OMAR KENT DYKES & JIMMIE VAUGHAN
''ON THE JIMMY REED HIGHWAY''
AUGUST 21 2007
45:49
1 /Jimmy Reed Highway
Omar Dykes/4:04
2 /Baby What You Want Me to Do/Bright Lights Big City/5:10
3 /Big Boss Man/3:10
4 /Good Lover/3:07
5 /Caress Me Baby/5:09
6 /Aw Shucks, Hush Your Mouth/4:01
7 /You Upset My Mind/3:16
8 /I'll Change My Style
William Parker/3:46
9 /Bad Boy
Eddie Taylor/4:01
10 /Baby, What's Wrong/3:15
11 /Hush Hush/3:01
12 /You Made Me Laugh
Omar Dykes/3:49
Lou Ann Barton /Guest Artist, Vocals
Barry Bihm /Bass
James Cotton /Guest Artist, Harmonica
Omar Dykes /Vocals
Ronnie James/Bass
Delbert McClinton/Guest Artist, Harmonica, Vocals
Derek O'Brien/Guitar
Gary Primich/Harmonica
George Rains/Drums
Wes Starr/Drums
Jimmie Vaughan/Guitar, Vocals
Kim Wilson/Guest Artist, Harmonica
REVIEW
by Scott Yanow
Some tribute projects to earlier greats seek to modernize and update their music. This project, co-led by singer Omar Kent Dykes and guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, instead focuses on revitalizing the music of Jimmy Reed in traditional settings. While not closely copying the original recordings, these new renditions are very much "in the tradition." With his deep and low voice, Dykes does justice to the lyrics and feelings in the music; Vaughan has plenty of fine guitar solos; and the guest spots of singer Lou Ann Barton and either Kim Wilson, James Cotton, Gary Primich, or Delbert McClinton on harmonica add to both the variety and the power of the music. As with the best tribute projects, this one will send listeners back to Jimmy Reed's original records while also standing by itself as a heartfelt and relevant homage to the great bluesman.
BIOGRAPHY (OMAR KENT DYKES)
by Jason Ankeny
The nominal frontman of the Austin, Texas-based swamp rock unit Omar & the Howlers -- singer/guitarist Omar Dykes -- was born in McComb, Mississippi in 1950 (not coincidentally also the birthplace of Bo Diddley, whose signature beat informed much of Dykes' music). Weaned on his mother's eclectic collection of country, rock & roll and soul records, he began venturing into area juke joints during his early teen years, and after picking up guitar, he returned to these same clubs to launch his performing career. After graduating high school, Dykes wandered about Mississippi for a few years before finally relocating to Austin in 1976; there he was befriended by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and a short time later set about forming the Howlers, who made their debut in 1980 with Big Leg Beat. After 1984's I Told You So, the group signed to Columbia for 1987's Hard Times in the Land of Plenty. Although their major-label tenure was short-lived, Omar & the Howlers remained an Austin fixture throughout the years to come, also attracting a large European cult audience. In 2007 Dykes teamed up with Jimmie Vaughan for an album of Jimmy Reed covers, recorded for the Ruf label, On the Jimmy Reed Highway. Big Town Playboy, Dykes' first solo album, was released two years later also on Ruf. Another tribute session was issued in 2013, this time as a solo artist, Runnin' with the Wolf, featuring the music of Howlin' Wolf.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
As a founding member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughan was one of the leading Austin, Texas guitarists of the late '70s and '80s, responsible for opening the national market up for gritty roadhouse blues and R&B. Influenced by guitarists like Freddie King, B.B. King, and Albert King, Vaughan developed a tough, lean sound that became one of the most recognizable sounds of '70s and '80s blues and blues-rock. For most of his career, Vaughan co-led the Fabulous Thunderbirds with vocalist Kim Wilson. It wasn't until 1994 that he launched a full-fledged solo career.
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Jimmie Vaughan began playing guitar as a child. Initially, Vaughan was influenced by both blues and rock & roll. While he was in his teens, he played in a number of garage rock bands, none of which attained any success. At the age of 19, he left Dallas and moved to Austin. For his first few years in Austin, Vaughan played in a variety of blues bar bands. In 1972, he formed his own group, the Storm, which supported many touring blues musicians.
In 1974, Vaughan met a vocalist and harmonica player named Kim Wilson. Within a year, the pair had formed the Fabulous Thunderbirds along with bassist Keith Furguson and drummer Mike Buck. For four years, the T-Birds played local Texas clubs, gaining a strong fan base. By the end of the decade, the group had signed a major label contract with Chrysalis Records and seemed bound for national stardom. However, none of their albums became hits and they were dropped by Chrysalis at the end of 1982.
At the same time the T-Birds were left without a recording contract, Jimmie's younger brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, came storming upon the national scene with his debut album, Texas Flood. For the next few years, Stevie Ray dominated not only the Texan blues scene, but the entire American scene, while Jimmie and the Thunderbirds were struggling to survive. the T-Birds finally received a new major-label contract in 1986 with Epic/Associated and their first album for the label, Tuff Enuff, was a surprise hit, selling over a million copies and spawning the Top Ten hit title track.
the Fabulous Thunderbirds spent the rest of the '80s trying to replicate the success of Tuff Enuff, often pursuing slicker, more commercially oriented directions. By 1989, Jimmie Vaughan was frustrated by the group's musical direction and he left the band. Before launching a solo career, he recorded a duet album with his brother, Stevie Ray, Family Style. Following the completion of the record, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a tragic helicopter crash in August of 1990. Family Style appeared just a few months later, in the fall of 1990.
After Stevie Ray's death, Jimmie took a couple of years off, in order to grieve and recoup. After a couple of years, he began playing the occasional concert. In 1994, he returned with his first solo album, Strange Pleasures, which received good reviews and sold respectably. Vaughan supported Strange Pleasures with a national tour. Out There followed in 1998. Released in 2010, Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites found Vaughan covering songs by Jimmy Reed, Little Richard, Roy Milton, Roscoe Gordon and others who inspired him when he was first starting out as a musician. The like-minded Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites followed in 2011.
''ON THE JIMMY REED HIGHWAY''
AUGUST 21 2007
45:49
1 /Jimmy Reed Highway
Omar Dykes/4:04
2 /Baby What You Want Me to Do/Bright Lights Big City/5:10
3 /Big Boss Man/3:10
4 /Good Lover/3:07
5 /Caress Me Baby/5:09
6 /Aw Shucks, Hush Your Mouth/4:01
7 /You Upset My Mind/3:16
8 /I'll Change My Style
William Parker/3:46
9 /Bad Boy
Eddie Taylor/4:01
10 /Baby, What's Wrong/3:15
11 /Hush Hush/3:01
12 /You Made Me Laugh
Omar Dykes/3:49
Lou Ann Barton /Guest Artist, Vocals
Barry Bihm /Bass
James Cotton /Guest Artist, Harmonica
Omar Dykes /Vocals
Ronnie James/Bass
Delbert McClinton/Guest Artist, Harmonica, Vocals
Derek O'Brien/Guitar
Gary Primich/Harmonica
George Rains/Drums
Wes Starr/Drums
Jimmie Vaughan/Guitar, Vocals
Kim Wilson/Guest Artist, Harmonica
REVIEW
by Scott Yanow
Some tribute projects to earlier greats seek to modernize and update their music. This project, co-led by singer Omar Kent Dykes and guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, instead focuses on revitalizing the music of Jimmy Reed in traditional settings. While not closely copying the original recordings, these new renditions are very much "in the tradition." With his deep and low voice, Dykes does justice to the lyrics and feelings in the music; Vaughan has plenty of fine guitar solos; and the guest spots of singer Lou Ann Barton and either Kim Wilson, James Cotton, Gary Primich, or Delbert McClinton on harmonica add to both the variety and the power of the music. As with the best tribute projects, this one will send listeners back to Jimmy Reed's original records while also standing by itself as a heartfelt and relevant homage to the great bluesman.
BIOGRAPHY (OMAR KENT DYKES)
by Jason Ankeny
The nominal frontman of the Austin, Texas-based swamp rock unit Omar & the Howlers -- singer/guitarist Omar Dykes -- was born in McComb, Mississippi in 1950 (not coincidentally also the birthplace of Bo Diddley, whose signature beat informed much of Dykes' music). Weaned on his mother's eclectic collection of country, rock & roll and soul records, he began venturing into area juke joints during his early teen years, and after picking up guitar, he returned to these same clubs to launch his performing career. After graduating high school, Dykes wandered about Mississippi for a few years before finally relocating to Austin in 1976; there he was befriended by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and a short time later set about forming the Howlers, who made their debut in 1980 with Big Leg Beat. After 1984's I Told You So, the group signed to Columbia for 1987's Hard Times in the Land of Plenty. Although their major-label tenure was short-lived, Omar & the Howlers remained an Austin fixture throughout the years to come, also attracting a large European cult audience. In 2007 Dykes teamed up with Jimmie Vaughan for an album of Jimmy Reed covers, recorded for the Ruf label, On the Jimmy Reed Highway. Big Town Playboy, Dykes' first solo album, was released two years later also on Ruf. Another tribute session was issued in 2013, this time as a solo artist, Runnin' with the Wolf, featuring the music of Howlin' Wolf.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
As a founding member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughan was one of the leading Austin, Texas guitarists of the late '70s and '80s, responsible for opening the national market up for gritty roadhouse blues and R&B. Influenced by guitarists like Freddie King, B.B. King, and Albert King, Vaughan developed a tough, lean sound that became one of the most recognizable sounds of '70s and '80s blues and blues-rock. For most of his career, Vaughan co-led the Fabulous Thunderbirds with vocalist Kim Wilson. It wasn't until 1994 that he launched a full-fledged solo career.
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Jimmie Vaughan began playing guitar as a child. Initially, Vaughan was influenced by both blues and rock & roll. While he was in his teens, he played in a number of garage rock bands, none of which attained any success. At the age of 19, he left Dallas and moved to Austin. For his first few years in Austin, Vaughan played in a variety of blues bar bands. In 1972, he formed his own group, the Storm, which supported many touring blues musicians.
In 1974, Vaughan met a vocalist and harmonica player named Kim Wilson. Within a year, the pair had formed the Fabulous Thunderbirds along with bassist Keith Furguson and drummer Mike Buck. For four years, the T-Birds played local Texas clubs, gaining a strong fan base. By the end of the decade, the group had signed a major label contract with Chrysalis Records and seemed bound for national stardom. However, none of their albums became hits and they were dropped by Chrysalis at the end of 1982.
At the same time the T-Birds were left without a recording contract, Jimmie's younger brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, came storming upon the national scene with his debut album, Texas Flood. For the next few years, Stevie Ray dominated not only the Texan blues scene, but the entire American scene, while Jimmie and the Thunderbirds were struggling to survive. the T-Birds finally received a new major-label contract in 1986 with Epic/Associated and their first album for the label, Tuff Enuff, was a surprise hit, selling over a million copies and spawning the Top Ten hit title track.
the Fabulous Thunderbirds spent the rest of the '80s trying to replicate the success of Tuff Enuff, often pursuing slicker, more commercially oriented directions. By 1989, Jimmie Vaughan was frustrated by the group's musical direction and he left the band. Before launching a solo career, he recorded a duet album with his brother, Stevie Ray, Family Style. Following the completion of the record, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a tragic helicopter crash in August of 1990. Family Style appeared just a few months later, in the fall of 1990.
After Stevie Ray's death, Jimmie took a couple of years off, in order to grieve and recoup. After a couple of years, he began playing the occasional concert. In 1994, he returned with his first solo album, Strange Pleasures, which received good reviews and sold respectably. Vaughan supported Strange Pleasures with a national tour. Out There followed in 1998. Released in 2010, Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites found Vaughan covering songs by Jimmy Reed, Little Richard, Roy Milton, Roscoe Gordon and others who inspired him when he was first starting out as a musician. The like-minded Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites followed in 2011.
