Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - The Sky is Crying
Listen to a condensed version of this review by Greg
There is no one, I mean no one who plays guitar like Stevie Ray Vaughn. The age-old argument has always been, Jimi or Stevie. Who do you pick? To many, there is no contest. For others, they believe there can be a debate. For me, I bow to the first King, Mr. James Marshall (Jimi) Hendrix. But on October 3rd, 1954, the second King was born in Dallas, Texas. Stephen Ray Vaughan (Stevie) began playing guitar at the age of 7.
His older brother, Jimmie Vaughan, played a major influence on Stevie. Stevie wanted to be just like him. What bonded the brothers together was blues music. Most of you know what the blues is, or what it represents. The blues is a musical form that was created out of the United States in the deep southern part of the country around the time of the late 1860s. It is a style that represents the true heartache and oppression that African Americans experienced from the time they were brought to America to become slaves through modern day bigotry and prejudice.
This style influenced music and popular culture around the world. In 1972, Stevie dropped out of high school and moved to nearby Austin, Texas. His love for blues music drove him to begin playing clubs around the city. By 1978, Stevie was well established in the Austin music scene, having formed his band Double Trouble and performing at blues and jazz festivals around the country.
The very special thing about the blues is it gives musicians a license. It gives them a license to get the key. The license gets them in the door. But the key is needed to open up that next room. That next room is the room of pure improvisation. Blues music is structured, very structured in fact to enable musicians, especially guitar players to solo. In many cases, these are the greatest solos ever recorded. Blues essentially has 3 chords and four measures, or bars. This structure, or chord progression, is called “12 Bar Blues”. If you are a musician, and you know it, you can apply it to any song allowing you to jam with anyone else who knows it, even if you have never met.
The Sky is Crying was released on November 5th, 1991. It is a compilation record. The album contains studio recordings between 1984 and 1989. They range from up-tempo songs to gritty, dirty Texas and Delta blues. You know that blues where you just make that face? You know that face? It is similar to the face you make when a bright light shines directly in your eye, or you smell something awful. It is an unconscious reaction to the satisfaction that comes with hitting a successful note. The album’s sound quality is well above superb, with Tommy Shannon’s bass lines just crushing your skull, Chris Layton’s drums literally forcing your legs to move, Reese Wynans’ keyboards filling in the extra sound and of course, there is Stevie’s guitar. Oh my God, Stevie’s guitar. I tremble just thinking about his tone. I dare you to listen to this album! Listen to Stevie’s Fender Stratocaster absolutely rip each song apart.
If you are pressed for time, like many of us adults are these days, fast forward to the album’s fourth track, an instrumental cover of Jimi Hendrix’s, Little Wing. How ya doing? This recording changed the way I approached music. I basically threw my hands up and said, that’s it, Stevie’s the best. More on that later. But this song just absolutely tears everything apart that we once knew as the blues and creates something new that I had never heard before.
The album starts out with Boot Hill, a two-minute, fifteen second slow blues track that just warms you up. I absolutely promise you; you do not have to be a big blues fan to appreciate this album. Many people I associate with immediately fall asleep at the thought of long improvisational jams. They like structured, short, to-the-point songs that have that hook. In many cases, they do not even realize when the hook grabs them, it just does. And the rest is history. If you consider yourself part of this group, I am STILL confident you will still enjoy this album.
Track two begins the madness. Stevie’s voice unaccompanied pops into your ear canals. “The Sky is Crying”, he sings as his band, Double Trouble joins in unison to bring you a B.B. King, Buddy Guy bluesy groove. As the groove continues like a car staying on the road during a parade, Stevie’s guitar is that problem child off by himself in the corner in Kindergarten. You know that one eccentric kid that just will not listen to direction and is wreaking havoc? That’s Stevie Ray Vaughan and his masterful Fender Strat.
Empty Arms continues the trend. A bit faster in tempo, this track makes me picture a room full of people jumping up from their seats, grabbing their dance partner and just letting it all out. I can see this song shaking a room apart in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s all through to even today. Whether the crowd is wearing saddle shoes with poodle skirts and leather jackets or baggy jeans with oversized flannel shirts, EVERYONE in every time period is up on the floor dancing.
Wham, the album’s fifth track (no NOT the 80s pop group), speeds everything up again. This is a quick two-minute, twenty-seven second shot of adrenaline placed carefully on the album right after you hear Stevie absolutely destroy Little Wing. Throw this song on really quick. At about the 1:20 mark, Stevie just takes his instrument, reaches out of your speakers and just smacks you in the head with his Fender guitar. Just a smack that leaves you bruised and battered.
May I Have a Talk with You a Howlin’ Wolf cover follows Wham giving you a slower blues tempo. After listening to only a few blues songs, you can pick up the pattern and structure and start to predict where the melody is going. It always ends up on the note (or chord) that it began on. The beauty of this, again, is to lay a foundation for musicians to improvise over top of the rhythm. In the case of Stevie, it is similar to giving an 1890s outlaw a gun, opening the bank vault and saying, “Have at it”!
Dirty. That is the best word that comes to mind when I listen to this album. I am not referring to foul language or inappropriate material. Don’t worry, it is kid safe. Dirty is a word I use sometimes to describe something or someone who is incredibly talented. MJ was dirty! Big Papi’s clutch performance in the 2004 ALCS was friggin’ dirty! Stevie’s guitar playing is…well…you get the picture.
Close to You is a grooving Willie Dixon cover. Dixon’s blues style is considered Chicago Blues, a sub-genre that appeared in the 1950s as a result of the freedom and elation many American’s felt after World War II ended. This type of blues music is described as less “down on your luck” and more “I found my soul mate and I want to sing about it”!
Chitlin’s Con Carne, the album’s eighth track, is another instrumental. Written by Kenny Burrell a 1950s and 60s blues/jazz guitarist, it is a song that I picture being played over a campfire with your favorite libation. As one might expect, Stevie makes this version his own by soloing over every bar and improvising while always staying in the groove, never straying like he does on other tracks.
One of the other few songs written by Vaughan is So Excited. This track is a three-and-a-half-minute instrumental where once again you hear a basic blues swing, that makes you tap your foot. In the 2nd “frame”, Stevie goes berserk on his Strat. By now if you do not have a smile on your face, well, then you should take your own temperature. I can help, I have sixteen thermometers in my house. You can borrow one, just bring it back!
The final track on The Sky is Crying is a special one. While I was deep in the grunge and post 80s metal scene of the early 1990s, I found this album after watching Stevie perform at Austin City Limits, a television program that highlights performances from the longest running live concert TV show in the country. Hosted by PBS, most performances aired during the wee hours of the night. This was usually when I was sitting in my basement on my gray lounge chair, about 3 feet from my TV ready to be influenced and discover new music.
On the afternoon that I picked up this album, I was mesmerized listening to it. But when Life by the Drop played, I realized Stevie Ray Vaughan was not just a guy from Texas with a switchblade as a guitar, but he could also perform sweet, heartfelt music. Life by the Drop is an acoustic song written by Doyle Bramhall, another Austin area musician, and former band member of Stevie’s brother, Jimmy Vaughan. The track just bleeds beauty. Stevie’s voice is angelic. In previous reviews, I have spoken about songs that I heard for the first time while being half-asleep. My mind is in a mental state where I am between wake and sleep, that middle layer, where music is other-worldly. I tend to take vocals literally when I am in this state. The artists lyrics become my reality and for a short period of time, I am living their memory. It is a very special experience.
Life by the Drop is the perfect book end to this album, or any album for that matter. At a quick two-minute, twenty-four second clip, the song hits your heart where it hurts. It makes me think of the early 90s when I was turned on to so much new music and how overwhelming of a time it was. The reason I began this album review journey was to share my experiences I had during this time with anyone who wants to listen. This song also makes me think of how tragic Stevie’s life ended. Like all music Gods that walked the planet at one time, I feel like each one of them had to die a tragic death.
On August 27th, 1990, Stevie and members of Eric Clapton’s touring group, played an All-Star Jam Session at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, in East Troy, Wisconsin. Late that evening, as the show ended, Stevie and four others boarded a Bell 206B helicopter to leave the venue, since there was only one road in and out. The helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff into a nearby skiing hill, killing all five on board. They had only made it three-fifths of a mile from the point of takeoff when they crashed. The FAA later found the pilot of the helicopter learned how to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft, but not in a helicopter. Another tragic, tragic death taking what many called the greatest guitar player of all time. I now think a lot about Stevie’s last moments on that night when I hear this song and it practically brings me to tears, even though we never met.
And so, the greatest guitar player debate will continue for decades. That is what makes it fun. As I mentioned earlier, for many, there is no debate. Jimi Hendrix is the man. But I just ask you to listen to Stevie just tear apart a song, any song and then come talk to me.
So, pick up a copy of this unbelievable album, The Sky is Crying or listen to anything live that Stevie put out. If you are pressed for time, check out this short compilation of live solos by Stevie here https://youtu.be/3m8p2iiplXQ and be ready to get the dustpan and broom out because your brain is going to spill EVERYWHERE when you listen to this. There are many more out there also.
Rest in peace, Stevie. Thank you for everything you gave us.