Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
The Complete Epic Recordings Collection–Sampler
Epic/Legacy
by David Chiu
This year would have marked blues guitar great Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 60th birthday. And even though his professional recording career only spanned seven years, Vaughan amassed such impressive and electrifying that would rival his peers and wanna-be guitar slingers. To mark the milestone of the legend, Epic Records is putting out a new box set featuring SRV’s studio and live output as well as A Legend in the Making: Live at the El Mocambo, a performance from 1983 that had been only available as a promo-only release. This sampler – a greatest hits in itself – from the box provided to press folks represents just a tiny fraction of Vaughan and Double Trouble’s outstanding body of work, and it wisely includes most of the man’s key highlights, which have since been staples on classic rock radio: from the barn burners in “Crossfire,” “Pride and Joy,” and Rude Mood; through some mean blues in “Texas Flood” and “Cold Shot”; to the reflective ballads in “Life Without You” and “The Sky is Crying.” There are also some interesting live performance discoveries off this sampler, including a dance-funk version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and a burning cover of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” which he had done in studio for Couldn’t Stand the Weather. If you want to find out why this artist was recently nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this box set of blues rock heaven provides a mammoth explanation.
Contents:
In The Beginning
Live At Montreux 1982
Live At Montreux 1985
Texas Flood
A Legend In The Making—Live At The El Mocambo
Couldn’t Stand The Weather
Live At Carnegie Hall
Soul To Soul
Live Alive
In Step
Archives/Disc One
Archives/Disc Two
NewBeats 