Keith Ferguson (July 23, 1946 – April 29, 1997) was an American bass guitarist, best remembered as a member of the

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

band,

The Fabulous Thunderbirds The Fabulous Thunderbirds is an American blues rock band formed in 1974. Singer Kim Wilson is the only constant member through the band's entire history. Their 1986 album ''Tuff Enuff'' sold over a million copies, and spawned two minor hit singl ...

, based in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Texas. Ferguson received several awards for his musicianship.

Biography

Ferguson was born July 23, 1946, and raised in the 'Sexto' – the Sixth Ward of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where he graduated from San Jacinto High School in 1964. In 1969, he joined "Sunnyland Special", a blues band with

Angela Strehli Angela Strehli (born November 22, 1945) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US an ...

and Lewis Cowdrey. They recorded a 45-rpm single. In 1972 he joined "Black Kangaroo" with guitarist

Peter Kaukonen Peter Kaukonen (born Benson Lee Kaukonen on is an American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the younger brother of Jorma Kaukonen from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Peter Kaukonen has p ...

, and toured with them. In 1974 he played in the "Nightcrawlers" together with

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

. Keith also played with Rocky Hill at that time. In 1976, Ferguson joined

, along with vocalists Lou Ann Barton and

Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top ...

and guitarist

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunder ...

. (Barton left soon after the group began.) The band had an initial large local following, but was unable to maintain a sustained following with commercially positive results. More than five years of being dropped by small and large record labels, with

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

being the last in their initial period to drop the band, there was a hiatus of several years, during which time a re-shuffling of band members began to take place, and Ferguson was one of the first to leave. Ferguson went on to become a member of the Tailgators along with Don Leady and Gary "Mudcat" Smith. After leaving the Tailgators, Ferguson freelanced with a number of Austin blues bands on the 6 Street Blues Circuit and played with the Excellos and the Solid Senders.

Death

He died of liver failure at the age of 50, on April 29, 1997, due in part to a nearly thirty-year addiction to heroin. In 2014, a biography was written by author Detlef Schmidt: ''Keith Ferguson: Texas Blues Bass''.

Discography

With the Fabulous Thunderbirds

* 1979 '' Girls Go Wild'' * 1980 '' What's the Word'' * 1981 '' Butt Rockin''' * 1982 ''

T-Bird Rhythm ''T-Bird Rhythm'' is the fourth studio album by Texas-based blues rock band the Fabulous Thunderbirds, released in 1982. The recording contains a mixture of covers and originals. Chrysalis dropped the band following the release of the album. Prod ...

'' * 1996 '' Different Tacos'' * 2003 '' Thunderbirds Tacos Deluxe''

With the Tailgators

* 1985 ''

Swamp Rock Swamp rock is a genre of rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in ...

'' * 1986 '' Mumbo Jumbo'' * 1987 ''Tore Up'' * 1988 ''OK Let's Go!'' * 1990 ''Hide Your Eyes''

With the Solid Senders

* 1994 ''Everything's Gonna Be Allright'' * 1997 ''Dig My Wheels''

With other artists

* 1983 '' Havana Moon'' with

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

* 1983 '' Check This Action'' with LeRoi Brothers * 1994 '' Let The Dogs Run'' with Mike Morgan and Jim Suhler

Awards

*1997: Austin Music Hall of Fame Inductee *1985: Austin Music Awards, Best Bass Guitar

References

Archival Materials

Keith Ferguson papers at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University

Keith Ferguson digital collection, 1951-2008, at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Keith 1946 births 1997 deaths American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Deaths from liver failure Musicians from Austin, Texas 20th-century American bass guitarists Guitarists from Texas The Fabulous Thunderbirds members 20th-century American male musicians