Steve Ray Vaughan’s legacy as a blues, soulful guitarist is finally getting its due with a nomination for entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and The Complete Epic Recordings Collection , a 12-disc set that includes the four albums he recorded in his lifetime with Double Trouble — Texas Flood (1983), Couldn’t Stand The Weather (1984), Soul To Soul (1985) and In Step (1989) — along with the live albums Live Alive (1986), In The Beginning (1992), and Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985 (2001). Topping the set off are the first audio release of 1983’s A Legend In The Making, which features the trio’s renowned performance at Toronto’s El Mocambo club from 1983, and a double disc set of miscellaneous unreleased tracks simply called Archives.
There is no question that Stevie Ray Vaughan’s emergence on to music scene in the 80s was bright and incendiary, a vintage-flavored stain on the glossy video age, a reminder to everyone that it’s the music, not the eye candy, we’re still talking about. Today, SRV is celebrated as one of rock’s greatest guitarists whose meteoric rise came an abrupt and tragic end on August 27, 1990. Previous box sets and compilations only cover portions of the man’s story; The Complete Epic Recordings Collection gives you the complete picture and a little more. “Scuttle Buttin’” is enough to get the party started, and then it’s anyone’s guess, depending on whom you’re willing to gift-wrap this bad boy for.
~ Shawn Perry
