Monday, May 27, 2013

Thirty Years To The Day

Man, where did the time go? What were you doing in 1983? . . . If you appreciated good music you were glad Disco was finally dying and Glam Rock was being phased out as well. I looked at MTV with my kids in disgust hoping to see signs of the next Hendrix, Cream, or The Doors, only to be disappointed by Pop and more and more Pop music. However something was happening out in the western USA I was totally unaware of! A Texas Flood was coming. Yes in between Boy George and Duran Duran , the Blues was alive and well in the form of a guitar slinger, a young man from Austin Texas; Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Thanks to Jackson Browne, David Bowie and the late John Hammond we were graced to get about seven years of the best Guitar driven blues we ever had! Hindsight is 20/20, and I don't know about you, but I didn't realize at the time (1983) what I was hearing and seeing  with SRV and Double Trouble, but I sure do now and millions more have listened to the legend. After it is said and done, there is no doubt in my mind that Stevie Ray and Jimi Hendrix are blood brothers that transcend nearly all other players.
So, here we are 30 years later and the Legacy Edition of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's debut album: Texas Flood is released as a double CD set full of extras only a SRV fan will appreciate. The original album is on the first CD along with bonus track: Tin Pan Alley. The second CD is a previously unreleased live performance of SRV and Double Trouble at Ripley's Music Hall in Philadelphia PA. Good stuff!
Recently I re -read the 1993 best selling book: Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught In The Crossfire by Joe Nick Patuski and Bill Crawford. I thoroughly enjoyed it the first time and appreciated it even more this time around, as it is a great read, giving you the candid look into the good and bad times Stevie Ray endured only to loose his life in the tragic helicopter crash in 1990. I recommend reading the book then listening to Texas Flood with a nice set of headphones as soon as you get the chance.  




 

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