Fabulous Thunderbirds

The Fabulous Thunderbirds play an energized fusion of blues, rock & roll, and R&B that sounds like it came straight out of a Texas roadhouse. During their heyday in the early '80s, the band was one of the most popular attractions on the blues bar circuit, cutting no-frills albums like 1979's The Fabulous Thunderbirds and 1980's What's the Word. This eventually led to a breakthrough to the pop audience with their 1986 album Tuff Enuff. The mass success didn't last too long, and founding member Jimmie Vaughan left in 1990, but under the leadership of harmonica ace and vocalist Kim Wilson, the Fabulous Thunderbirds remained one of the most popular blues acts in America during the '90s and onward.

The Fab T-Birds were considered the best bar band to come out of Austin, Texas, in the late '70s. Which is saying a lot, since we're talking about a musical hotbed. Frontman and harmonica player Kim Wilson and Stevie Ray Vaughan's older brother, Jimmie Vaughan, melded together two of Austin's favorite sounds–blues and rock–scoring a major-label deal and eventually becoming the only band to be produced, at separate times, by both Rockpile leaders, Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. You won't find the Edmunds stuff here, nor "Tough Enough," their one Top 40 hit. Still, these tracks are taken from the group's first three Chrysalis LPs as well as their Tacoma indie-label debut, the albums most aficionados still consider their best.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds play an energized fusion of blues, rock & roll, and R&B that sounds like it came straight out of a Texas roadhouse. During their heyday in the early '80s, the band was one of the most popular attractions on the blues bar circuit, cutting no-frills albums like 1979's The Fabulous Thunderbirds and 1980's What's the Word. This eventually led to a breakthrough to the pop audience with their 1986 album Tuff Enuff. The mass success didn't last too long, and founding member Jimmie Vaughan left in 1990, but under the leadership of harmonica ace and vocalist Kim Wilson, the Fabulous Thunderbirds remained one of the most popular blues acts in America during the '90s and onward.

Tuff Enuff is a 1986 studio album by Texas-based blues rock and rockabilly band The Fabulous Thunderbirds which pointed the band in a more mainstream direction. The single, "Tuff Enuff" was featured in the films Gung Ho, Tough Guys, as was the follow-up single "Wrap It Up". It has also been played a number of times on the sitcom Married… with Children. "Tuff Enuff" remains the band's only Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Roll of the Dice is a 1995 studio album by Texas-based blues rock band The Fabulous Thunderbirds. The Fabulous T-Birds' second album without Jimmie Vaughan is an improvement over Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk, featuring a tighter, more focused band and hotter playing.

Guitarist Jimmie Vaughan formed the Fabulous Thunderbirds with vocalist/harpist Kim Wilson in 1974. With their fusion of blues, rock & roll, and R&B, the Fabulous Thunderbirds helped popularize roadhouse Texas blues with a mass audience in the '80s and, in the process, they helped kick-start a blues revival during the mid-'80s.
From the opening swampy piano runs, crispy funk lead riffs, earthy and raunchy harmonica runs, and Kim Wilson's down-to-the-bone soul growls on the Motown classic "(I Know I'm) Losing You" to the bright Stax-inflected guitars and horns of the Eddie Floyd classic "Never Found Me a Girl," The Fabulous Thunderbirds take flight on their 2016 album, Strong Like That…