<back - THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS - Jimmie Vaughan formed The Fabulous Thunderbirds with vocalist/harpist Kim Wilson in 1974; in addition to Vaughan and Wilson, the band's original lineup included bassist Keith Ferguson and drummer Mike Buck. Initially, the group also featured vocalist Lou Ann Barton, but left the band after its formation. The Fab-Tbirds became the house band for the Austin Texas club Antone's.

By the end of the 1970's, they had built a strong fan base, which led to their first recording for Takoma Records. In 1979, The Fabulous Thunderbirds released their debut on Takoma entitled Fabulous Thunderbirds-Girls Go Wild. The recording attracted the attention of Chrysalis Records and signed the T-Birds to a multiple recording contract. What's the Word, was released in 1980 and was followed in 1981 by Butt Rockin'. By the time The Fabulous Thunderbirds had recorded their 1982 T-Bird Rhythm, drummer Mike Buck was replaced by Fran Christina. They opened shows for the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, and had been critically well-received. During this time, bassist Keith Ferguson left the band and was replaced by Preston Hubbard, from Roomful of Blues. In 1985, the T-Birds finally landed another record contract, signing with Epic/CBS. Their manager, Mark Proct had arranged for the them to record their 5th album with producer Dave Edmunds in his UK studio. Entitled Tuff Enuff, it was released in 1986 on CBS/Epic Records and became a major hit. The title track, was released as a single and its accompanying video (produced by LivinBlues webmaster Frank Garcia), received heavy rotation on MTV, which helped the song reach the American Top 10. Sam & Dave's song Wrap It Up, was the album's second single and it became a Top 10 album track. The success of these 2 singles sent the album to #13 on the charts for that year. Tuff Enuff went gold and then to platinum status for sales in the USA. Later that year in 1986, the T-Birds won the Blues Foundation's WC Handy Award for Best Blues Band and the music video producer, Frank Garcia received the Blues Foundation's Keepin' the Blues Alive' Award for the MTV video Tuff Enuff. Then in 1989 Jimmie Vaughan left the T-Birds to play and record with his brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Following Stevie Ray's tragic death in 1990, Jimmie pursued a solo career. The band replaced Jimmie with Duke Robillard and Kid Bangham. The first album from the new lineup, Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk, was released in 1991. In 1993, Duke Robillard departed to pursue a solo career and Kim Wilson released his own solo recordings.  MP3- The Crawl |