Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.
Showing posts with label Stevie Ray Vaughan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stevie Ray Vaughan. Show all posts
Recorded in 1983, first released in 1999, re-released in 2010, then re-re-released in 2024.
Allow me to expand on that: the show was originally recorded live on December 6, 1983, at CHCH-TV studios in Hamilton, Ontario then edited for broadcast. Somebody at the TV studios was thinking and saved the thing. The session was edited and released as a single CD in 1999 then re-released in 2010 with a bonus DVD of the television broadcast. Finally, the full show (in order) was released in a 2 CD set by Stax in 2024 for the album's 25th anniversary. That's the version I'm spinning today. The digisleeve packaging includes a 16 page booklet which reprints liner notes from both the 1999 release and the 2010 re-release. A 4K Blu-Ray upscale of the TV feed would have been a nice bonus, but no dice. Maybe I was just born under a bad sign.
At the In Session taping, 60-year-old Albert ruled over the proceedings like a benevolent father, retaining control while allowing his 29-year-old guest loads of solo space in which to display his awesome command of the electric guitar. Stevie avoided flaunting his prowess, however, and instead delivered some of the most deliciously restrained playing of his career, laying back when his mentor dictated, turning up the heat only when Albert deemed it appropriate. The interplay between the two blues masters is uncannily empathetic, and Albert's fans will find special pleasure in hearing him play rhythm parts at such length. At one point between tunes, Albert complained about problems with his guitar strings, then told Stevie, "I'm about ready to turn it over to you.... I've got to sit back and watch you."
Albert was, in a sense, passing the torch to Stevie. In Session is the only known recording of Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan performing together. Its long-overdue commercial release stands as a fitting tribute to the genius of two of the greatest musicians ever to have played the blues on electric guitar.
The only known recording of Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan performing together. Simply put, it's well worth your time.
Tracks: King's Born Under A Bad Sign is a stone cold classic and it leads things off and you immediately hear how well King's vocals and Vaughan's guitar mesh. Other top tracks on the first CD are Pride And Joy and Blues At Sunrise. From Disc 2: Overall Junction, Match Box Blues, and Don't Lie To Me. But this is the rare live 2 disc set you'll want to hear from top-to-bottom.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Last month, I was listening to a SRV greatest hits disc and wrote these words:
As I listen to this wonderful compilation disc this morning, it occurs to me that instead of this album and the previous greatest hits CD, I should really own the full albums from which these songs sprung. I will be working on that - some box sets just caught my eye.
As it should be, this debut album is essentially a recreation of the trio's stage show of the time. By 1983, they'd be playing together for a while, so the playing is clean and energetic. This was groundbreaking stuff at the time - blues was a dying genre, no longer hip, and this white boy from Texas was adding new punch to the style of his influences, most notably Albert King. While he often wore his influences on his sleeve, he definitely created his own characteristic sound. Early critics couldn't hear it - here's what Kurt Loder wrote in his ★★★ Rolling Stone review (RS402):
Stevie Ray can't write–and we all know how boring white blues can become without some semblance of a tune upon which to hang all the pyrotechnics. Stevie Ray does his thing well, but essentially, it's somebody else's thing.
To compare SRV to earlier guitarists is completely missing the point - he was bringing this music to fresh, young ears that had seldom heard Hendrix or any guitar player with the last name King. In 1983, I was certainly in that group.
It's hard to pick favorites, but today I'll go with Pride And Joy, Testify, the cover of Buddy Guy's Mary Had A Little Lamb, I'm Cryin', and the beautiful non-blues ballad written for Stevie Ray's wife, Lenny. Also included are five bonus tracks, including three spirited live cuts recorded in Hollywood in September 1983.
COULDN'T STAND THE WEATHER (1984)
13 tracks, 55 minutes
More of the same (same band, same producers, same formula) and that's not a bad thing. Some of the cuts are very good (the title track, Cold Shot, Stang's Swang) while the rest are enjoyable. The cover of Hendrix's Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) cuts a little too close to the original for my tastes. I knew of SRV from Bowie's Let's Dance album, but my first exposure to his own work was this video which I caught on MTV from time to time:
Love that bass line and rhythm guitar. In addition to the video, my buddy Jim had this album and played it for me but I was too much of a wannabe New Waver at the time to give it much of a chance. Live and learn.
Other than a brief interview excerpt, the bonus tracks are all fun, raw blues covers that are welcome additions to the disc.
Loder didn't like this one either, giving it just ★★ in RS 429. I prefer Robert Christgau's characterization of this album: "a roadhouse album with gargantuan sonic imagination." Let's go with that. Think my local roadhouse would mind if I made it a BYOCD joint?
In the fall of 1985, I was driving the Markmobile around my little college town and a tune from this album came on the radio; it was probably Look At Little Sister, but I'm just guessing. I immediately drove to Wal-Mart (one of only two places in town to buy music) and bought this cassette. I heard the opening instrumental track, Say What!, was immediately hooked, and the tape didn't leave my car for the rest of the year. SRV added keyboards and saxes to the mix on this album and that change in instrumentation was just enough to fully catch my attention. You never forget your first, so this is by far my favorite Double Trouble album and I'm embarrassed it wasn't on my shelves until recently. As a result, I like all the tunes on this one, especially what was side one (tracks 1-5).
As for the bonus tracks, I don't really understand what the label was trying to do with the inclusion of these interview clips, but I can easily skip over those. Then we get 13½ minutes of some jamming to Jimi Hendrix covers and a brief original blues boogie. I'll stick to the original 10 tracks for this one.
I was so disappointed in 1986's Live Alive album that I neglected to purchase In Step at the time of release. In my defense, I was job hunting and getting married that summer. Even so, I should have gone back and picked this one up because it is fantastic. As with Soul To Soul, the production is polished but not too much so, the band is on point, and the addition is keyboardist Reese Wynans to the group is still very welcomed indeed - I'm glad Stevie Ray stuck with that instrumentation. SRV had recently sobered up and the benefits to his songwriting is apparent - he finally started blending blues with rock and pop tropes. Heck, even Rolling Stone finally liked this one, calling it SRV's "most consistent and rewarding LP in years" (RS 567/568).
If the boogieing opener The House Is Rockin' doesn't get your blood pumping, you and me have problems. And it bookends perfectly with the beautiful instrumental Riviera Paradise that closes out the album. The lyrics are a little too positive for straight up blues, but that's where SRV was in his life so that's what he wrote about. The bonus tracks include 4 great live performances from what I'm guessing was SRV's final tour.
This just in: Stevie Ray was a helluva guitar player. There's nothing to skip on this here album. Period.
THE SKY IS CRYING (1991)
10 tracks, 39 minutes
Peak on the US Billboard 200: #10
Released about one year after Vaughan's death in 1990, this album, compiled by brother Jimmie, features ten previously unreleased tracks, originally recorded 1984 - 1989. I bought the cassette upon release and immediately fell in love with the Grammy award-winning instrumental cover of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing and the acoustic album closer, Life By The Drop. Those two are still my favorites. Also noteworthy are the title track, Wham, and Chitlins Con Carne. In the spirit of consistency, here's the ★★★★ Rolling Stone review.
In addition to winning Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Little Wing, the album was awarded the Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. This is the only disc in the box that doesn't add bonus tracks, presumably because the whole album is essentially bonus tracks.
As I listen to this wonderful compilation disc this morning, it occurs to me that instead of this album and the previous greatest hits CD, I should really own the full albums from which these songs sprung. I will be working on that - some box sets just caught my eye.
my visit to the SRV memorial statue in Austin, April 2012
SRV will finally be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2 weeks. 'Bout time; he's been eligible since 2008. Sheesh.
Book reviews aren't within the scope of this blog, but I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford's fantastic 1993 biography: Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught in the Crossfire. No, you can't have my copy because I've just decided to re-read it this weekend.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #53
Tracks: Lots of bang for your buck - 16 tracks, 72 minutes. It's all good, but if I had to pick a favorite today, it would be Life By The Drop. I also like songs from SRV's 1985 album, Soul To Soul as that was the first blues record (cassette, actually) that I ever bought. Plus, I'm partial to instrumentals like Scuttle Buttin', Lenny, Riviera Paradise, and Pipeline (with Dick Dale). Couple of good covers on here, too.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: As one progresses through a teaching career, one comes in contact with many boneheaded administrators (disclaimer: not all administrators are boneheads, it just seems that way sometimes). At one of my teaching stops, one such administrator requested that I illegally burn him a copy of some Stevie Ray Vaughan. Wanting a good evaluation, I did as I was told. Said disc included tracks from this CD.
Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.
Ahhhh, some blues boogie grooves do this Texas boy a world of good. A labor of love between two brothers joined with the brilliance of producer Nile Rodgers. Jimmie is a better vocalist than Stevie Ray, but Stevie Ray is a better guitarist than Jimmie. So it all works out. It might be sacrilegious to say this, but this is my favorite SRV album simply because it's more R&B pop without being straight up blues. The album won a couple of Grammy awards, but didn't come close to having a Top 40 hit (Tick Tock peaked at 65). A pure road trip album - this is perfect for speeding down the highway with the windows down, volume at 11.
Peak on the US Billboard 200 chart: #7
Tracks: All 10 tracks are great fun for me to hear; I don't skip anything. I'm not saying it's the best track, but my favorite is the instrumental Hillbillies From Outerspace. My other top tracks are White Boots, Long Way From Home, and Telephone Song. I never understood the decision to release Tick Tock as the album's lead single since its soulful sound, while very enjoyable, is much different than every other track on the album. That must have surprised a lot of people that bought the album hoping to hear more along the lines of that track.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: When I originally bought this tape, I was living in a small town that had two stores where one could purchase music: Wal-Mart on the east side of town and K-Mart on the south side of town. For a brief time, a local independent record shop opened across the street from the Sonic. I really wanted the store to make it, so I went in one afternoon and bought a few items, including this tape. By the time I went back for more a few weeks later, it had closed.
The aforementioned Hillbillies From Outerspace was once used as background music for my answering machine message back in a time when I was meticulously creative about such things. You remember the huge answering machines with the two little cassette tapes, don't you?
I'd like to tell you the story about myself as the übercool Texas teenager who discovered SRV when he was first starting out and bought all his early albums as they were released. I'd like to, but I can't. The truth is that, for a couple of years, I only knew of Vaughan as the guitarist on Let's Dance, a forward-thinking combination of guitarists SRV and Nile Rodgers (but such is the genius of Bowie). In any case, there's no doubt that the man could tear up the guitar. In many reviews of Vaughan's work, the word "incendiary" is ubiquitous and rightfully so - I think it is the best adjective for SRV's playing. In any case, this compilation captures all the sound and fury of Vaughan's playing. I'm in agreement with critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine over at AllMusic:
Stevie Ray Vaughan was a great guitarist, but he had trouble making consistent albums. Greatest Hits rectifies that problem by collecting all of his best-known tracks, from "Pride and Joy" to "Crossfire." Not only is it a terrific introduction, it's his most consistent album, demonstrating exactly why he was one of the most important guitarists of the '80s.
Vaughan was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #39
Tracks: Over the years, I've come to appreciate them all. My choices for top tracks today are The House Is Rockin', Crossfire, and Couldn't Stand The Weather (I always liked the video for this one with the band playing in a downpour). The extended instrumental cover of Jimi Henrdix's Little Wing is gorgeous - more smoldering than incendiary. The only song that I don't like much is Change It.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Vaughan's 1985 album, Soul To Soul, may be the first blues album I ever bought. I'm certain it was that album that taught me I love the blues, but only in small doses. Despite several attempts, I've never been able to pull off a look that included a knock-off of SRV's flat-brimmed hat.
