Sibling blues guitarists Jimmie Vaughan (born in 1951) and Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954-1990) were born and raised in Dallas, TX. Each began playing guitar during childhood, Stevie Ray inspired to take up the instrument by his older brother. Jimmie Vaughan played in various groups in Dallas and Austin before hooking up with singer/harmonica player Kim Wilson and forming the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1974. The group was signed to Chrysalis Records, for which they made four albums, starting with a self-titled 1979 debut. The second and third of them, What’s the Word (1980) and Butt Rockin’ (1981), made the lower reaches of the charts, but the band was dropped by the label after the commercial failure of T-Bird Rhythm in the fall of 1982.
Meanwhile, Stevie Ray Vaughan had been playing around Texas, at first with Triple Threat featuring singer Lou Ann Barton, and then, after her departure, with drummer Chris Layton and newly recruited bassist Tommy Shannon as Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. His appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982 led to a recording contract with Epic Records and the release of his debut album, Texas Flood, a Top 40 hit, in 1983. He followed it with the even more successful Couldn’t Stand the Weather (1984) and Soul to Soul (1985), each of which went gold within two years. (All three albums have since gone platinum.)
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s success stimulated Epic’s interest in his brother’s band. The Epic subsidiary CBS Associated signed the Fabulous Thunderbirds and issued Tuff Enuff (1986), which spawned a Top Ten single in the title-track and itself made the Top 20, going gold within six months and eventually platinum. The same year, Stevie Ray Vaughan issued Live Alive, which eventually went platinum.
The careers of both brothers subsided soon after. Stevie Ray Vaughan went into rehab, while the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ follow-ups to Tuff Enuff, Hot Number (1987) and Powerful Stuff (1989), did not match its commercial success. Jimmie Vaughan amicably parted from the band in June 1990. Stevie Ray Vaughan returned after more than two and a half years with In Step (1989), which became his biggest seller yet, eventually going double platinum. The brothers had long planned a duo project, and in 1990 they finally found time for it, recording Family Style. But the month before the album’s scheduled release, Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990. The album appeared in September and it soared into the Top Ten, selling over a million copies.
Jimmie Vaughan helped oversee posthumous releases of his brother’s recordings, such as the two-million-selling Top Ten hit The Sky Is Crying (1991). He launched his own solo career in the spring of 1994 with Strange Pleasure, released by Epic.
'Vaughan Brothers' are also on Last.fm here: 'Vaughan Brothers'
Mama Said
The Vaughan Brothers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
said mama say what
mama told me
The opening lines of The Vaughan Brothers' song Baboom / Mama Said are simple and direct, but they carry a strong sense of nostalgia and longing. The repeated use of "mama" suggests a deep emotional connection to the past, perhaps to childhood memories of a caring and supportive mother figure. The line "say what" adds a sense of urgency and excitement, as if the singer is eager to hear more from this beloved figure.
As the song unfolds, it becomes clear that the lyrics are describing the aftermath of the singer's mother's death. The lines "mama said, don't you cry / mama said, don't you weep" can be read as advice for how to cope with the loss, but they also suggest that the mother figure is still present in some way, offering comfort and guidance from beyond the grave. The final lines of the song, delivered with great emotion by Stevie Ray Vaughan, drive home this sense of loss and yearning: "Mama said she's still here / But where she gone, I just don't know."
Line by Line Meaning
mama said
My mother spoke to me
said mama say what
Mother, please clarify your statement
mama told me
My mother informed me of something
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management
Written by: DENNY FREEMAN, JIMMIE LAWRENCE VAUGHAN, STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind