Jimmie Vaughan: The Pleasure's All Mine

This double CD/triple LP set contains the first two segments of a Jimmie Vaughan musical trilogy begun a decade ago with Blues Ballads and Favorites (Shout, 2010). Succeeded a year later with a similarly-titled follow-up, it has subsequently been long unavailable, but has been reissued in anticipation of the seventieth birthday of Stevie Ray's older sibling and, as such, this composite is a natural companion piece to the final installment, Baby Please Come Home (The Last Music Co., 2019).

On "The Pleasure's All Mine," it may well be a revelation to be reminded how similar is Vaughan's voice to his late lamented big brother. But it's also something of an epiphany to hear the various stylistic threads of material he weaves in and out of the first fifteen tracks. Doo-wop vocal arrangements adorn "Come Love," while "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" focuses more on his fervent singing than his guitar playing, here featured in only its most pithy form. In a savvy stroke of track sequencing, an instrumental by the name of "Comin' & Goin'" appears immediately afterward: the bandleader makes sure this unified, stable ensemble's virtues get a showcase and, in turn, their rightful due (further delineated via detailed credits in the enclosed twelve- page booklet).

As indicated through the inclusion of the chestnut "Funny How Time Slips Away," More Blues Ballads and Favorites follows the same formula as its predecessor. Yet Jimmie Vaughan's earthy, no-frills passion extends to his willingness to collaborate fully and completely with kindred souls such as venerable Texas vocalist Lou Ann Barton on "I Miss You So" and "Shake A Hand." Then there's the technical expertise of which the guitarist/songwriter/bandleader availed himself as producer of both these albums: in his Austin hometown Top Hat Studio, recordist and mixing engineer Jared Tu ten captured the essence of 'the jukebox sound' (Jimmie's descriptive phrase), so that the mastering of Joe Gastwirt did the audio justice without rendering it antiseptic.

Having elevated his profile significantly through the release of that aforementioned third chapter of this artistic triad, Jimmie Vaughan embarked on one of his most extensive tours to date as a headliner. In lieu of additional live concerts canceled by the pandemic in 2020, the co-founder of the Fabulous Thunderbirds only further enhanced that momentum with The Pleasure's All Mine.