I love the Fabulous Thunderbirds--they are a criminally overlooked source for some great blues tunes. Kim Wilson is (arguably) the best blues harp player ever in the history of ever.

Their early albums (sometimes described as the "first fabulous four") are amongst the best "white" blues band recordings ever. I have nothing against their three "commercial" albums ("Tuff Enuff", "Hot Number" and "Powerful Stuff"), but those are really not their best albums.

Even later, when Jimmie Vaughan left, they made some good discs; "Walk that Walk, Talk That Talk" was good (Duke Robillard and Kid Bangham), but "Roll Of the Dice" from 1995 (Kid Ramos played guitar) was possibly their best album (and the best album by any artist in 1995), outside of their early (pre-Tuff Enuff) albums...the song "Mean Love" is (by itself) worth the total price of admission!

Even recently, with a totally new lineup, they have put out a disc called "Thunderbirds!" and if has several "heck yeah!" moments.

I think three things have held them back, as far as not being more popular nowadays: "Tuff Enuff", "Wrap It Up" and "Powerful Stuff"; although none of these are bad songs, they really aren't what the band is/was all about...but since those are their biggest hits, people assume that everything is going to sound like those three songs.

What are your favorite Fabulous Thunderbirds songs or memories?

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Iv'e only seen youtube vids of them, and i love em'! I imagine catching their live show must be awesome!

_________________
I believe in Christianity as i believe that the sun has risen. not only because i see it, but because by it, i see everything else. C.S. Lewis

Yeah I really like the "Early" Birds... and enough can not be said about Kim Wilson

_________________
Hey, Boy Blue is back!

"Why Get Up" is a song that I cover and it always goes over great.

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Iv'e seen them with Ramo's back in the day and he did not disappoint ............Smokin player http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiRh2hjHcno .............. Mike

_________________
The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

I used to see Kid Ramos play with the James Harmon Blues Band in Orange County, CA. I remember he had a smokin' Blue and White '56 Chevy.

I have been down with the T-Birds since the first record.

Hey Screamin' Armadillo -
I posted this on Saturday, but in light of your post I guess it's worth copying/pasting as a reply:

Saw the Fabulous Thunderbirds last nite......(Friday) in NYC at City Winery. Excellent show (a tad short at an hour and a half, but no complaints) from an excellent band. Kim Wilson is a fine singer and plays harmonica in the true, gritty style of the Chicago greats. And he knows how to put together a band - the line-up features guitarists Johnny Moeller and Mike Keller, who complemented each other well. Moeller is now right up there in my list of favorites - raw, passionate, and in the moment - while Keller's playing was smooth and stinging. And they made a great team; at no time were they playing the same thing. One would play single notes, the other chords, or one high up on the neck and the other low. Nice. The set was mostly original stuff, in the blues/rock/soul/R&B tradition, and all the guys got ample opportunity to shine. It was, unfortunately, quite empty in there; I was fortunate to have found out the band was playing just by chance.
Definitely worth checking out, IMHO. Oh, and Keller was playing a blonde tele all night; Moeller had a hollowbody for most of the night and a tele for the encore. I could swear I saw a strat while the equipment was being set up, but it didn't make an appearance.

I'm a big fan of the Fab Tund Birds. Tuff Enuff was one of the first songs I learned how to play. I usually sing that karaokee too. ha ha.

_________________
Keep rockin'

I've been hearing about the Fabulous Thunderbirds constantly since my blues/SRV craze began about a year and a half ago, but I was slow to really listen to them. People around here play tons of Fabulous Thunderbirds songs out at blues jams, so I started learning it that way. About a month ago I got my parent's old turntable and stereo system up and running and found a couple of Thunderbirds records at a flea market, in addition to one my parents already had. I have the debut album (it's still sealed so I went ahead and downloaded the album off iTunes so that I didn't have to open it), Butt Rockin' and Tuff Enuff. I really like the first one, I'm learning a lot of songs off it.

_________________
Website: http://www.rebeccalaird.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccalairdmusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beckslaird
Instagram: http://instagram.com/beckslaird

I agree; I saw them last summer (City of Bedford Labor Day Blues & BBQ Festival) and they rocked...they kind of had that "ancient art of weaving" thing that Keef & Ronnie do so well.

The first time I saw Mike Keller was on the Double Trouble "Been a Long Time" tour...he must have been about 19 or so (he looked 12!). What I liked about him is the fact that he played all those SRV songs "properly"--meaning, he hit all the main riffs & themes to the songs dead on, but he didn't play them note-for-note. He played them like he owned them, but he was respectful to the material and to whose shoes he was trying to fill for the evening. He did just as well for the new material off the DT cd. What was doubly cool was the fact that his setup was just a Strat, a Hot Rod Deluxe, an Ibanez TS10 Tubescreamer (the one everybody hates and/or ignores) and an MXR Phase 90, yet he still nailed the SRV tone people spend so much time and money trying to "find"...maybe they should realize that tone is at the end of your arms .

Keller is a humble guy, too; both times I've seen him play--with Double Trouble and with the Fabulous Thunderbirds--I got to speak to him, and seemed genuinely surprised that anyone really cared about him. I asked when he was going to make a solo disc and he just laughed.

I like Johnny Moeller as well (his brother is playing drums with the Fabulous Thunderbirds!); I remember them when they were barely old enough to drive and they had the band "Holy Moellers"...great unknown band from Dallas area.

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals