Stevie Ray Vaughan - guitar, vocals; Chris Layton - drums; Tommy Shannon - bass
Stevie Ray Vaughan was a much-acclaimed session player from Texas when he got hooked up with David Bowie in early 1982. Bowie was in the beginning stages of recording what would be his multi-platinum album, Let's Dance. Once he heard Vaughan and his biting style of blues-drenched guitar, he had to have him. Vaughan agreed to make the album, but when Bowie offered him the 18-month world tour attached to the record, he passed.
Certain he could make it in his own right, Vaughan and his back-up band, Double Trouble, pursued and eventually landed a meaty solo deal with Epic Records. He immediately went in the recording studio and made Texas Flood, a record that reflected the down-home, passionate blues stylings he had become known for in the Lone Star state. He had been playing these songs for years, and he recorded the disc in an astonishing 72 hours. Texas Flood, along with a similar disc from San Francisco's Robert Cray released during the same period, took the struggling blues movement and shot it back into the American Top 40. He returned the following year with Couldn't Stand The Weather, which further enhanced his standing as the hottest blues axeman around.
This show was recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour during his 1984 World Tour, and features a healthy dose of material from both Vaughan albums. Opening with the sassy "Say What," Vaughan launches into his cover of "Testify," an R&B classic originally written and recorded by the Parliaments, featuring a then-unknown George Clinton. Next up is Vaughan's power-drenched rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)." Vaughan is probably one of the few guitarists who could play a Hendrix song and give it the same passionate feel that Jimi himself gave it. This is no exception. Other gems include "Honey Bee," "Mary Had A Little Lamb," "Couldn't Stand The Weather," and "Cold Shot."
Sadly, in a matter of a few years, Vaughan would be dead from a helicopter crash occurring less than an hour after he performed at a Wisconsin blues festival with his close friends, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, and Buddy Guy. His legacy, however, remains very much alive in recordings such as these.