Family Style

Personnel: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Vaughan (vocals, guitar); Nile Rodgers (guitar); Rockin' Sydney (accordion); Steve Elson, Stan Harrison (saxophone); Richard Hilton (piano, organ); Preston Hubbard (acoustic bass); Al Berry (bass); Larry Aberman, Doyle Bramhall (drums); Tawatha Agee, Curtis King Jr., George Sims, David Spinner, Brenda White-King (background vocals).
Recorded at Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee; The Dallas Sound Lab, Dallas, Texas; Skyline Studios, New York, New York.
With slick production from Nile Rodgers and employing neither guitarist's band (Double Trouble nor the Fabulous Thunderbirds), this is bluesy, but far from purist. Jimmie makes his vocal debut on "White Boots" and "Good Texan," and the brothers blur the lines between their expected guitar styles -- Stevie sometimes going for a less sustainy twang, Jimmie moving into Albert King territory. When standard blues is the order of the day (the slow instro "Brothers"), the key word is "standard" -- bordering on run-of-the-mill. Instrumentals "D/FW" and "Hillbillies from Outer Space" fare better -- offering ZZ Top crunch and Santo & Johnny steel, respectively. ~ Dan Forte