Jimmie Vaughan honed his clean, note-driven guitar style with the Fabulous Thunderbirds in the ‘80s and together with his brother Stevie Ray, Robert Cray, and very few others brought a resurgence of blues to FM radio. Of course, Jimmie didn’t stay with that band long. He left to explore his own approach to the blues, one that often involved singer Lou Ann Barton and some horns to give it a ‘50s retro early R&B feel. That sound, sans Barton, is the essence of this new release, Baby, Please Come Home. It’s Jimmie sinning and playing guitar on all tracks, surrounded by his road band and good friends he’s often recorded with.
These are songs from artists that have inspired Vaughan form his earliest days of recording as a teenager in Dallas – Ft. Worth. These artists, some more recognizable than others, are Lloyd Price, Jimmy Donley, Lefty Frizzell, Richard Berry, Chuck Willis, Bill Doggett, T-Bone Walker, Etta James, Fats Domino, Gatemouth Brown, and Jimmy Reed (in order of the nine selections). It may seem curious to see a country artist like Frizzell on this list of blues and R&B artists, but Vaughan doesn’t always pay too much attention to labels. He believes music, and the blues especially is how it makes the listener feel.
Vaughan plays with four different units across these eleven tracks. On six of them he has long- time cohorts drummer George Rains, bassist Ronnie James, rhythm guitarist Billy Pitman, tenor saxophonist Greg Piccolo and baritone saxophonist Doug James. The band for “Just a Game” is the same except Mike Flanigin on the B3 instead of Pitman on rhythm guitar. Three tracks have his current touring unit augmented by a full horn section and two singers for “Be My Lovey Dovey” only. These players are Rains (who drums in all four units), Flanigin and Pitman, pianist and T. Jarrod Bonta. The five piece horn section is the three-piece Texas horns (Kaz Kazanoff, John Mills, Al Gomez) with trombonist Randy Zimmerman and trumpeter Jimmy Shortell. “Hold It” was recorded live at C-Boys Heart and Soul in Austin with just Rains and Flanigin.
Vaughan has always been widely respected for his T-Bone Walker influenced guitar playing and his vocals have, sometimes purposely, taken a back seat. Over the years though, his vocals have gotten stronger and songs like Walker’s ballad “I’m Still in Love With You” or the more raucous Fats Domino “So Glad” are quite good vocally. Just as the musicians he plays with have an innate feel for this throw-back sound, Vaughan knows his strengths and limitations. He says, “Sometimes you can sing and sometimes you can’t.” That’s an insight to the material he’s performing here; he’s in his vocal comfort zone, leaving just enough room for brief guitar or sax solos.
What comes through is what Vaughan likely intended, just a group of skilled players doing tunes and the type of music they love. It’s not about showboating at all. All extraneous matter has been effectively distilled and dismissed. This is tight, in-the-pocket playing, honoring the song, and letting the pure joy of the music flow effortlessly.
