Family Style by Vaughan Brothers (CD, Sep-1990, Epic Associated)

Musically, there are groups, individuals and "scenes" that perfectly click at one time or another. Starting in the mid 1970s Austin, Texas was just such a place.

Clifford Antone opened Antone's ("Austin's Home Of The Blues") and promptly installed a group of funky white boys who called themselves the Fabulous Thunderbirds as the house band. The T-Birds featured a slick & cool guitarist named Jimmie Vaughan who personified the "forget the trends, we're gonna do what we like" style of Texas Blues. His spanky, sparkling tone was most distinctive; he did more with a maple-necked Stratocaster and a Fender Super Reverb than anybody before (or after) could imagine.

Meanwhile, his little brother, Stevie Vaughan (he later placed his given middle name "Ray" on adverts and the like) had the unenviable task of following in the prior footsteps laid out by Jimmie. Enduring taunts of "play like your brother!", he responded by becoming wilder, louder and more over-the-top. His tough, pearly and punchy tone has been copied the world over to this day.

By the early eighties, both of the Vaughans had established their own distinctive styles, sounds and bands.

Amazingly, the Vaughan Brothers had never made an album together before this 1990 effort. They had recorded together--Jimmie was featured on SRV's "Couldn't Stand The Weather" & "Live Alive"--but "Family Style" was the first proper album they had made together. It was also a first in another respect; it was the first time most of the world had heard Jimmie sing. Forced into the vocal booth by producer Niles Rogers, he added crooning to his list of accomplishments.

Released shortly after SRV's death, this disc is a must-have for any Texas Blues fanatic. Although smoother and less fiery than the Vaughan Boys' prior (individual) discs, this recording added artistic dimensions not heard or known by most of their fans and observers.

Standout tracks:
"Hard To Be"--as Jimmie's spoken intro says, "Just roll 'til I feel somethin'..."

"White Boots"--Jimmie SINGS! Lazy/laid back lead vocals that sounds like a bluesified-countrified-funkifi​ed Texas Rat Pack-er coupled with SRV's tough and toneful lead licks.

"D/FW"--Texas instrumental blues/rock at its' finest, complete with a Leslie Cabinet-effected guitar, Stingin' Stratocaster Stabs (say that three times fast!) and another cool spoken intro, "HOWDY, FOLKS! WELCOME TO D/FW!"

"Hillbillies From Outer Space"--another instrumental; this one an upbeat, vaguely jazzical outing that heavily features a...well, what is that thing? What at first sounds to be a Hammond B-3 organ driving the tune is actually a lap steel guitar being played (by Jimmie!) through either a Leslie cabinet or a speeded-up phase-shifter.

"Long Way From Home" and "Telephone Song"--both could be refugees from a Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble disc, the latter with a heavy dose of wah pedal.

"Tick Tock"--this would have been a great track regardless, but SRV's quiet-but-impassioned vocals telling of a peaceful utopia in the context of his untimely passing makes it all the more poignant.

"Brothers"--the playful interchange of the two distinctly different stylists with admonitions such as, "Now, y'all share!" spoken by their "mama". Reports (myth or reality, you decide) that the boys would unplug the guitar cord and hand it to one another throughout the song abound. The track ends with her words, "I love you both..."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Hard to write an objective review of Stevie Ray Vaughn...but if you like his music, if you like Jimmie Vaughn, if you like rock, blues, rock-a-billy, if you like guitars played the way God intended them to be...you need this album. I see some of the reviews rate this as "soft" blues, whatever in the hell that means. Maybe not as bluesy as some, but these guys aren't "blues players" to begin with. Not exclusively. They draw from blues (of course!), but also from jazz, rock, western swing, American music in general. And they do one helluva job. Jimmy said on a compilation set of SRV "...the world misses his music, but I miss my brother..." This is a really good album. It's not too often you get two brothers so in step with each other. God bless Stevie Ray Vaughn, and his brother Jimmy.

I initially bought this CD because I like the tune "Hard to be".
Being from Texas and having seen SRV in small clubs in the 80's I am inclined to like his musical style. And being a guitar player from grade school on, I danced with some UGLY women just to get close to the bandstand so I could see this guy play his music.
I enjoy listening to this CD and think that you will too. This, however, is NOT a SRV CD. This is a melding of styles and while SRV does place his distinctive mark on some songs, the joining of the two brothers works out well. Jimmy has been a staple of the Austin music scene for many years, is a powerful performer and is a strong contributer to this CD.
I will say that I really like about 60% of the tunes, and the rest are good enough that When I'm driving I don't FF past them.
Happy Trails, Joe in Nacogdoches

This CD combines the Jimmy Vaughan and Stevie Ray Vaughan expertise of southern rock and blues. It's got some good blues riffing as well as some great toe-tapping songs, highly recommended!

Tell the community about your experience using the Family Style by Vaughan Brothers (CD, Sep-1990, Epic Associated). One of my favorite albums. Great blues