4
"Live Alive"
Stevie Ray Vaughan and
Double Trouble
Epic Records
★★★★
Stevie Ray Vaughan
has the uncanny ability to
make his beat up old
Fender Stratocaster guitar
sound like a typical Texas
good ol’ boy who, after
putting in a long week’s
work out at the oil field, is
ready to go into town,
drink a lot of beer, shoot a
few games of pool, look
for someone to spend the
night with, and get in a
fight with whoever looks
like they need their butt
kicked.
Texas blues is a
distinctive musical style
and few people can play
the Texas blues like
Vaughan. Vaughan had
been playing in bars and
clubs for years until he got
his big break in 1983 and
was hired to play lead
guitar on David Bowie’s
“Let’s Dance” album.
Later that year Vaughan
released his first album,
“Texas Flood,” with his
band Double Trouble:
bassist Tommy Shannon
and drummer Chris
“Whipper” Layton.
Vaughan and Double
Trouble released another
album, “Couldn’t Stand
the Weather,” in 1984
and began playing large
cities throughout the
United States, including a
critically-acclaimed
concert at New York’s
Carnegie Hall. In 1985,
Reese Wynans was added
to the band to play organ,
piano and occasional
synthesizer. (ZZ Top take
note: synthesizers have no
place in real Texas blues
music). Vaughan and the
new Double Trouble
released “Soul to Soul”
that same year.
Although “Texas
Rood, ” “Couldn’t Stand
the Weather” and “Soul
to Soul ” are great albums,
they don’t capture the full
extent of Vaguhan’s
talents as a performer.
Anyone who has seen
Vaughan in concert must
been slightly disappointed
by Vaughan’s albums.
“Live Alive” is an attempt
to capture the spirit of
Vaughan’s live shows.
The only main
difference between the
live versions of the songs
“Say What!,” “Ain’t Gone
’N’ Give Up on Love,”
“Pride and Joy, ” “Cold
Shot, ” “Look at Little
Sister,” “Texas Rood,”
“Love Struck Baby,”
“Change It” and “Life
Without You, ” and the
album versions, is that
Vaughan jams out for a
little while longer during
his solos. Only “Mary Had
a Little Lamb,” a
devilishly cool version of
the old nursery rhyme
originally included on the
“Texas Rood” album,
and Jimi Hendrix’s
“Voodoo Chile (Slight
Return),” with its
superlong psychedelic
solo, are changed
significantly from the
album versions.
Vaughan’s version of
Stevie Wonder’s
“Superstition” has a
wonderfully funky
combination of guitar and
keyboards. The covers of
“I’m Leaving You
(Commit a Crime)” and
“Willie the Wimp” are
also pretty hot.
Stevie’s brother,
Fabulous Thunderbirds
guitarist Jimmie Vaughan,
jams along with Double
Trouble on “Willie the
Wimp, ” “Look at Little
Sister,’’“Love Struck
Baby” and “Change It. ”
The Vaughan brothers
make up an almost
unbeatable guitar team.
If you have never seen
Vaughan live, “Live
Alive” will give you a
good hint at his incredible
skills. But no album, live
or not, can capture the
true feeling you get when
you see Vaughan on
stage.
—Review by Karl
Pallmeyer
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