At 70, guitarist Jimmie Vaughan is a living link in the Texas blues legacy chain that also gave us T-Bone Walker, Lightning Hopkins, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Zuzu Bollin, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Johnny Copeland, and Jimmies younger brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmie arrived in Austin from Dallas in the late 1960s. He developed an original playing style that relies more on feel, groove, and swing than flash. The Jimmie Vaughan Story, curated by Last Music Co.s Malcolm Mills, contains 96 tracks spanning five discs with more than six hours of music; 29 selections are previously unissued. The lions share of the material on the first two discs is drawn from Vaughans influential tenure with the Fabulous Thunderbirds between 1979 and 1989, alongside vocalist/harmonicist Kim Wilson, bassist Keith Ferguson, and drummers Mike Buck or Fran Christina. Disc ones 27 tracks are drawn from the bands first seven albums on the Benchmark, Chrysalis, and Epic labels -- from 1979s Girls Go Wild through 1989s Powerful Stuff. Its essentially a fine best-of containing all the hits and near misses including She’s Tuff, How Do You Spell Love?, Wrap It Up, and more. Disc two kicks off with four unreleased 1979 T-Birds cuts co-produced by Doc Pomus and Joel Dorn. Also included are five previously unreleased tunes from a 1979 Antones performance and late catalog tracks. It also reveals the beginning of Vaughans solo career with Cold, Cold, Feelin with Albert Collins, and Youre Sweet with Jimmy Rogers. It concludes with two tracks from the Vaughan Brothers 1990 album, Family Style. Disc three contains tracks from Vaughans early solo outings such as 1994s Strange Pleasure and 1998s Out There, compilation and soundtrack material, and guest spots on albums by Doyle Bramhall, Bo Diddley, Lou Ann Barton, and others. Its closing jam is 1995s unreleased I Dont Live Here Anymore with Delbert McClinton. Disc four offers tunes from Vaughans later solo outings such as Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites, and collaborations with legends including John Lee Hooker, Lazy Lester, James Cotton, Susan Tedeschi, and Charlie Musselwhite. Among its highlights is the previously unreleased What Am I Living For? with longtime collaborator Barton. The final disc here includes live, studio, and guest spots, and three unissued cuts with Vaughans pre-Thunderbirds band, Storm. The highlights include a scorching The Pleasures All Mine with Bonnie Raitt and Wine Wine, Wine with Billy Gibbons. The 12 x 12 box also includes two 7 singles, a vinyl copy of 2001s Do You Get the Blues?, a hand-signed cover placard, and an issue of Rodders Journal featuring Vaughans car collection. In a slipcase with the discs is a hardbound book containing dozens of rare photos, a long autobiographical essay by Vaughan, and another essay by Bill Bentley. The Jimmie Vaughan Story is an historic document: It offers a detailed view of the guitarists long career as a sideman who emerged as a truly original stylist, and provides an intimate, first-person overview of the Texas blues scene during a seminal period. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi