The Fabulous Thunderbirds – The Jimmie Vaughan Years
THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS
NEW BOX SET
THE JIMMIE VAUGHAN YEARS:
COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS 1978-1989
SET FOR RELEASE NOV. 7 VIA LAST MUSIC CO.
Includes Meticulously Restored
THE DOC POMUS RECORDINGS 1978;
Previously Unreleased Album Pre-Dates
The Fabulous Thunderbirds Debut Album
When JIMMIE VAUGHAN and KIM WILSON teamed up to form THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS in 1974, they created a band that helped shape the soul of modern Texas blues. Vaughan’s history with that storied band has finally been chronicled in The Jimmie Vaughan Years: Complete Studio Recordings 1978-1989, a comprehensive four-CD box set available Nov. 7, 2025, via The Last Music Co.
The Jimmie Vaughan Years captures Grammy-winning Vaughan’s blues journey after he cut his teeth in Austin’s late-60s blues scene, including an early recording produced by legendary American songwriter Doc Pomus and Joel Dorn. The result is a stunning collection, not only of Vaughan’s music, but also of The Fabulous Thunderbirds’, reflecting their impact on the art form.
“Dirty Work is Going On,” the Doc Pomus-produced single:
“It begins with 13 super-rare unreleased cuts from sessions the T-Birds did for Doc Pomus in 1978 for the potential album that never saw daylight, until now,” says Last Music founder Malcolm Mills. “The five-hour music compilation then follows their career through all the subsequent releases they made on Takoma, Chrysalis, and Epic until Jimmie left the band to pursue his solo career in 1989 — a total of eight albums.”
The Jimmie Vaughan Years includes: ‘The Doc Pomus Recordings 1978,’ The Fabulous Thunderbirds (‘Girls Go Wild’), ‘What’s The Word?,’ ‘Butt Rockin’,’ ‘T-Bird Rhythm,’ ‘Tuff Enuff,’ ‘Hot Number,’ and ‘Powerful Stuff.’ The box set is gorgeously packaged in the form of a fully illustrated 12-inch hardback book written and annotated by Bill Bentley, who was an eyewitness to the band’s emergence and rise to fame. His notes, combined with pages full of never-before-seen photos and images, bring to life the story of this band in their heyday.
“This is the only collection of its kind of Vaughan’s years in the Fabulous Thunderbirds and begins with an album that never saw a release,” Bentley says. “In the late 1970s, celebrated songwriter Doc Pomus heard about the Austin band and brought them to New York to record. Pomus felt something important was there in their music and wanted to share it with the world. Noted producer Joel Dorn signed on to participate and they recorded a full album. Unfortunately, it was an incredible set of songs that never saw the light of day.”
The band has seen many changes in personnel over the years since its formation in Austin, Texas. Yet the impact they made at the outset — fronted by the electrifying duo of Vaughan and Wilson — set the stage for enduring success, both for the T-Birds and Vaughan, over the last five decades.
Blues guitarists have been the foundation of American music for more than a hundred years, dating back to early acoustic musicians performing in the Deep South. The evolution of the blues has been one of the truly captivating legacies of popular music in America, from early jazz to even country and, to everlasting success, rock ’n’ roll. Vaughan helped build on that legacy by crafting a career from the singular sound that captivated him as a young Texan.
“On this new collection, the Doc Pomus album will be given flight,” Bentley writes. “It shows how sometimes the best gets lost, but with belief and, yes, good luck, the wrongs get righted. This is an incredible look at what the Fabulous Thunderbirds created at their very beginning, and how it was the kind of album meant to be heard, over 46 years later. In those earliest grooves of one of America’s great bands is the passion and power of what those who believe in the blues are able to create and finally fulfill. It’s the full circle of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and it ain’t nothin’ but fine, fine fine.”
Website: https://fabulousthunderbirds.com/
Disc 1, Tracks 1-13 previously unreleased
Disc 1, Tracks 14-24 released as The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Takoma TAK 7068, 1979
Disc 2, Tracks 1-12 released as What’s the Word – Takoma/Chrysalis CHR 1287, 1980
Disc 2, Tracks 13-23 released as Butt Rockin’ – Chrysalis CHR 1319, 1981
Disc 3, Tracks 1-11 released as T-Bird Rhythm – Chrysalis CHR 1395, 1982
Disc 3, Tracks 12-21 released as Tuff Enuff – CBS Associated FZ 40304, 1986
Disc 3, Track 22 and Disc 4, Tracks 1-9 released as Hot Number – CBS Associated FZ 40818, 1987
Disc 4, Tracks 10-19 released as Powerful Stuff – CBS Associated OZ 45094, 1989
Tracks:
CD 1
01. Dirty Work Is Going On
02. The Things I Used To Do
03. I Searched All Over
04. I Can’t Quit You Baby
05. I Got Eyes
06. This Should Go On Forever?
07. She’s Tough
08. Scratch My Back
09. She’s My Baby
10. Baby Please Don’t Lie To Me
11. Snake Hips
12. Pecker Wrecker
13. Love At First Sight
14. Wait On Time
15. Scratch My Back
16. Rich Woman
17. Full-Time Lover
18. Pocket Rocket
19. She’s Tuff
20. Marked Deck
21. Walkin’ To My Baby
22. Rock With Me
23. C-Boy’s Blues
24. Let Me In
CD 2
01. Runnin’ Shoes
02. You Ain’t Nothin’ But Fine
03. Low-Down Woman
04. Extra Jimmies
05. Sugar Coated Love
06. Last Call For Alcohol
07. The Crawl
08. Jumpin’ Bad
09. Learn To Treat Me Right
10. I’m A Good Man (If You Give Me A Chance)
11. Dirty Work
12. That’s Enough Of That Stuff
13. I Believe I’m In Love
14. One’s Too Many
15. Give Me All Your Lovin’
16. Roll, Roll, Roll
17. Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White
18. I Hear You Knocking
19. Tip On In
20. I’m Sorry
21. Mathilda
22. Tell Me Why
23. In Orbit
CD 3
01. Can’t Tear It Up Enuff
02. How Do You Spell Love?
03. You’re Humbuggin’ Me
04. My Babe
05. Neighbor Tend To Your Business
06. The Monkey
07. Diddy Wah Diddy
08. Lover’s Crime
09. Poor Boy
10. Tell Me (Pretty Baby)
11. Gotta Have Some / Just Got Some
12. Tuff Enuff
13. Tell Me
14. Look At That, Look At That
15. Two Time My Lovin’
16. Amnesia
17. Wrap It Up
18. True Love
19. Why Get Up
20. I Don’t Care
21. Down At Antones
22. Stand Back
CD 4
01. Hot Number
02. Wasted Years
03. It Comes To Me Naturally
40. Love In Common
05. How Do You Spell Love
06. Streets Of Gold
07. Sofa Circuit
08. Don’t Bother Tryin’to Steal Her Love
09. It Takes A Big Man To Cry
10. Rock This Place
11. Knock Yourself Out
12. Mistake Number 1
13. One Night Stand
14. Emergency
15. Powerful Stuff
16. Close Together
17. Now Loosin Up Baby
18. She’s Hot
19. Rainin’ In My Heart