The Fabulous Thunderbirds bring a southern flavour to the
Live From London series with their unique blend of blues and roadhouse rockabilly. Recorded at
London’s Camden Palace, the band treated the audience to a superb set of foot-tapping hits including One’s Too Many,
Scratch My Back and their Top 10 smash
Tuff Enuff.
Featuring original members
Kim Wilson and
Jimmie Vaughan, this high energy live concert captures the
Fabulous Thunderbirds in their heyday and demonstrates why the band are regarded as one of the best blues acts still performing today.
Sleeve
Notes:
The Fabulous Thunderbirds were formed in
1974, when guitarist Jimmie Vaughan teamed up with vocalist Kim Wilson, bass player
Keith Ferguson and drummer
Mike Buck.
Based in
Austin, Texas, the group quickly forged a promising reputation and strong following of fans as they sort to repopularise roadhouse blues and rock and roll for a new generation.
In
1979, they released their self titled debut
album through
Takoma Records, which caught the attention of major labels and lead to
Chrysalis signing them the following year. Their next two albums What’s
The World (
1980) and
Butt Rockin’ (
1981) were not huge commercial successes but they did cement the band’s reputation as a tight-sounding musical outfit and saw them perform as support acts for the
Rolling Stones and
Eric Clapton.
The lack of album sales for the fourth album
T-Bird Rhythm (
1982) ended the group’s relationship with Chrysalis and they were left without a recording contract for four years, until they eventually signed with
Epic in
1985. During this time Keith Ferguson left the band and was replaced by
Preston Hubbard.
Their collaboration with producer
Dave Edmunds on the
1986 release Tuff Enuff was their breakthrough album as it unexpectedly spawned a Top
10 single with the title track and the album reached number 13 in the charts, eventually going platinum.
Riding their success, the Fabulous Thunderbirds released
Hot Number in
1987, and although it initially sold well, is soon fell out of the charts. It also received strong criticism from the band’s core fans who felt the group had moved away from their blues roots, selling their souls in the pursuit of commercial recognition.
With the dawn of the
1990s, the band moved into a transitional stage with changing line-ups and members pursuing solo careers but they still managed to release a further two albums
Powerful Stuff (
1989) and
Walk That Walk,
Talk That Talk (
1991). Jimmie Vaughan left to join his brother
Stevie Ray and Kim Wilson recorded the solo albums Tigerman and
That’s Life before reassembling the band in
1994 for the release
Roll Of The
Dice and the
1997 title
High Water.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds continue to tour across
Europe and
America and will always be credited as a driving force in the revival of blues during the mid
1980s.
Artists:
Jimmie Vaughan - guitar, Kim Wilson - lead vocals / harmonica, Preston Hubbard - double bass / electric bass,
Francis Christina - drums / backing vocals
1. Can’t
Tear It Up Enuff
2. Scratch My Back
3.
Pretty Baby
4.
True Love
5. One’s Too Many
6.
Look At That, Look At That
7. She’s
Tuff 8.
My Babe
9. Full-Time
Lover
10. Tuff Enuff
11.
I Don’t Care
12.
Give Me All Your Lovin’
13. Two
Time My Lovin’
14.
Jimmy’s Song
- published: 16 Apr 2016
- views: 4