for Vaughan, but just listen to the way the bass and drums propel things along.
“Sugar Coated Love” is a killer tune, I just don’t like the unnecessary echo on it, yet “Last Call For Alcohol,” another killer instrumental, sounds fine in this setting. “That’s Enough of That Stuff” ends the album off on a high note.
Another year, another album, this time, 1981’s Butt Rockin’, leading off with “I Believe I’m in Love,” which has a great groove, but the production is a little too glossy with not enough bite. “One’s Too Many” sounds similar to what brother Stevie was delving into at that same time, right down to the tremolo guitar. ”Roll Roll Roll” is great party rocking, but some of the rough edges of the band have been smoothed over. “I’m Sorry” sees the guys catching fire, and Vaughan turns in a stinging solo.
“Matilda” is one of their finest originals; the swinging ballad would become a staple of their live sets. “In Orbit” features Wilson’s harp front and center, on this grovvin’ instrumental.
Things start heating up with disc 3, and the album T-Bird Rhythm, produced by Nick Lowe. “Can’t Tear it Up Enuff” shows the progress right away. This is butt-shakin’ music. The band has taken everything they learned from all the blues legends they shared the stage with, and distilled it into something completely unique. Wilson’s vocals are much more mature here, in complete command of the proceedings.
“How Do You Spell Love?” has a funky baseline and a killer hook, while “You’re Humbuggin’ Me” lays down a dirty groove. There’s a air to these tracks, they breathe better than any previous album. “My Babe” is a furious rocker, while the tremolo-guitar of “Neighbor, Tend to Your Business” adds some special sauce to this mid tempo number.
The second half of the album kinda loses a little steam. “The Monkey” is a little goofy, and the production is kinda echoey and gimmicky, but things get back on track with the cover of “Diddy Wah Diddy.” “Poor Boy” is a great blues shuffle, but “Gotta Have Some – Just Got Some” just kinda lacks intensity.
T-Bird Rhythm should’ve been the band’s big break, but it flopped. It would be four years before their next album, but it would be the big break the band was looking for. Teaming with Lowe’s buddy, Dave Edmunds, they finally found the right concoction.
Tuff Enuff opens with the title track, and the band sounds absolutely monsterous. The guitars are meaty, the drums are loud, and there’s clever synths that just sweeten things. When the key changes, Vaughan’s guitar sounds like it’s going to the moon (to paraphrase one of the lines in the song). It is their finest single, and it still sounds fresh.
“Tell Me” features some great harmonica playing and a killer, baritone guitar that Edmunds was famous for. “Look at That, Look at That” is a pounding rocker, but the band shows some depth with the surprising ballad, “Two Time My Lovin’” while “Amnesia” features a surprising accordion.
The Sam & Dave cover, “Wrap It Up,” actually outdoes the original in fire – the track is propelled by a tight rhythm and guitar accents. Everything here works, “True Love” is juiced up blues rock, while “Why Get Up” is a mid tempo shuffle, but everything has that insistent beat that just makes you want to move your body. The album ends with a nod to the club that was so influential to the T-Birds and the entire Austin scene, “Down at Antone’s.” The disc ends with “Stand Back,” which kinds sounds like “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up” fused together.
Hot Number was the followup, and it has some good moments – the title track is a decent rocker, while “Wasted Tears” is a uncharacteristic ballad, and “It Comes Naturally” is a boogie number, reminiscent of Lowe and Edmunds’ band, Rockpile. But, the dance beat reworking on “How Do You Spell Love” is not an improvement. And, the second half of the record just kinda falls flat.
Powerful Stuff ups the ante, turning the guitars up to ten, and adding some clever sound effects, like on “Knock Yourself Out.” Yet, much of the album suffers from so-so songwriting. A song like “Emergency” just should rock your socks off, and it’s just ok.
“Powerful Stuff” is killer single, with a dark and dirty groove, while “Close Together” kinda sounds like a slicker CCR. “She’s Hot” is a great rocker. The album actually gets better on the second half, with “Raining in My Heart” a highlight, with its mid tempo shuffle.
The entire set comes housed in a hard back book, with a treasure trove of classic photos, plus an essay on the band, walking you through, album by album. A minor quibble is the absence of a listing of the tracks on each disc, save for very small print on the page that houses each disc.
Kudos to the Last Music Company for wrangling all this together. The Pomus recordings are a revelation. The other seven albums were for several different record labels (Takoma, Chrysalis, and Epic) creating a potentially impossible licensing situation that they got straightened out.
Taken as a whole, Fabulous Thunderbirds – The Jimmie Vaughan Years – The Complete Studio Recordings is a fantastic listen, front to back, showing the evolution of one of the greatest American bands. —Tony Peters