Blues Keep Calling

JIMMIE VAUGHAN’S REPUTATION as a premier guitar slinger stretches way back to the ’60s, when he found regional success in Texas, crossing paths with many of the big names of the time, including Jimi Hendrix. For most listeners outside Texas, Vaughan first came to prominence in the late ’70s as the killer guitarist in what was arguably the first really cool blues band in eons, the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

After seven albums of no-frills, down-and-dirty blues, Vaughan left the group, made an album with his brother Stevie — 1990’s — and settled into a solo career playing blues-rock songs of his own and mixing in acclaimed collaborations with numerous blues luminaries, including a pair of albums with Omar Dykes. In recent years, though, Vaughan has made several return visits to the music he loves best: the rare and frequently arcane recordings of R&B artists he grew up with, like, in 2010, and followed it up in 2011 with .