Rolling Stone Album Guide

 

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Here is what David McGee writes in the Rolling Stone Album Guide, (1992),
New York, Random House, p. 736:

Among the generation of blues guitarists who came of age in the early ‘80s, only Robert Cray approaches Stevie Ray Vaughan’s skill and influence, with Vaughan’s brother Jimmie probably sneaking in there as well on the strength of his powerful work with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. To be sure, though, Vaughan kicked the latest blues revival into high gear with his first two albums, Texas Flood and Couldn’t Stand the Weather, which came out of nowhere to become bestsellers in the midst of a rock world being consumed by techno-pop.

Texas Flood pays its debts to traditional Texas blues and R&B, sounding a tad muddy, the better to experience the slice-and-dice solos Vaughan delivers. Stylistically, Vaughan was a true eclectic whose hard-driving, steely sound achieved individuality while incorporating quotes from Herbert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, T-Bone Walker, Lonnie Mack, Albert Collins, B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix. That’s a broad palette, but it also shows how Vaughan built on the best influences to express the emotional extremes of his songs.

Couldn't Stand the Weather finds Vaughan broadening out a bit beyond R&B to include a stirring rendition of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” and a Charlie Christian-Kenny Burrell flavor on the jazz-tinged “Stang’s Swang.”

Soul to Soul represents Vaughan’s and Double Trouble’s great leap forward. First the addition of keyboardist Reese Wynans expands the sound, adding textural possibilities. Wynans makes his presence felt most dramatically on a version of Hank Ballard’s “Look at Little Sister.” Vaughan shows more facility with melody in his song writing, producing his first outstanding ballad in “Life Without Love.” Vaughan had a tender side that he could express effectively with either a delicate vocal or pained guitar solo.

Live Alive sums up the first part of Vaughan’s career in a rousing live set recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival and in Austin and Dallas. Of note is Jimmie Vaughan’s special guest appearance on four tracks cut in Austin.

In Step, Vaughan’s last studio album, collects more well-turned Vaughan originals, along with a tasty selection of Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon covers. Vaughan’s “Crossfire” is one of his peak solo turns in a pure, gut-wrenching style.

The lovingly assembled posthumous album, The Sky Is Crying, contains ten studio performances recorded between 1984 and 1989, with only one track, “Empty Arms,” having appeared on a previous Vaughan album (Soul to Soul), and that in a different version. Whether by design or accident the tunes offer a good overview of Vaughan’s stylistic range. Most pronounced are the nods to Albert King, but there are also touches of Kenny Burrell (whose “Chitlins Con Carne” is covered), Hubert Sumlin, Lonnie Mack (“Wham”, a Mack classic) and of course Hendrix (“Little Wing”) . A somber note closes the album, “Life by the Drop”, Vaughan’s first recorded acoustic solo. It’s a moment you don’t want to end. But it does.

Album	Rating
Texas Flood	***
Couldn't Stand the Weather	***
Soul to Soul	****
Live Alive	****
In Step	***
The Sky Is Crying	****