Customer Reviews

Live From Austin Texas [VHS]

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Wow. I had several of their CD's but had never seen a live performance. This video changed that forever. SRV and Double Trouble (DT) appeared twice on Austin City Limits, once in 1983 and again in 1989. The 1983 show highlights SRV as he is beginning to make a name for himself. Already well know to the Austin Blues scene, DT is only three guys but what a sound they put out. SRV is tremendous in Pride and Joy, a powerful Texas Flood (Stevie actually gets Number 1 to growl! ) and his early trademark Voodoo Chile (that's child without the "d"). These three alone are worth the price of admission. The last 2/3 of the tape are from the 1989 show. Now Stevie and the band are cleaned up and keyboardist Reese Wynans adds his extra dimension to the music. Some classic DT tracks are on this portion of the tape. Stevie's solos are mature and entrancing. My favorites in this section are a 7-minute long Cold Shot where Stevie's lead is pure magic, and Riviera Paradise. A bonus at the end of the tape: the Little Wing video with shots of Blues greats from the past and present. Taken all-in-all, this is my most cherished music video. If you're in any way a Blues fan, you'll come to love this video too. Definitely Five Stars!

There are some incredible performances on this DVD, but unfortunately, I saw the Austin City Limits programs they were taken from. How the producers decided to keep the songs they kept and cut the ones they cut is beyond me. Why not offer one or two DVDs with the entire Autin City Limits programs intact? All of the songs in both of the original performances were "keepers". Any "chaff", if there was any, had already been cut by the Austin City Limits folks. Any further editing could only diminish the final product. And it did.

Another gripe is that the sound on this DVD has been compressed in a way that makes me constantly wish my ears would pop. Why the producers thought this was necessary is another mystery. The sound of the televised performances was, if not perfect, MUCH more realistic and listenable than the sound on the DVD. This is downright sad because the DVD medium is capable of so much MORE than TV sound and in this case you get less.

My 3 star rating is not meant to say anything about Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble, who were one of my favorite bands and arguably one of the best of all time. It is rather a complaint against the tone-deaf, musically challeged folks in the record industry who feel they have to leave their substandard mark on an otherwise stellar piece of artistic material.

If the music buying public is lucky, someday someone will re-release the SRV Austin City Limits pieces in their entirety with professionally engineered sound tracks.

If you're a dyed-in-the-wool SRV fan, you will want to own this DVD anyway, but if you're not buying everything that Double Trouble ever released as a matter of principle and want something truly representative of how good the band could really be, I can recommend "Live At The El Macambo" without reservation. It's one of the best live performances, by anyone, ever captured on video.

The first song "Pride and Joy" starts off with Stevie playing a red guitar, wearing red shoes and playing RED HOT! WOW! From start to finish this is an AMAZING performance. Actually you get two, count 'em, TWO shows. One from 1983 (the first four songs) and then songs five through twelve are from Stevie's final performance in Austin City Limits, in 1989. I love both concerts but there is something extra special in the 1989 show. Stevie really CONNECTS to his audience, the band, and seems so full of joy. He makes a dedication of the gorgeous ballad "Riviera Paradise" to "all the people out there who are still suffering in any way."

I love every single song but my favorites here are "Pride And Joy", "Texas Flood", "Tightrope" (he really gets into this one, lemme tell ya--LOVE IT!), "Leave My Girl Alone", "Crossfire", and "Riviera Paradise."

Musically speaking, my impression is that he has an ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR style, PRESENTATION and PRESENCE. His use of pianisimos, crescendos, fortes and stops is the best I think I've ever heard outside of an orchestra. His voice is perfect with his music; he sings and plays simultaneously, yet EFFORTLESSLY. He FEELS every note and his phrasing and ATTACK of EACH note is PHENOMENAL. Stevie is nothing short of BRILLIANT to watch. It is like witnessing him step into another realm of reality!

I will never tire of music that is this passionate, intense and expressive. Oh what a loss that he is gone! But indeed his music and his spirit TRULY LIVE ON!

I must mention Reese Wynans, the keyboardist. He is the most brilliant keyboardist I've ever seen. What a team he and Stevie made! WOW! The bassist and drummer were great too! What a band! Also the Bonus Video Clip "Little Wing" is fantastic.

THIS IS ESSENTIAL FOR ANY SRV FAN! BUY IT NOW!

Mr. King himself sums up Stevie best: "I would describe him as a guitar master. He had made up his mind the guitar wasn't going to master him--he was gonna master it. And he did just that."

"Can I hear an amen?" Dan Forte

AMEN!

Man could Stevie Ray play! This man was a guitar genius and the music world suffered a huge loss when he passed on in 1990. Fortunately, we have these great videos like this one so we can still watch Stevie play. There are 11 live performances and a video collage at the end of the DVD set to the music of 'Little Wing'. The first 3 performances were filmed in 1983, the other 7 are from October 1989, and all are taken from his only 2 performances on the "Austin City Limits" broadcasts. Simply amazing, this man poured his heart and soul into his music. Double Trouble are an excellent backup band, but Stevie steals the show. He does an amazing cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic 'Voodoo Chile'. The part in 'Texas Flood' during the '83 show where Stevie plays that solo behind his back is just unbelievable and amazing. My fav part of the '89 performance is 'Riviera Paradise', his performance is gripping. All songs are great, and I'm amazed every time I watch this concert. If you want to see some great guitar playing, then get this one and treat yourself to some lightnin' fast blues. What are you waiting for? ROCK ON!

I enjoy the music of Stevie Ray Vaughn but this DVD was a big disappointment. The preformance was very good but the audio quality was Very Poor!!

In 2 previous reviews, one agreed with me about the poor audio quality and the next that said how good this sounds, particularly on his 5.1 dolby digital player. I wish I would have understood the tech notes. This is not recorded in dolby digital 5.1. It is recorded in dolby 2.0. There is a Big difference! We tried listening to it as 5.1 dolby, Pro Logic, and straight stereo. None sounded good.

If a superior recording engineer can bring this baby back to life, I would absolutely want to own it. But until that time, it remains on the shelf gathering dust.

I stumbled across SRV when I serendipitously tuned into the 1983 Austin City Limits concert featured on the first part of this video. Suffice it to say that the earth moved. I bought Double Trouble's albums (yeah, back then they were vinyl) and talked about them to anyone who would listen. Then I happened to catch the last Austin C.L. appearance, as well. Pure magic, and how happy Stevie looked, what rapport he had with the audience. God, he was great. I tell my kids: There were three guitar gods: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Clapton ... but the greatest of these was Stevie Ray. Just bought and watched this video, and it brought all the amazement back. There was nothing Stevie could not do with that guitar. I also hadn't realized how wonderful his voice was, too... husky and pleading and soulful. Why, oh why, did he have to leave us so young? RIP.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good DVD. After all, its SRV live! You can't really go wrong with that. However, if you are a Guitar player (like me) the performance at El Mocambo was much better. He was into each song much more and it showcased his playing more. Voodoo Chile on this one compared to the El Mocambo aren't even close.

Also, in El Mocambo there is a song where he is just sitting in a chair, eyes closed, lost in his playing. Just incredible stuff. There is nothing like that in this one. Again, this is a good DVD. But, if you are a guitar player looking to see SRV at his best, get live at El Mocambo. If you are looking for best sound and video quality, get this one.

Since others have well covered the music and playing (and, yes, I too have a lobe in my brain dedicated to SRV and the fellows of Double Trouble) I'd like to comment on the quality of the product. This applies to the VHS only, although I suspect that the DVD would be similar.
The 1989 Austin City Limits show lacked "Tightrope", which was later tacked on as a "Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan" to another PBS show, which featured Buddy Guy. I was able to tape both at the time of broadcast. The 1989 SRV PBS broadcast had reasonably punchy sound (although SRV's tone was most unusually fuzzy and buzzy on this show, and I can compare this to MANY shows recorded elsewhere). The sound and visual were in perfect synchronization.
I wondered why it took a company SO LONG to release SRV's '89 show, since reportedly this was one of the most-requested Austin City Limits shows. I was happy at the VHS release, since now SRV lovers who weren't bootleg collectors,could enjoy a live show... and immediately disappointed: the sound is sub-standard, compared to TV broadcast I'd taped, and OUT OF SYNCH with the visual.Hard to believe, folks, but this is a poor transfer. Yes, get it, but if able, acquire a tape of the original PBS broadcast. Incidentally, the SRV boxed set is supposed to have a DVD with several other outtakes from this show.Wish the releasing company would get it all together.
That said, the performances from 1989 are of classical-music level achievement. What do I mean? He is improvising less on the "In Step" songs' solos, rather playing well-worked out solos with classical perfection. (The House is a'Rockin', Crossfire, for example). On the other hand, he introduces a few new licks and turn-arounds on the Tightrope solo and it's great fun to compare THAT solo to versions of the song caught elsewhere (studio and concert bootlegs).His version of Buddy Guy's "You'd Better Leave My Woman Alone" almost out-does Buddy Guy (who can be seen doing the song on the PBS Austin City Limits show that presented "Tightrope")
DO BUY the "Live from the El Mocambo" circa 1983 VHS (or DVD?). That is astonishing, with great camera work, many close-ups of his fingering... watch out for flying sweat!! Several of his renditions (Texas Flood and So Excited) are absolutely among the finest he recorded. Since many, many SRV concerts are traded on videotape by collectors, I hope more might make it to commercial release before another decade goes by. To my thinking, "El Mocambo" shows a wonderful human being at a peak of ingenuity, creativity, and physical mastery of a demanding musical instrument. To a question "what are people capable of at their very best?", I'd say :"Watch this!".

I would rate Stevie Ray's performances 5 stars, the picture quality 4 stars, and the audio quality barely 2...which averages out to 4 stars for this DVD. The 3 tracks recorded in 1983 feature the worst sound; it's aggravating to see Chris Layton hit a cymbal hard, but to hear no crash of said cymbal, and this pretty much sums up the overall audio quality of those tracks. The sound is a bit better in the 1989 performances, with the exception of "The House is Rocking," which actually sounds like it was dubbed from a cheap cassette tape. Just how awful the audio is becomes more apparent when you view this set back-to-back with "One Night in Texas...," the DVD of outtakes from SRV's 1989 "Austin City Limits" performance (packed with the "SRV" box set, which features absolutely superb audio. I expect Epic eventually will re-release "Live from Austin, Texas" with 5.1 surround sound, forcing us all to purchase the updated version. Still, if you're a Stevie Ray fan, you NEED "Live from Austin, Texas."

The two concerts show the growth of a true guitar legend. The DVD will become a classic. Stevie Ray Vaughan is right up there with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, etc. The DVD just blew me away. I would recommend it to all lovers of the guitar. The sound quality may not be technically perfect, as some say, but I didn't notice it at all. Stevie Ray's playing overcame all of that. If you can get your hands on a copy buy it and enjoy the late great master Stevie Ray Vaughan.