Customer Reviews

Soul to Soul

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Stevie Ray Vaughan only lived long enough to release four studio albums and one live CD - everything else has come out after his tragic death in a 1990 helicopter accident.
Here on Amazon, every one of those four original albums are accompanied by at least one review stating that THIS is Vaughan's greatest record. And probably by one saying that it is his worst as well.

Oh well. This is Stevie's third album, originally released in October 1985, and for "Soul To Soul", Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble abandoned their original trio format and included keyboardist Reese Wynans and (occationally) saxist Joe Sublett.

The music hasn't changed too much, though. It's still a superb blend of blues and rock, and even though Vaughan's guitar is perhaps a little less prominent on some songs, his playing is still masterful.
The material is very strong, with only one or two lesser tunes - like the forgettable opener "Say What!". "Soul To Soul" is highlighted by the slow blues ballad "Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love", the swinging "Empty Arms" in 2/4 time, and the terrific rockers "Change It", "Lookin' Out The Window" and "Look At Little Sister" (excellent piano playing on that last one, and a nice saxophone solo as well).

Stevie also covers Howlin' Wolf's "You'll Be Mine", and considering that no-one in the world has yet been able to match the vocal power and ferocious attitude of the Wolf, and probably never will, he does a good job with it.

The three bonus tracks consist of a short interview snippet and two songs. Well, three songs, actually, since Vaughan plays a medley of "Third Stone From The Sun" and Hendrix' "Little Wing".
They're perhaps not quite as interesting as some of the bonus cuts on the other three remastered Stevie Ray Vaughan-albums, but they're not bad by any means, and Vaughan's playing is great as always.

"Soul To Soul" has a very strong track list, and it is highly recommended to any and all lovers of blues-rock and contemporary blues music. It is not Stevie Ray's best album, that would be "Texas Flood", but it is head and shoulders above almost everything else out there.
Modern electric blues rarely gets any better. In fact, it rarely gets this good.

With the addition of Reese Wynans on the keyboards the band get a fuller sound & new inspiration. As Reese adds some great keyboard playing to the music it lets Stevie concentrate on his singing a bit more, with very soulful results. Opening with Say What!, an instrumental on which Stevie plays with two wah pedals, the album goes through every song with a renewed passion for the music. Included on this one are songs like Change it & Come on (part III), but all the tracks on the album are great.

Soul To Soul features what is probably Stevie Ray's most impressive guitar playing. Say What! is one of my favorite SRV songs, an awesome wah-wah guitar piece. It also has Ain't Gonna Give Up On Love, a SRV original tune which is a fabulous old-fashioned blues song with excellent blues guitar. Great album and a must-have for blues guitar lovers.

Many is the time I've heard somebody pick on Soul to Soul. I rememeber when it came out, some critics predicted that Stevie had lost that something that made him so great earlier on. I'd just like to say that they are REALLY wrong. Soul To Soul is a humbler, gentler album than the others, a bit more subdued, but every bit as awesome as In Step or Texas Flood. The songs are traditional but catchy. My personal fave is "Lookin' out the Window", the most underrated song on an underrated album. It's worth noting that this is a great party album too- seriously, put it on in the background sometime, it's perfectly conductive to the part atmosphere. The Bonus tracks and new photos/liner notes round out this excellent package. Ignore some others' advice and pick up Soul To Soul. You won't regret it.

This was one of the records, though decidely offbeat for Stevie, (By this time he was deep into drugs and alcohol abuse) That turned me on to him almost ten years ago now. "Say What!" Is amazing, and "Ain't Gone 'n' Give up On Love" may be one of the best modern recorded slow blues tracks ever. "Look at Little Sister" went on to become a hit and "Come On (Part III)" is absolutely SMOKING and way underrated. Perhaps the track you should most buy this album for, however, is "Life Without You". "Life Without You" is dedicated to Stevie's longtime friend Charlie Wirz who worked on some of Stevie's guitars. Unfortunetly, in remastering, this track was butchered. Stevie's original vocal take (which had been the best ever at this time) has been replaced with another take on which you can tell Stevie is less confident with what he is singing, and, perhaps the worst of all, the last couple of lines of the song are CUT OFF. No, the song does not end early, they are just missing. Everything else (guitar, organ, bass, drums) are all still there as if he should still be singing. Ironically, those last lines 'The angels have waited so long; take your place', were deemed so important by friends, family, and fans, that they are on Stevie's gravestone. Sadly, they are absent in this addition. I have been amazed to read through all these other reviews and not seen this mentioned! This is still a great album, but the spirit of it is NOT intact from the original release. Clearly, SRV and Tommy, Chris, and Reese made a great album regardless of circumstances, but that is a HUGE blemish on what would otherwise be a beautiful work of art.

These were hard times for Stevie but the emotional pitch of this album is astounding. He was staring at his demons and trying hard to push on through. "Ain't Gone N' Give Up On Love" is the whole story of the record in one spot. This is his brutal best and he became a better person for doing it. Stevie, "Life Without You" is hard, but inspiring.

"Say what?" has the tone that all of the rest of us guitarists are still looking for. Better yet, check out "Third stone from the sun." The air raid siren sound made by the feedback is the most incredible sound I have ever heard on cd. It is must to listen with the headphones, just make sure you have some cotton balls, your ears will bleed! "Life without you" is still impossible to listen to without a tear trickling down my cheek, even if it is a different version & doesnt deliver the final line, which completes a beautiful sentiment to a dearly missed friend. Stevie, I miss you terribly. We will jam together someday.

A fun album from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, though probably not quite his best. But it is probably his most straight forward effort, with a lot of medium paced, rockin' blues. Not too heavy. Not to hard. Just cool.

"Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up on Love" is an exception to this, with its wailing guitar work that makes it an album highlight. And "Life Without You" is a great track to close out the album...soulful, with some great melodies and a nice guitar fade out.

Not his best album...but a good listen, nonetheless!

Album sounds great, so high marks for the remastering.

I can't imagine a fan of rock n' roll or the blues who doesn't like "Little Wing." Whether it's the original or covered in tribute, the song just speaks to people, and so it's nice to see it included here, as part of a pair of Hendrix covers. This, alone, is probably the best addition to any of these SRV remasters.

This album absolutely swings with great tunes top to bottom. The production is super - it sounds like the band is in your room. The added sideman fleshes out Vaughan's band nicely. The boogie piano fills are quite tasty. I dare you to keep still when listening to "Look At Little Sister"! In fact all the cuts will have you movin' and groovin' to the swingin' beat and driving guitar work.
I really can't understand the few negative reviews of "Soul To Soul". I guess people can have different opinions. Thankfully, you can listen to song samples to get an idea of whether you might appreciate what I consider to be a must-have SRV album.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was rising in prominence as of the great modern bluesman when he released Soul To Soul. This record cemented his reputation, and put to rest any thoughts that he might have been a faddish musician whose influence and impact would wane after a few years.

Some of his most popular, most treasured cuts are on this record. His theme song "Say What," "Look At Little Sister," "Change It," and "I Ain't Gonne Give Up On Love" are now part of the modern blues firmament. This release doesn't have the jazz riffs of Couldn't Stand The Weather, but it more than stands up on its own.