The Fabulous Thunderbirds - 2 albums: Butt Rockin' / Tacos Deluxe

Album: Butt Rockin'
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 40:18
Size: 92.3 MB
Styles: Roots rock, Electric Texas blues
Year: 1981/2001/2013
Art: Front

[2:26] 1. I Belive I'm In Love
[2:37] 2. One's Too Many
[2:45] 3. Give Me All Your Lovin'
[3:07] 4. Roll, Roll, Roll
[1:57] 5. Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White
[2:44] 6. I Hear You Knockin'
[3:39] 7. Tip On In
[2:48] 8. I'm Sorry
[3:15] 9. Mathilda
[2:24] 10. Tell Me Why
[4:05] 11. In Orbit
[3:13] 12. Found A New Love
[3:03] 13. I Got Eyes
[2:11] 14. Someday

As with most bands who reach back into styles more than a couple of decades old for their chief inspirations, the limitations of the Fabulous Thunderbirds' approach was becoming apparent by this, their third album. Granted they were still more competent and enthusiastic at their specialty than most of their competition, and they did expand their recorded sound a bit by using some members of Roomful of Blues on sax and piano.

Ultimately, though, it's an average if well-done set of roots rock with strong echoes of the blues, New Orleans R&B, and swamp-pop. The program's split between Kim Wilson originals (one of which, "One's Too Many," was co-written with Nick Lowe) and covers, including an unpredictable version of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White." Actually the highlight is the instrumental "In Orbit," which features excellent Little Walter-styled harmonica by Wilson. The 2000 CD reissue on Benchmark adds liner notes by producer Denny Bruce and three bonus tracks, although no details about the extra cuts are provided. ~Richie Unterberger

Butt Rockin'

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Album: Tacos Deluxe
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 39:11
Size: 89.7 MB
Styles: Electric Texas blues
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[1:46] 1. You Ain't Nothin' But Fine
[2:40] 2. Marked Deck
[4:40] 3. Wait On Time
[2:57] 4. She's Tuff
[2:43] 5. Can't Tear It Up Enuff
[2:37] 6. One's Too Many
[2:26] 7. I Belive I'm In Love
[3:50] 8. Scratch My Back
[3:15] 9. Low-Down Woman
[2:22] 10. My Babe
[5:41] 11. I Can't Quit You Baby
[2:59] 12. C-Boy's Blues
[1:08] 13. Los Fabulosos Thunderbirds

Although on the short side at 13 tracks and just under 40 minutes, this remains a good collection of some of the Texas band's best work for the Chrysalis label. Most of these sides have already appeared on the well-chosen but unfortunately deleted The Essential Fabulous Thunderbirds. So if you already own that -- or most of their first four albums -- it's up to you whether to spring for this because it includes two previously unreleased live performances (in marginal fidelity) and a few alternate versions. The T-Birds' live take of Otis Rush's "I Can't Quit You Baby" absolutely smokes, with Jimmie Vaughan turning in a stunning solo, and the concert version of "Wait on Time" is also quite lively. Still, unless you're a die-hard fan, there's too much redundancy here. Plus, this really should be about twice as long. But if you are new to the Thunderbirds and just want a sampler of their early rocking blues (the collection stops at 1982 when they moved to Epic, where they enjoyed a few high-profile hits), this'll do nicely until a more substantial, hopefully multi-label recap of this great band comes along. ~Hal Horowitz

Tacos Deluxe

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