Customer Reviews

Pickin' on Stevie Ray Vaughan

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is great material but the pick of songs is just odd in some instances. Tightrope was not a real bluegrass sound in this translation. As for superstition, it wasn't one of SRV's big staple acts. Why that and not Texas flood [ which would have really been impressive] or some common SRV original like Dirty Pool, which would have been a great mandolin and guitar piece. Why not them, I don't know.

Cold shot was actually still a blues song here, and a good one too. As for the other instrumentals, Lovestruck, pride and Joy and Lenny- they were surprisingly nice. Rudemood was great but it was only about a minute and a half which I thought was unfortunately cut short. Couldn't Stand The Weather didn't have any surprises but like a lot of other unlikely songs in this series, it just seems to fit in perfectly well to bluegrass. The Sky Is Crying was a real loose translation. The Things I used to do, which is one of my favorite blues songs, I got to say that it was the only real miss for me. I listened to it 2 or 3 times and I still don't get it. Where's the song? In other words it is a reallllllllly loose translation. Everything was atleast good music in any case but it really doesn't even come close to SRV's picking. I was hoping a picker like David West [ did the Jimi Hendrix tribute of pickin' on ] was going to do this album. It is not a must but it has heart. If I lost all my SRV albums and this album- I'd probably buy all the other albums back before this one. I can live without it, but I am happy enough with it to enjoy having it on my SRV shelf. Get it if you think you'd rather hear another version of all these songs as opposed the next album you've been thinking about. That's my suggestion. Hope it helped.

I didn't expect much from this disc; and to be fair it does take a couple of tunes to get used to, but it does grow on you after a few spins. The musicians are talented, however some of the songs like "Superstition" (I never cared much for SRV's version much either) and the less bluegrass and more rock oriented "Tight Rope" don't translate into the bluegrass genre well. "Scuttle Buttin'" is a nice acoustic attempt (that's a tough lick even on an electric guitar) but this version is no match for the master.

There are some nice highlights: "Cold Shot" has a sweet, low-down, honey-funk feel to it, "Pride And Joy" is a sloppy slide fest, "Lenny" is nicely done, and "The Sky Is Crying" somehow works with a blues banjo and mandolin (haven't heard a blues mandolin since Johnny Young's Southside Band). A clear standout is the solo acoustic guitar treatment of "Rude Mood." I think Stevie Ray would have been impressed with guitarist Mark Thornton on this one. While this is not essential music in the least, it is a fun novelty and an all around fun romp. If you've got a few discretionary bucks to spend on something completely different, then my all means, indulge.

Bluegrass or jazz? Hard to say...maybe it's JazzGrass....it's bluegrass instruments, but this is pretty improvisational....hard to not find your self humming this stuff in your head even when it's not playing. Super music...

This is a great CD, IF you are a fan of both SRV and bluegrass. These tunes all do a great justice to SRV's brilliance in a bluegrass 'format'. I'm a HUGE SRV fan...best blues guitar player ever (probably best overall, too), but I also love bluegrass. When I picked up this album I figured it would be a listen-to-every-once-in-a-while, sort of hokey kind of "kitchy" CD. But it turns out I really enjoy it. The bluegrass playing itself is great, and I love the fact that it's instrumental, so the instruments can do their own versions of these tunes without it being colored by someone else's voice. I highly recommend this CD but only if you really like Stevie AND bluegrass.

Although I give a similar rating to the other reviewers, it's for different reasons. I like the song arrangements, that is, the tempos, style, and other various changes. What I don't like is the instrumentation. Every other song (literally) makes use of an electric bass rather than an upright bass. Likewise, some of the songs have percussion and even a little electric guitar.

The producers would have done better to record the songs all acoustic with an upright bass and no percussion. That's what gives bluegrass it's flavor and feel. Don't monkey it up with new age stuff. In my book bluegrass has no room for "contemporary."

Honestely, what is going on herer? How can you transform the amazing deep feeling of the blues into bluegrass. Just because 'Blue' is in the genre of Bluegrass doesn't mean it's the blues. Buy the real SRV CD's not this stuff that has not feeling other than the banjo and dobro guitars. Now to understand my thoughts on this, I am a musician and love all types of good music, including Bluegrass. Bluegrass does not equal the blues, so I suggest that even if you like blueglass, do not buy this cd no matter how good these musicians may be.