Friday, October 31, 2025
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
JIMMY VAUGHAN WAS OUT THERE COOKING UP SOME TEXAS BLUES
One of the first blues albums which ever grabbed me as it were in the late 90`s when I first started liking the stuff was the 1998 JIMMY VAUGHAN release OUT THERE, Jimmy being the older and probably what you'd say less adventurous and innovative brother of the late blues guitar legend STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN.
Of all the albums of Jimmy's I have listened to only one for my liking is comparable to his blues virtuoso brother who created classic texas blues epics like TEXAS FLOOD, LITTLE WING, PRIDE AND JOY and COULDN'T STAND THE WEATHER, the latter being the title song off what is regarded by most as STV's very best effort.
Jimmy put in some storming performances in the 80`s while a member of the FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS, a more rock blues orientated outfit who created some classic ballsy blues rock with rock'n'roll nuances, perfect examples being the songs LOOK AT THAT, LOOK AT THAT, TUFF ENUF and ROCK THIS JOINT.
Certainly by the time 1998 come around Jimmy had become more of an introspective musician in the aftermath of SRV's 1990 death, OUT THERE lacked the party atmosphere of his work with the FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS but it proved to be his most innovative release, particularly evident on the title track and opening track LIKE A KING, the latter song being tweaked in the studio by legendary funk rock producer NILE RODGERS.
Besides this song, Jimmy produced the rest of the album himself. THE IRONIC TWIST is a blistering instrumental, POSITIVELY MEANT TO BE is a very good attempt at recording a blues ballad with an intentional mono 4-track feel, while ASTRAL PROJECTION BLUES gives full vent to Jimmy's dazzling and underrated telecaster showmanship.
There are a couple of weak tracks, like KINKY WOMAN, but out of the ten tracks, six are certainly up there with SRV. Without a doubt, LIKE A KING and OUT THERE are the cream of the crop.
CRYING IN THE CHAPEL THAT MAKES YOU FEEL HAPPY (FROM 2011)
At the very beginning of the 90`s, a lot of white soul and synth-pop acts were enjoying popular appeal unlike what they ever had. 1990 was the cross over-year between the glam metal of the late 80`s which had taken over the airwaves in `88 and `89 and the advent of Seattle grunge which brought on the alternative rock revolution starting in late `91.
But for all of 1990, and at least the first 6 months of 1991, the music which the radio stations were promoting was very much contemporary versions of the teeny bopper pop and rock music which had saturated the airwaves for the previous ten years, as well even AOR, or adult orientated rock, was permitted to become a bit more rock heavy and genuinely rebellious in this brief window in time between the hair band music of the 80`s and the coming of Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
As far as white soul goes, Mick Hucknell of Simply Red had made it a commercially successful artform, even if he and his band were a bit insipid.
But for all of 1990, and at least the first 6 months of 1991, the music which the radio stations were promoting was very much contemporary versions of the teeny bopper pop and rock music which had saturated the airwaves for the previous ten years, as well even AOR, or adult orientated rock, was permitted to become a bit more rock heavy and genuinely rebellious in this brief window in time between the hair band music of the 80`s and the coming of Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
As far as white soul goes, Mick Hucknell of Simply Red had made it a commercially successful artform, even if he and his band were a bit insipid.
Not that I think Simply Red is rubbish, it is fantastic music to seduce a woman with, and if you are like me and you can't get Teegie Lavender in the sack and you only have a dog for good company, then Simply Red is still great background music to drink alone with, with or without your mutt.
In early 1990, a bloke who had been the lead singer of australian band The Rockmelons in the mid 80`s, a band which excelled in producing crisp and catchy pop rock, released a neat little song which occasionally gets airplay on the dial but to me was one of so many songs from `90 that qualifies as a lost treasure.
The artist is Peter Blakely and the song is `Crying In The Chapel`. For all of its cliche production dynamics and pop disposability, the song was genuinely uplifting and should have been the start of something even bigger for the former Rockmelon.
Sadly it seems that one hit single was all he
had up his sleeve, although it should be noted Blakely did have a couple of minor hits in the late 80`s after his exit from his former band.
had up his sleeve, although it should be noted Blakely did have a couple of minor hits in the late 80`s after his exit from his former band.
I know of so many good gritty Australian rock stars who got squeezed in this commercially awkward era between 1989 and 1991, Paul Norton comes to mind, he was a one hit wonder with a gem of a song called `Stuck On You`, not to be confused with the Lionel Richie song of the same name.
And the king of aussie rock, Ross Wilson, had his greatest album ever `Dark Side Of The Man`sink without a trace due to the decimation of Mushroom Records and the uncertainty at the time of what type of music the radio stations were going to promote.
Basically the record companies and the radio stations used middle of the road and more adult friendly acts for 18 months at the beginning of the 90`s while the groundwork was laid to promote alternative rock.
When the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam took off in popularity, they screwed all the contemporary acts they had been promoting and left them high and dry, which in so many cases, ruined many a promising career.
But getting back to `Crying In The Chapel`,
it`s a high point obviously for Peter Blakely, his vocal is so much like that of Simply Red`s Hucknell, the music, complete with some great brass accompaniment, is typical of what you would have expected from Phil Collins on his 1985 album `No Jacket Required`. Peter Blakely had it all for this one song.
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