Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan had a great blues band when they were both in The Fabulous Thunderbirds. After the departure of Vaughan, the band carried on, but it has really become a vehicle for Wilson. Prior to the recording of this King Biscuit Flower Hour show in 1986, the Fab T-Birds had persevered through four critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums…entire summary
Fran Cristina - drums
Preston Hubbard - bass
Jimmie Vaughan - guitar, vocals
Kim Wilson - vocals, harmonica
Chuck Leavell - keyboards
Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan had a great blues band when they were both in The Fabulous Thunderbirds. After the departure of Vaughan, the band carried on, but it has really become a vehicle for Wilson. Prior to the recording of this King Biscuit Flower Hour show in 1986, the Fab T-Birds had persevered through four critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums before striking gold this same year with Tuff Enuff.
This show represents the band at its creative zenith, and is one of the best examples of how blues, rock and R&B were fused continually into a cohesive musical showcase. Featuring most of the Tuff Enuff LP, this show opens with "Can't Tear It Up Enough," and never lets up until after The Fabulous Thunderbirds rocked the house significantly and ended with "The Crawl."
Originally formed in 1974 by Jimmie Vaughan and Kim Wilson, the group quickly established itself as one of the premiere bands on the U.S. blues bar circuit. The original version of the band featured female blues star, Lou Ann Barton, but she left before the band really got rolling. They recorded initially for Takoma records and eventually Chrysalis, and were one of the first bands to break out of the Texas blues circuit and cross over to a more mainstream audience. Much of that success came in 1986, when four years after being dropped by Chrysalis, they convinced Epic Records to sign them and bring in producer Dave Edmunds, a star in his own right. Edmunds had successfully transformed the Stray Cats into MTV superstars just a few years earlier.
The result was Tuff Enuff, the hit album and single that provided other follow-up hits such as their version of Sam & Dave's "Wrap It Up." This recording was made as the group was promoting Tuff Enuff, and was recorded at the legendary Capitol Theater, the main venue used by promoter John Scher in the '70s and '80s.
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