Archive Review: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s Greatest Hits (1996)

There have always been blues guitarists on the fringe of pop music – a few of them great, most of them not quite so. By the late 1970s/early ‘80s, however, the blues had been eclipsed by rapidly changing currents in music. Punk, new wave, no wave, new romanticism, hardcore punk, disco, funk, punk funk...musical styles and trends were changing almost weekly during this period. A few dedicated artists kept the faith, faithfully working in the blues genre night after night in dirty little clubs in Memphis, in New Orleans, in Austin and elsewhere.

By 1983, with the musical world in flux, independent labels were providing a training ground for the stars of the ‘90s. College radio was making great inroads at breaking unknown “alternative” artists who played almost exclusively on a club level. Major labels had all but abdicated any effort at finding and signing original artists of any merit. It was into this vacuum that A & R great John Hammond stepped, unearthing one last musical jewel in what was already a lengthy and legendary career. Hammond had always loved the blues, and it was he who was to discover and bring to the world at large a young guitar wizard that had already created a buzz in his hometown of Austin, Texas: Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Vaughan was quite a find, a master technician who was capable of tearing down the boundaries between rock and the blues with some ease. He was a charismatic performer who, at his best, could mesmerize audiences as he brought his guitar to life on stage. Subsequent recordings could only attempt to capture the raw, primal energy and incredible talent that Stevie Ray brought to his art. Vaughan popularized the blues to a rock audience unlike any artist since his professed idol, Jimi Hendrix. Like Hendrix, Vaughan was a casualty of rock ‘n’ roll, dying in a fatal helicopter crash after a memorable performance alongside greats like Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and his brother Jimmie.

During his brief six year career, Stevie Ray, and his Double Trouble band released only a single live and four studio albums. It is a tribute to Vaughan, the artist, that the quality of his work was so high that this handful of albums has yielded so many memorable moments. As documented by the long-awaited Greatest Hits album, Stevie Ray was a true meat and potatoes artist, pouring every ounce of his talent into every performance. Choosing from so many Vaughan classics would be a daunting task for any producer, but Greatest Hits compiler Tony Martell does an admirable job, filling the disc with Vaughan standards like “Texas Flood,” “Pride and Joy,” and “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” Lesser known cuts like “Life Without You” or “Crossfire,” or covers like the Hendrix classic “Little Wing” or the Beatles’ “Taxman,” the collection”s lone unreleased cut. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more unreleased material; maybe on a second volume, eh?

The first time that I ever heard of Stevie Ray was from his brother Jimmie, a talented axeman in his own right. Hanging out backstage after a Fabulous Thunderbirds performance in Nashville, I complimented the older Vaughan on his skills with a six string. He replied with something along the lines of “hell, you think that I”m good, you should see my brother Stevie.” A couple of months later, I did get to see Stevie Ray play, shortly after the release of Texas Flood, his debut. A rowdy audience in the auditorium was silenced by the artist’s quiet dignity and enormous talent as Stevie Ray came out and played like the hellhounds of Robert Johnson’s nightmares were on his tail. Greatest Hits only reinforces this lasting impression I have of Vaughan, a great artist who conquered his own demons of addiction to forever influence the future of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s been five years since his death, and his absence is still strongly felt. No one will ever fill his shoes... (Epic Records, released 1996)
                
Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine

Buy the CD from Amazon: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s Greatest Hits

Archive Review: Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood (1983/2013)

You all know this story by now, but here’s a condensed version for those new readers wondering just what this brouhaha over Stevie Ray Vaughan is all about. Inspired by his brother Jimmie, a young Stevie Ray picked up the guitar and soon eclipsed his older sibling in talent (though Jimmie Vaughan is certainly no slouch himself…when I met him in Nashville in the early 1980s after a show, after complimenting the guitarist he said something to the effect of “if you think I’m good, you should hear my brother Stevie!”). Various bands like the Cobras would follow before SRV formed Triple Threat with singer Lou Ann Barton. After Barton’s departure, the band became Double Trouble.   

Performing with Double Trouble at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival, the incendiary performance brought Vaughan to the attention of two bona fide 1970s rock ‘n’ roll superstars – David Bowie and Jackson Browne. Bowie enlisted the Texas guitarist to play on his 1983 album Let’s Dance, while Browne offered the band the use of his rudimentary personal recording studio in Los Angeles. Traveling to L.A. Vaughan and Double Trouble recorded the basic tracks of what would become the band’s debut album, Texas Flood. Signed by the legendary John Hammond (who had discovered Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, and Bruce Springsteen, among many others), Texas Flood was released in June 1983 to an enthusiastic audience hungry for the blues, breaking into the Top 40 on its way to Platinum™ sales status.

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s Texas Flood

The ten songs on Stevie Ray’s Texas Flood are so well-known by now that they’ve become a vital part of the DNA of the blues. Still, they’re worth another spin around the turntable for those who haven’t listened to them in a while. Album-opener “Love Struck Baby” is a rip-roarin’ rocker with plenty o’ twangy blues/rockabilly hybrid guitar, Vaughan’s vocals delivered with a punkish speed and intensity as the Double Trouble rhythm section of bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton bang out a driving rhythm. At less than two-and-a-half minutes in length, “Love Struck Baby” is the perfect lead-in to the album’s swinging hit single, “Pride and Joy.”

A swaggering, boogie-blasted mid-tempo wildfire, “Pride and Joy” better showcases Vaughan’s often-soulful vocals, the band delivering a fast-walking rhythm on top of which Vaughan threads his shake, rattle, and rollin’ guitar licks, his frets buzzing with electricity, the guitarist’s solos scattin’ and be-boppin’ across the landscape like this might be the only record Vaughan ever gets to make. The slower-paced title track sounds downright somnambulant by contrast, Vaughan spitting out the licks with fierce determination, his vocals twisted in anguish as the guitar channels his pain. It’s a great performance, and one that got people to pay attention to the up-and-coming bluesman.

 SRV Pays Tribute to His Idols

Texas Flood is chock full of sly musical references, SRV paying tribute to his many musical idols, whether through his performance of their material or by slipping in vaguely-familiar notes and riff from influences like Albert King or Otis Rush. Vaughan’s cover of the great Howlin’ Wolf’s classic “Tell Me” is anything but a faithful recreation, the guitarist re-defining the song for a new generation, keeping just enough to remind listeners of the original, but injecting it with raucous solos that would make Hubert Sumlin blush, his raging fretwork matched by the band’s traveling, Chicago-styled rhythm.

Buddy’s Guy’s “Mary Had A Little Lamb” is dirtied up with some Texas fatback, Vaughan’s breathless vocals supported by a slinky groove created larger-than-life by an often-overlooked and underrated Double Trouble rhythm section. Vaughan’s guitar tone here is lighter, higher, and more structured than just about any other on Texas Flood, displaying a different side of his talents.”Rood Mood” is another longtime, crowd-pleasing Vaughan favorite, a rollicking instrumental with more than a little Lonnie Mack influence (another of Vaughan’s musical touchstones), the performance racing at 120mph to the finish line, Layton’s machine-gun drumbeats matched by Vaughan’s frenetic, rockabilly-flavored chicken-pickin’ while Shannon lays down a solid rhythmic foundation.

Live At Ripley’s Music Hall

“I’m Cryin’“ is a sadly-overlooked part of Vaughan’s too-brief catalog, the song’s shuffling beat belying its finely-crafted tearjerker lyrics, Vaughan’s emotional reading of them, and the subtle fretwork that supports what is essentially a traditional blues song. For this 2013 reissue CD, a lone bonus track has been tacked on to the end, songwriter and producer Bob Geddins’ “Tin Pan Alley (a/k/a Roughest Place In Town)” a longtime part of Vaughan’s repertoire, appearing in slightly different form on the guitarist’s second album, Couldn’t Stand The Weather. It’s still a great tune, full of menace and atmosphere, slowly unrolling with muted rhythms and a flurry of notes to nearly seven-and-a-half minutes, fading out as rapidly as the band jumped in at the beginning, leaving nothing but smoldering embers.   

The two-disc 30th anniversary edition of Texas Flood includes a previously-unreleased (albeit frequently-bootlegged) live show recorded at Ripley’s Music Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in October 1983, a few short months after the debut album’s release. The nine-song set runs nearly an hour in length and, naturally, leans heavily towards material from Texas Flood. Vaughan and Double Trouble were built to be a live band, honing their chops in the smoky honky-tonks and back alley blues dives of the Lone Star State, so it comes as no shock that the live performances of songs like “Pride and Joy” or “Love Struck Baby” strike an immediate chord with the audience. The former swings for the fences immediately with livewire intensity while the latter roars down the tracks like a runaway freight train, Vaughan’s rampaging guitar licks hitting the audience like a six-string tornado.

Stomping On Jimi’s Turf

One of the nicest surprises offered by the Ripley’s Music Hall performance is Vaughan’s two detours on to Jimi Hendrix turf, the guitarist and Double Trouble covering Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” and mashing together “Little Wing” and “Third Rock From the Sun” into a fetching medley. First, Vaughan revisits the Isley Brothers’ “Testify” from the album, the obscure 1964 single from the R&B giants originally featuring a young Jimi on guitar. Vaughan tears into this instrumental cover version like a starving man at a buffet table, ripping off blazing solos with lightning quickness and thunderous power.   

Vaughan treats “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” with a fair amount of reverence, re-creating the signature opening lick-for-lick before the storm clouds gather and the guitarist descends from Mount Olympus, hammer in hand, to school we mere mortals with a larger-than-life performance that, while falling a bit short of Jimi’s mighty vocals, nonetheless makes up for it with otherworldly guitarplay, the explosive riffs and scorched-earth solos jumping out of your speakers like the Four Horsemen of some sort of blues-based apocalypse.

It’s a heady moment, but handily eclipsed by the medley of “Little Wing” and “Third Stone From the Sun.” Taking one of Hendrix’s most melodically-heartbreaking songs, Vaughan turbo-charges the arrangement while keeping its wistful, haunting familiarity. As it rumbles into “Third Stone,” Vaughan and Double Trouble quicken the pace in an attempt to launch into orbit, expanding the performance into truly psychedelic-blues territory with swirling guitars, hypnotic percussion, and heartbeat bass lines that would shift and soar according to the band’s whim. If anything, Vaughan’s cover of the song here dances over Jimi’s spacey original, channeling just enough of the familiar to be recognizable, but embellishing it with torrents of noise and feedback, unbridled animal energy that borders on the primordial, and enough lofty tone to lift it from the planet and into the stratosphere, delivering an amazing pyrotechnics display of sound and fury.    

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Vaughan was criticized when Texas Flood was released for the album’s lack of apparent identity. While it’s true that the guitarist frequently wore his musical influences on his sleeve, Texas Flood was an amalgam of years spent by the band on the Southern club circuit, time-tested and proven material that would light up the most hard-bitten of audiences. While the debut’s follow-up, Couldn’t Stand The Weather, often sounds half-baked, Texas Flood by comparison – although recorded over the span of only two short days – is fully-realized and full of energy.

While Stevie Ray and Double Trouble wouldn’t really hit their full creative stride until 1989’s In Step, they were seldom anything but brilliant on the stage. The band’s live reputation, combined with the power and strength of its stunning debut album, would jump-start a commercial blues revival that continues, in admittedly lesser form, to this day. Texas Flood represents Stevie Ray Vaughan’s debut as a bluesman, as an influential guitarist, and as an icon in a manner unlike any recording since John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton introduced “Slowhand” to Britain. Texas Flood was, and will always remain, a blues-rock classic… (Legacy Recordings, released January 29th, 2013)

Buy the CD from Amazon: Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood (Legacy Edition)

The View On Pop Culture: Mick Jagger, Radiohead, Stevie Ray Vaughan, MOJO 1000 (2002)

V2.18

As the highly visible frontman for rock hall-o-famers the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger has an artistic identity that rivals any in popular music. Yet most of Jagger’s solo efforts have been designed to distance the artist from his legendary image. As shown by Goddess In the Doorway (Virgin Records), Jagger’s fourth solo album and his first since 1993, distance isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Recording with a veritable “who’s who” of contemporary hitmakers like Lenny Kravitz, Rob Thomas, Missy Elliott, and Wyclef Jean, Jagger has delivered a high-spirited collection of radio-friendly tunes that are as far away from the Stones as Mick can get. A literal buffet of musical styles, Jagger mixes dance tracks, reggae rhythms and slashing rock riffs on outstanding cuts like “Visions of Paradise,” “God Gave Me Everything” and “Brand New Set of Rules.” Although nothing on Goddess In the Doorway will make you forget the Stones, Jagger’s latest is an earnest effort towards a modern sound with tracks that are fresh and lively.  

Virtually ignored by the British rock press at the time of their 1993 debut album, England’s Radiohead would later be crowned the saviors of rock ‘n’ roll by an enthusiastic music media. About the time of their coronation, though, the band released an album of experimental electronica titled Kid A, completely confusing fans and critics alike. Radiohead’s I Might Be Wrong (Capitol) is an eight-song mini-album of live recordings, collecting performances of songs from Kid A and its more rock-oriented artistic bookend, Amnesiac. Mixing electronic rhythms and rock riffs, I Might Be Wrong captures the best of both the albums it draws from. Sort of like an authorized bootleg, the sound quality varies and performances are stitched together haphazardly, resulting in a disconcerting ambiance that is at once both alluring and maddening. The disc closes with the enchanting and bittersweet “True Love Waits,” an unreleased gem that hints at Radiohead’s possible future direction.

When Stevie Ray Vaughan took the stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 17, 1983, few watching could have expected the subsequent events his performance that night would inspire. The relatively unknown Stevie Ray and his seasoned band delivered a red-hot set of Texas blues to an indifferent and hostile audience. Sitting in the crowd that night, however, was a thoroughly impressed David Bowie, who provided an artistic “coming out” for Vaughan by later using the six-string wizard on his highly-successful Let’s Dance album. Jackson Browne, who also witnessed Vaughan’s incendiary Montreux performance, provided free studio time for SRV and Double Trouble to record their debut album, the ground breaking Texas Flood.

With a pair of critically acclaimed, best-selling albums providing his credentials, Vaughan recreated the blues-rock genre and kick-started a blues revival that continues today. Two years after his Montreux debut, Stevie Ray returned to the festival stage as a conquering hero. This time, the young guitarist delivered another smoking set to a far more receptive crowd than previously. Both historic performances are paired on Live At Montreux, 1983 & 1985 (Epic/Legacy), a scorching two-disc set that showcases Vaughan’s considerable live chops and further cements his legacy as one of the greatest guitarists ever.

Listening to these two live performances – one as a brash, youthful guitarslinger and the other as a maturing, confident artist – one can hear strains of Vaughan’s artistic lineage, masters such as Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, and Lightning Hopkins. You’ll also hear signature songs such as “Pride and Joy” and “Texas Flood,” refined from show to show, performed alongside such gems as “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” and a cover of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child.” Much of the material on Live At Montreux, 1983 & 1985 is previously unreleased, the set complimented by extensive liner notes and rare photos. Vaughan’s accidental death in 1990, while on the verge of even greater success, robbed the music world of an incredibly gifted guitarist. If you’re unfamiliar with the brilliant blues-rock of this legend, these inspired Montreux sessions serve as an excellent introduction to Stevie’s world.        

England’s Mojo magazine has long enjoyed a reputation among rock cognoscenti as the journal of note for pop music. Not as trend-driven as most of the British music press, Mojo mixes contemporary artists and historical perspective to deliver a consistently entertaining and informative read. It was based on the magazine’s rep that I coughed up the $11 for MOJO 1000, an odd-sized, 172-page paperback sub-titled “the ultimate CD buyer’s guide” by its publisher. The scope of the guide is breathtaking, offering up capsule reviews and cover pictures of hundreds of albums in the rock, soul, blues, country and other genres as well as brief overviews of significant artists such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash.

Better executed than similar attempts by American counterparts such as Spin magazine or Rolling Stone, the MOJO 1000 nevertheless overlooks many significant works. Although I can accept the book’s Anglo-orientation – Mojo is a British music magazine, after all – some of the most glaring omissions need redressing. The country music section is long on current “alt-country” artists and ignores talents like David Allan Coe, Guy Clark, and Loretta Lynn in favor of dubious CD choices from Beck and the Jayhawks. The reggae section omits influential artists such as Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff while Joan Baez is completely missing from the folk listing. Despite its flaws, MOJO 1000 is a heavy read, offering the veteran record collector and neophyte alike a load of information. I expect to use the guide quite a bit during the next year or so, or at least until they publish a “Mojo 1200.” (The View On Pop Culture, January 2002)

Archive Review: Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Hurricane (2014)

Many think that the growing fascination with vinyl records by music lovers is nothing more than the hipster trend du jour. But as sales of vinyl LPs continues to grow from year to year and the major vinyl pressing plants expand their operations, it’s clear that the old fashioned record album isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, if the so-called industry pundits and prophets took the time to talk to a few fans in the 15-25 year old demographic, they’d realize that there’s a growing dissatisfaction with modern music formats like crappy mp3 files. Young listeners just discovering their fave new bands are addressing this dissatisfaction by (re)turning to vinyl.

The major labels have begun to wise up somewhat, releasing a few classic titles on vinyl, trying to catch up with those forward-thinking indie labels that have been releasing new music in multiple formats for several years now. Jack White’s Third Man Records label has become a trend-setter in this regard with its dazzling array (and constant stream) of 45rpm records, live LPs, and vinyl blues reissues (Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell, and the Mississippi Sheiks’ Paramount Records catalogs). The mainstream blues world has been underserved so far, an oversight that is somewhat redeemed by the release of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s Texas Hurricane on vinyl by Chad Kassem’s Analogue Productions.

Texas Hurricane

Vaughan’s Texas Hurricane is a six-album box set that revisits the beloved guitarist’s studio recordings, beginning with 1983’s Texas Flood and including the following year’s sophomore effort, Couldn’t Stand the Weather; 1985’s Soul To Soul; 1989’s In Step; 1990’s Family Style, a collaboration with brother Jimmie Vaughan; and The Sky Is Crying, an odds ‘n’ sods collection of unreleased studio tracks released in 1991, shortly after Vaughan’s death. Each album has been carefully re-mastered from the original half-inch analog master tapes and masterfully etched into thick, high-quality 200 gram vinyl.

To say that Texas Flood was a revelation upon its release would be an understatement. Blues music had all but assumed room temperature by ’83, and although bands like the Nighthawks, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, and Roomful of Blues cracked the door open a bit, it was SRV and his Double Trouble gang – veteran bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton – that would kick it in, smash all the windows, and paint the walls blue. While original songs like “Love Struck Baby” and “Pride and Joy” struck a chord with blues-starved fans, covers of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Tell Me” and Buddy Guy’s “Mary Had A Little Lamb” cemented Vaughan’s blues bona fides. Texas Hurricane recaptures the magic of that debut album’s original ten songs with vibrant sound and remarkable clarity.  

Couldn’t Stand The Weather

Texas Flood inched into the Top 40 on its way to double Platinum™ sales status, opening up the blues world to mainstream audiences and setting the stage for subsequent successes by talents like Robert Cray and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Many questioned what Stevie Ray would do for an encore, and he answered with 1984’s Couldn’t Stand the Weather. Although the album is, perhaps, a notch less revolutionary than its predecessor, it further showcased the guitarist’s immense skills. With only eight songs, Vaughan had to make a case for his stardom, something he achieved with the blues monster “Cold Shot,” recorded as a favor to his mentor, songwriter and bluesman W.C. Clark. Dynamic instrumentals like “Scuttle Buttin’” and “Stang’s Swang” highlight Vaughan’s jazzy, B.B. King/Lonnie Johnson influences while a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” pushes the song into the stratosphere.

Life was moving pretty fast for Vaughan in the mid-1980s: Couldn’t Stand the Weather improved slightly but markedly upon the debut’s chart position, hitting #31 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. Videos from both albums were in heavy rotation on MTV and the band touring constantly. With the 1985 release of Soul To Soul, Vaughan expanded his band, adding keyboardist Reese Wynans, and his sound, by incorporating greater soul and R&B influences into his gutbucket blues sound. Vaughan still struggled to come up with original material, although the Southern funk of “Say What” has since taken on classic status, and by enlisting Texas music icon Doyle Bramhall to pen a couple of raucous numbers, Vaughan cleverly sidestepped the songwriting question. Covers of the Hank Ballard gem “Little Sister” and Willie Dixon’s “You’ll Be Mine” round out a solid album that nonetheless felt like a step backwards.   

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s In Step     

 
Part of the problem with Soul To Soul’s backsliding can be attributed to developing chemistry with Wynans, but the lion’s share of the blame can be laid directly at Vaughan’s feet. His growing drug and alcohol abuse threatened to derail his career, and after a minor accident in 1986, Vaughan entered rehab and took a couple years away from the fray. By the time he returned, with 1989’s classic In Step, Vaughan had found both sobriety and his songwriting voice, co-writing four tunes for the album with Bramhall while applying his newfound vision to covers like Buddy Guy’s “Leave My Girl Alone” and Willie Dixon’s “Let Me Love You Baby.” Originals like “Tightrope” and “Wall of Denial” highlight the artist’s freedom from addiction, while the group-written “Crossfire” would top the rock chart and become a fan favorite. In Step earned Vaughan his first Grammy® Award for “Best Contemporary Blues Album.”

Sadly, In Step was fated to be Vaughan’s last album with Double Trouble. Released in June 1989, slightly more than a year later the guitarist would meet his tragic, accidental death. Before that sad day in August 1990, though, Vaughan would fulfill a lifelong dream by recording an album with his older brother Jimmie. Credited to The Vaughan Brothers, Family Style was produced by Nile Rodgers (with whom Vaughan worked, pre-fame, on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance album) and recorded in Memphis. By eschewing the use of either guitarist’s bands – although they did include friends like Bramhall and former Thunderbirds bassist Preston Hubbard – the brothers achieved a fresh sound that mimicked neither man’s previous album but broke new ground with its mix of blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll.     

The Sky Is Crying    

Although Family Style is often overlooked in favor of other albums from either artist’s catalogs, Stevie Ray and Jimmie sound like they’re having a great time together and Rodgers’ steady hand on the console enhances the funky strut inherent in the performances, and the mix of covers and originals blends together almost seamlessly. The brothers would earn hits with both the Bramhall/Stevie Ray co-write “Telephone Song” and the Jimmie Vaughan/Nile Rodgers’ track “Tick Tock.” Released a month after Stevie Ray’s death, Family Style shot up the charts to peak at #7 on its way to multi-Platinum™ status and a pair of Grammy® Awards for the brothers.

The posthumously-released final Stevie Ray studio album The Sky Is Crying is a collection of studio outtakes and alternate takes culled from across Vaughan’s meteoric but too-short career. Put together by brother Jimmie, the heart of the album is the guitarist’s incredible take on Elmore James’ title track, “The Sky Is Crying.” Overall, the album is an excellent representation of both Stevie Ray’s musical influences as well as his incredible dexterity as a performer and instrumentalist. From the howlin’ country funk of Lonnie Mack’s “Wham” and the muscular blues-rock of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” to the jazz-flaked instrumental “Chitlins con Carne” and impressive originals like “Empty Arms,” The Sky Is Crying was not only a fitting swansong for the beloved guitarist, but a comprehensive and creative album in its own right that would earn Vaughan another pair of Grammy® Awards.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

What’s not to like about Texas Hurricane? The six individual albums are all pressed on luxurious high-quality vinyl, thick slabs o’ black wax with deep grooves that capture every bit of the music with unbelievable, crystalline clarity. Each 12” hockey puck is lovingly wrapped in an archival quality, non-scratching, anti-static sleeve that is subsequently slipped into full-sized cardboard sleeves. Not some cheap-o, cheap-o simple reproduction, but a wonderful gatefold sleeve sporting the original cover artwork in brilliant full color, song lyrics, rare photos, and full credits. The albums are packaged in a giant-sized box with faux-leather graphics and the set includes a 24-page, album-sized booklet with (a lot) more photos, and insightful liner notes for each album penned by Guitar World magazine Senior Editor Andy Aledort.

The music stands on its own merits – Stevie Ray Vaughan forever influenced the evolution of blues guitar and extended the music’s popularity to the present day. With its obsessive attention to quality in all aspects, the presentation provided these classic albums by Texas Hurricane fits the status of the music itself. While a pricey box set like Texas Hurricane may appeal mostly to the well-heeled fan or hardcore collector, it’s definitely worth the money if you have the coin…this is Stevie Ray Vaughan as you’ve never heard him before. (Analogue Productions, released April 8, 2014)

Archive Review: Stevie Ray Vaughan's Live At Montreux, 1983 & 1985 (2001)

When Stevie Ray Vaughan took the stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 17, 1983, few watching could have expected the subsequent events his performance that night would inspire. The relatively unknown Stevie Ray and his seasoned band delivered a red-hot set of Texas blues to an indifferent and hostile audience. Sitting in the crowd that night, however, was a thoroughly impressed David Bowie, who provided an artistic “coming out” for Vaughan by later using the six-string wizard on his highly-successful Let’s Dance album. Jackson Browne, who also witnessed Vaughan’s incendiary Montreux performance, provided free studio time for SRV and Double Trouble to record their debut album, the ground breaking Texas Flood.

With a pair of critically acclaimed, best-selling albums providing his credentials, Vaughan recreated the blues-rock genre and kick-started a blues revival that continues today. Two years after his Montreux debut, Stevie Ray returned to the festival stage as a conquering hero. This time, the young guitarist delivered another smoking set to a far more receptive crowd than previously. Both historic performances are paired on Live At Montreux, 1983 & 1985, a scorching two-disc set that showcases Vaughan’s considerable live chops and further cements his legacy as one of the greatest guitarists ever.

Listening to these two live performances – one as a brash, youthful guitarslinger and the other as a maturing, confident artist – one can hear strains of Vaughan’s artistic lineage, masters such as Albert King, Jimi Hendrix and Lightning Hopkins. You’ll also hear signature songs such as “Pride and Joy” and “Texas Flood,” refined from show to show, performed alongside such gems as “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” and a cover of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child.” Much of the material on Live At Montreux, 1983 & 1985 is previously unreleased, the set complimented by extensive liner notes and rare photos. Vaughan’s accidental death in 1990, while on the verge of even greater success, robbed the music world of an incredibly gifted guitarist. If you’re unfamiliar with the brilliant blues-rock of this legend, these inspired Montreux sessions serve as an excellent introduction to Stevie’s world. (Legacy Recordings, released 2001)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™, 2001

 

Gordon's Blues Guides now available for your eBook reader!!!

Some of you know, but a lot of you might not, but the Reverend loves the blues. Your humble music critic and historian has been enamored of the blues since I was a wee teen spinning Furry Lewis sides on a portable turntable. I've covered the blues for most of the 44 years that I've been writing about music, and spent 6 1/2 years as the "Blues Guide" for About.com as well as contributing to The Blues magazine in the U.K. and Blues Music magazine here in the states.

Along the way, I've learned a lot about the blues, and I've put that knowledge to good use, creating three of these Gordon's Blues Guides eBooks for new and veteran fans alike to get more info on the key artists in their respective blues styles. All of the Reverend's eBooks are available for the Kindle from Amazon.com as well as from iTunes and Barnes & Noble's Nook store (if you look for 'em).

With the publication of Blues-Rock, the Rev's third book in the series (watch for a contemporary blues guide in 2016!), we thought it only fair that we recap the series with a list of all of the Rev's eBooks in the hopes that we can convince you to lay down some hard coin on one or more of these entertaining, educational tomes (links in titles to Amazon.com Kindle store):

Blues-Rock: Gordon's Blues Guides, Volume Three
Blues-Rock (1960s-2010s) is the third volume of Gordon's Blues Guides, a concise and informative primer on this popular sub-genre of the blues, from its formation in the early 1960s through the present day. The guide provides a brief history of early blues-rock bands along with a list of key artists with biographies and recommended recordings. (165pp, $3.49)

Chicago Blues: Gordon's Blues Guides, Volume Two
Chicago Blues (1940s-1960s) is the second volume of Gordon's Blues Guides, a quick and easy primer on the Chicago blues style from the 1940s through the 1960s. The guide provides a brief history of the early days of the city's blues scene, a list of key artists with biographies, and recommended recordings as well as an overview of Chicago-based record labels and a "blues glossary." (78pp, $2.99)

Delta Blues: Gordon's Blues Guides, Volume One
Delta Blues is the first volume of Gordon's Blues Guides, a quick and easy primer on the Mississippi Delta blues music of the 1920s and '30s. The guide provides a brief history of the music, a list of the key artists with biographies, and recommended recordings. (43pp, $1.99)

Stevie Ray Vaughan Buying Guide
The Stevie Ray Vaughan Buying Guide is an illustrated, album by album overview of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist’s too-brief career including a condensed artist biography, a discography with complete song listings, and even a select discography of bootleg albums, all compiled by the Rev. Keith A. Gordon, former About.com Blues Guide. As a bonus, the Reverend also includes his reviews of several of Vaughan's albums, including the seminal Texas Flood and In Session, with blues legend Albert King. (94pp, $2.99)

Frank Zappa Buying Guide
During his lifetime and a musical career that spanned five decades, Frank Zappa released almost 60 albums of rock, jazz-rock, and classical music. The Frank Zappa Buying Guide is an album by album guide to navigating the often daunting Zappa catalog, with color cover photos for each album, as well as descriptions, band history, and much more for the Zappa fan or newcomer alike. (92pp, $2.99)