(Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr.)
DISCOGRAPHY 1994-2023 (13CD/DVD)
Several notable blues guitarists have had a significant influence on
Vaughan's playing style, including the "Three Kings" (Albert, Freddie,
and B.B. King) and Johnny "Guitar" Watson.
Jimmie Vaughan was born on March 20, 1951, in Dallas County, Texas,
United States, to parents Jimmie Lee Vaughan and Martha Jean Cook.
Raised in Dallas, Texas, Vaughan attended LV. Stockard Junior High
where on February 3, 1965, he first played before an audience in a
group named The Pendulums, or the JSP's, along with Phil Campbell and
Ronny Sterling. Vaughan moved to Austin in the late 1960s and began
playing with such musicians as Paul Ray and WC Clark.
In 1969, Vaughan's group opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience in
Fort Worth, Texas. It was at this show that Vaughan lent Jimi Hendrix
his Vox Wah-wah pedal which Hendrix ended up breaking. In return,
Hendrix gave Vaughan his own touring Wah-wah pedal.
Jimmie Vaughan developed his own easily recognized personal style. He
formed the band The Fabulous Thunderbirds with lead singer and harpist
Kim Wilson, bassist Keith Ferguson, and drummers Mike Buck and Fran
Christina. (The original Fabulous Thunderbirds were all protégés of
Austin, Texas blues club owner Clifford Antone). The band's first four
albums, released between 1979 and 1983, are ranked among the most
important 'white blues' recordings. These early albums did not sell
well, so the band was left without a recording contract for a couple
of years (during the time when Vaughan's younger brother achieved
commercial success).
During this time, Vaughan played lead guitar on fellow Texas blues
musician Bill Carter's 1985 album, Stompin' Grounds, also playing
Carter's most well-known song, "Willie The Wimp", which would be
introduced a year later to Stevie Ray Vaughan and played on live
albums.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds got a new contract in 1986, and made several
albums with a more commercially popular sound and production style.
Vaughan left the band in 1990, and made his only "duo album", Family
Style, with his younger brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Before the
album's release, Stevie Ray died in a helicopter crash along with
three members of Eric Clapton's entourage in East Troy, Wisconsin, on
August 27, 1990. The album was released a month after the accident.
The artist listed on the album was "The Vaughan Brothers". The album
was light, blues-influenced rock, with Jimmie Vaughan singing on
several tracks.