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

I'll get straight to the point - If you are a fan of either of the Vaughan brothers, this CD is a great addition - a must purchase.

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-funkified 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.

SRV's MUSIC IS AWESOME!! LOVE ALL HIS MUSIC, AND HAVE ALL HIS CD's! THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER LIKE STEVIE AGAIN...ALTHOUGH MANY WILL TRY, BUT NONE WILL BE QUITE THE SAME. HIS MUSIC TOUCHES THE SOUL.

Great music to cruise the highway with. Nothing can go wrong when you are listening and driving to this album

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!