The 1985 Listening Post - Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - Soul to Soul

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - Soul to Soul

#359/995

September 30 1985

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble

Soul to Soul

Genre: Rock

Highlights:

You’ll Be Mine

1999.

Some dinner club in Santa Monica. 

Little improvisational blues trio. 

Fat, sweaty white guy on lead guitar. 

The music was fine but what was memorable was the stank faces he made as he played every single note. 

Remember Dana Carvey’s rock guitarist who changed chords and made it seem like he discovered penicillin? Like that only on every note. 

Never forgot the guy. 

I often wondered was that practiced? Did he know just what he looked like making sex faces over pentatonic scales?

There’s a lot of that on this album.

It’s kind of amazing how, over the course of three records, Vaughan has gone from remarkable upstart to staid and boring professional. 

The dude can play. Like, I bet in his sleep he can ride some terrific licks. But that’s the problem. He’s not exploding anymore. He’s filling time, keeping pace and I’m not inspired. There’s no greatness here. Just talented guys playing blues based rock. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/soul-to-soul/456872480

The 1984 Listening Post - Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - Couldn't Stand the Weather

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - Couldn't Stand the Weather

#113

May 15 1984

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble

Couldn’t Stand the Weather

4 out of 5

Highlights:

Scuttle Buttin’

Voodoo Child

The great thing about this project is that it can be done anywhere. This isn’t like reading 100 books where they demand your attention or 400 movies where they require your gaze for 90-180 minutes at a time. 

Nope. You can be riding my bike, off to an audition, on my way to a meeting, waiting for the home inspector on a rental property, sitting at the doctor’s office, watching my son in his Tae Kwon Do class…etc. And the loveliest part of all of it, is the mobility of all of it. I can jot notes, upload the reviews, all of that, wherever I am.

And, you know what else I can do?

As an actor I get residual checks from shows I’ve done 20+ year ago. Maybe someone in Europe watched that episode of Sleeper Cell or some kid was streaming Secret Life of an American Teenager. I still get checks for Bruce Almighty and, of course, Friends. 

And, more often than not these checks are for less than $.90. You read that right. I am looking at one for eleven cents. Some are for $10. Some are for a few hundred but, for the most part, they are all under a buck. 

And they have to be deposited. The phone is good for that, too.

Why am I writing this?

Because this Stevie Ray Vaughn album is the perfect record to right “For Deposit Only” on 35 checks, click the pics and send them to the bank. 

It is also a record you could have on at breakfast, while reading the news, driving in your car, shopping, or blissing out on headphones at 11 at night when everyone else is asleep and it will reward you each time. 

You can pay attention to it or just let it be there. When you tune in, you’ll be happy and then you can go back to balancing your checkbook. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/couldnt-stand-the-weather-legacy-edition/382575920

The 1983 Listening Post - Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - Texas Flood

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - Texas Flood

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble
Texas Flood
4.25 out of 5

Highlights:
Pride & Joy
Texas Flood
Testify
Rude Mood

This is a debut?
That’s crazy. This is a fully formed masterclass in rock and roll. And, boy is it coming at the right time after all the crap I just listened to.
This was recorded in 2 days with no overdubs. Mary Had a Little Lamb, man. Added trivia, Stevie played guitar on this year’s Let’s Dance. Maybe that’s why it’s so good.
Magic.