Customer Reviews

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well it is finally here. The much anticipated Stevie Ray Vaughan box set. For most SRV fans, this will be a satisfying set. Of course some of us would like to have seen much more unreleased material included and less of the album version stuff. But we all know the powers that be had to appeal not just to us SRV freaks but to the casual listener as well. No problem. I think this box set offers a nice balance for all. Tracks run in chronological order beginning in 1977 with only one cut from the Cobras days (I wish there were more) and ends on disc three with a few tunes from the second to last show in Alpine Valley.

More than half of the material is officially previously unreleased and is high quality live and outtake material. Many of the great live tracks like the Timothy White show version of "Dirty Pool" and the MTV tracks are here too. These will be a great surprise for those that haven't heard them before. The live cuts are from some of the best shows like Montreux (even a little of the booing after Texas Flood is there), Houston, Austin, Philadelphia, New Mexico, Alpine Valley, etc.; though I am surprised none of the excellent Tokyo, Japan 1985 show is included. In addition, there are a few cuts of other artists on whose albums Stevie Ray appeared.

For the hard-core collector you probably already have almost everything. However, the good news is that the quality on these discs blows away anything you most likely have on a boot. The fourth disc is a thirty or so minute DVD with five never-aired and never-issued performances from the television program Austin City Limits, recorded on October 10, 1989. I am not sure why these five tunes were cut from the commercial DVD release but I guess it might be because he broke a string on a tune or two during the performance. Who knows they are good regardless. Also included is a 72-page booklet of pictures, session details, essays, discography, and quotes from other musicians and friends. My favorite quote is on the last page, "The world misses his music, but I miss my brother." -Jimmie Vaughan.

Following last years excellent reissues of his four original studio albums comes this devestating box set of Stevie Ray Vaughn in his natural environment, the stage. Of the 49 tracks that are included here, more than have of which have never been commercially released before, it makes you wonder what they left off. What's here is simply amazing, including performances with his mentor Albert King, to Jeff Beck, Lonnie Mack, and Johnny Copeland. There are also tracks from the rarely seen MTV Unplugged program he did in 1990. There are essays and quotes in the book from fellow musicians and admirers like Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Carlos Santana, Robert Cray, and even Stevie's guitar tech Rene Martinez talks about how Stevie got his amazing guitar tone. The icing on the cake is the DVD that's included in the box. Five songs that were cut from the appearance that SRV and Double Trouble made on Austin City Limits in 1989, incredible stuff!!! For fans that have bootlegs of some of tracks included here, the sound quality of whats on the box as well as the other rarities included here make this set worth picking up. One of the best of 2000.

What a pleasant surprise this box set is. Normally, a box set is a repackaging of the same old music that can be found on an artist's original cd's. Although there are some of the songs found on Stevie's previous cd's, there are a surprising number of new songs, as well as old songs recorded live from his concerts and TV and radio performances. The previously unreleased songs are so full of soul, that they are a true pleasure to listen to. "Thunderbird", the first song on the first cd of this three cd set, simply rips, and sets the tone for the entire set. The book that comes along with the set tells when and where each song was recorded, and is filled with quotes from Eric Clapton, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana and David Bowie, to name a few. There are dozens of new photographs, and a lengthy biography and Quotes from Stevie. A DVD of five previously unreleased songs performed by Stevie for the TV show "Austin City Limits" nicely rounds out this gem of a box set. Nothing has been overlooked. If you are a Stevie Ray Vaughan freak...Rush out tonight and buy this set. If you've heard of Stevie Ray Vaughan and his amazing guitarmanship, but never have bought one of his cd's...Rush out tonight and buy this set. If you've never heard of Stevie Ray Vaughan...Crawl out from under your rock and RUSH OUT TONIGHT AND BUY THIS SET!! Thank you Jimmie Vaughan and Epic Records from the bottom of my heart!

First, let me start by saying that I am a huge SRV fan, and giving this box set any less than 5 stars is hard to do just becauase of the brilliant musician SRV was. But I had to give it 4 stars because of the inclusion of existing tracks from SRV's existing studio albums. I know for a fact that there is much more live stuff available than was in the box set, so why they chose to throw in existing studio tracks is beyond me. For example it is well known that the entire last show at Alpine Valley was recorded and I would have loved to hear more from that show.

But that being said this box set minus the studio tracks just continues to show why SRV was and is one of the greatests guitarists/signers/song writters around. His boundless energy and creativity comes a live on every track. Of particular note is the Little Wing/Thrid Stone From The Sun, and Willy The Whimp.

The DVD is awesome. These should have been included in the original Austin City Limits release but why they weren't I don't know. This is the first time I have seen this footage and it is like watching him for the first time. His extended version of Mary Had A Little Lamb and VooDoo Chile are awesome.

I would tell any SRV Fan to go and get this box set and add it to your collection.

You cannot put Stevie Ray's life and music in words- you can only hope to show a glimpse into something words cannot describe. This box set is beyond belief in doing so. This is Stevie Ray Vaughn. Pure and simple. Sound quality is awesome and the booklet gives you an idea what this man meant to the greats in blues. And to think he never thought he was good enough to have them praise him. The set is worth Jimmy's closing words about his brother alone, written at the end of the booklet. You will cry over this.

Also- the DVD included contains footage of Austin City Limits which is not on the SRV & Double Trouble DVD of the same name, so don't worry about overlap.

This is a great box set for SRV fans and people who are new to SRV music. This is what all box sets should be, the set has three CDs and one 30 min DVD of SRV & Double Trouble on Austin City Limits.

The music on the CD starts with SRV first recording with Paul Ray & The Cobras to his final concert at Alpine Valley. The CD has rare live performances of songs that were never released on an album, solo guitar by SRV and studio out-takes.

The DVD has an un-aired performance of SRV & Double Trouble on PBS's Austin City Limits, the DVD itself is worth the price of the box set. Stevie and the band were in great form!

There are essays and quotations from other Blues such as B.B. King and Eric Clapton, and there a lots of great pictures in a great package.

This exceptional box set, which comes with a large, well-illustrated and well-written booklet enclosed in a "book binding" which holds all four discs, is one of the best of its kind. "SRV" doesn't just feature the hits, but, like a good box set should, it genuinely adds to the legacy of Stevie Ray Vaughan, featuring literally dozens of previously unreleased live recordings, alternates and outtakes.

"SRV" includes three compact discs with almost four hours of music, and one DVD EP which contains six previously unissued songs from the 1989 Austin City Limits show, in Dolby stereo and surround mixes, and with interactive menus.
The music on the three CDs span 1977-1990, and includes instrumentals, cover versions, and originals, showcasing both Stevie Ray the bluesman and Stevie Ray the rock singer. Almost all of his best songs are here, including "I'm Cryin'", "Pride And Joy" (live and studio versions), "Empty Arms", "Cold Shot", "Dirty Pool", "Love Struck Baby", and a superb live rendition of "Texas Flood". And "Look At Little Sister" is here, too - both on CD III and on the DVD. In fact, the only really significant omission is Vaughan's rendition of Doyle Bramhall's "Life By The Drop".

The band's excellent 1980 recording of Otis Rush's hit "All Your Love (I Miss Lovin')", from the album "In The Beginning", is also here (magnificent, syncopated drumming by Chris Layton), as is Vaughan's reading of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child". And the rare or previously unavailable cuts include Albert King's "Crosscut Saw", "Hug You, Squeeze You", the outtakes "Boilermaker" and "Shake 'N Bake", and the funky, piano-driven "Don't Stop By The Creek, Son", which sees Stevie Ray acting as a sideman to Johnny Copeland.

This is a rare thing - a box sets which both manages to include (almost) all the artist's best material, and add something new and genuinely interesting even to those fans who already own all the artist's previously released albums.
Magnificent!

I've been waiting for an SRV Box Set for years now.

There are 4 disks - 3 are audio and 1 is DVD. And let me tell you, the DVD is great! The DVD includes songs not included in the broadcast of the Austin City Limits special. The SRV Live at Austin City Limits is the best DVD in my opinion. Stevie is clean, and his guitar playing is amazing. What really sells this DVD to me is the sound quality. It's as good as the best sound quality on any live SRV show.

The audio disks are good. Some of the sound quality isn't there, but the fact they are great live performances makes it worth while. Two songs not included in the Live at Carnegie Hall CD are especially good.

My favorite of all the disks is the third one. Not only does it reflect some of SRV's best guitar playing, it also includes a live track cut with Jeff Beck! (Cut from their tour together.)

Unless you are a complete, compulsively obsessed SRV fanatic, there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to say negatively about this box set. So you've heard 25% of these songs before on the studio albums - so what? How could that possibly diminish the excellence of those songs or make them not worthy of a listen? How many extended collections contain only previously unreleased materials anyway? That's still about 30 unreleased songs to add to the most extensive collection. Even the inclusion of the DVD is not questionable and I consider it an added bonus; I don't have a DVD player yet, but like most of the rest of us, I will buy one in the not-so-distant future. I'm not sure in which field the sub-4 star reviewers are standing, but I don't think they are even playing baseball - maybe something like cricket or croquet. I love this set because of the music it contains. Those who complain about this set seem like they have gone beyond listening to the music into the realm of pure collection -this is one of the best meldings of blues and rock ever compiled, not an item on the Antiques Road Show, for cripe's sake.

This is a great retrospective of Vaughn's entire career, from the period when blues was in total decline in popularity in the 1970's, up until his very last concert in 1990 just before his death in the helicopter crash. It shows how he progressed as an artist, yet always had that fundamental excellence and unique sound. The book accompanying the set contains a lot of useful biographical information as well as several dozen comments from fellow musicians who knew Vaughn.

The songs on these cd's are all top notch. Many of them are live recordings that sparkle with energy and passion. There are also a number of tracks with other blues legends including Albert King, Johnny Copeland, Lonnie Mack, A.C. Reed and brother Jimmie Vaughn. One of the surprises of the set was the song Goin' Down performed live with Jeff Beck - it may not be his most complex or emotional song, and it's not even blues, but what a great, driving hard rock song. My other favorites include the live versions of Little Wing/Third Stone from the Sun on Disc Two and an extended length masterly version of Cold Shot on Disc Three.

In retrospect, I guess there is one thing about this collection that I find disappointing, so maybe I do have a negative comment about SRV. Since I keep this box set in my office, I am displeased that I cannot crank these songs at an appropriate level.

Jimmie Vaughan and the rest should be commended for doing right by Stevie and honoring his memory. Songs like "Little Wing/Third Rock from the sun", "Goin' Down" The "MTV Unplugged" tracks, "Voodoo Chile" at Carnegie Hall. They all show Stevie's brilliance and I am stunne at how breath taken I am.

Each song is a reminder of the battles won and love lost. Stevie Ray was one of the rare few for whom it all comes together. He showed what was possible, as this box makes clear.

Oh, one more thing, the bonus DVD is wonderful Seeing Stevie bending strings on video and crisp audio is great.

Defintely a great overview of somebody who was "The Real Deal" in his best enviornment-live.