''T-Bird Rhythm'' is the fourth studio album by Texas-based
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
band
the Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American blues band formed in 1974.
Career
After performing for several years in the Austin, Texas blues scene, the band won a recording contract with Takoma/Chrysalis Records and later signed with Epic Records ...
, released in 1982. The recording contains a mixture of covers and originals.
Chrysalis
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
dropped the band following the release of the album.
Production
The album was produced by
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote that "both sides open with fetchingly offhand ravers, Kim Wilson works his shoo-fly drawl for gumbo lilt, and the mysterious J. Miller contributes the irresistible 'You're Humbuggin' Me', which had me tearing through my Jimmy Reed records in a fruitless search for the original." ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' wrote: "Jimmy Vaughan's 'sic''guitar can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, but the real genius of this band is vocalist and harmonica player Kim Wilson." ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called ''T-Bird Rhythm'' "a rocking album that generates excitement without sounding like the work of fanatic blues revivalists," writing: " tshould win this soulful and accomplished band some pop air play and long-overdue recognition. And it's a welcome change for Nick Lowe, whose productions had recently begun sounding a bit like a formula and washed out."
Track listing
All tracks composed by Kim Wilson; except where indicated
# "Can't Tear It Up Enuff"
# "How Do You Spell Love?" ( Bobby Patterson, Jerry Strickland, Marshall Boxley)
# "You're Humbuggin' Me" ( J.D. Miller, Rocket Morgan)
# "My Babe'" (
Ron Holden
Rolan Webster Holden (August 7, 1939 – January 22, 1997) was an American pop and rhythm and blues singer from Seattle, Washington, United States. He appeared on ''The Lloyd Thaxton Show'', ''Mike Douglas Show'', '' American Bandstand'' (with C ...
)
# "Neighbor Tend to Your Business" (
Huey P Meaux
Huey Purvis Meaux (March 10, 1929 – April 23, 2011) was an American record producer and the owner of various record labels and recording studios including Crazy Cajun Records, Tribe Records, Tear Drop Records, Capri Records, and SugarHill R ...
)
# "Monkey" (
Dave Bartholomew
David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...
, Pearl King)
# "
Diddy Wah Diddy
"Diddy Wah Diddy" is a song written by Willie Dixon and Ellas McDaniel, known as Bo Diddley, and recorded by the latter in 1956. The song shares only its title with Blind Blake's song "Diddie Wah Diddie" recorded in 1929. Over the years, the Bo D ...
" (
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
,
Ellas McDaniel
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inclu ...
)
# "Lover's Crime"
# "Poor Boy"
# "Tell Me" (J.D. Miller)
# "Gotta Have Some/Just Got Some" (Willie Dixon, William Robert Emerson, Don Talty)