Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

Since Stevie Ray Vaughan's untimely death in 1990, a constant stream of releases and re-releases have kept the money train rolling. These 12 CDs encompass four studio albums and six live sets. That's Texas Flood (1983), Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984), Soul to Soul (1985), In Step (1989), and In the Beginning (Austin 1980), Live at Montreaux (1982 & 1985), Live at El Mocambo (1983), Live at Carnegie Hall (1984), and Live Alive (1986), respectively. An added double-disc companion collects rare tracks from the blazing Austin blues combo. Save for El Mocambo, released initially as a Canadian radio promo, The Complete Epic Recordings Collection contains all previously released material. Upside: It's relatively inexpensive considering the amount of music. Even then, there's so much live material that repetition cues up "Love Struck Baby" six times. Billing as SRV & DT limits the content as well, with nothing from Family Style, the Austin guitarist's duet disc with older brother Jimmie Vaughan, or the primo In Session with Albert King. Jimmie appears on the Live at Carnegie Hall along with Dr. John and the Roomful of Blues Horns, which distinguish the disc from the rest where Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, and Reese Wynans provide dependable backing. SRV's prowess remains enduring and spectacular, but this configuration possesses limited appeal.