Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's posthumous album, The Sky Is Crying, is a rarity in the fact that the outtakes here are of the same high quality of the rest of the band's albums. It's big on the blues cover tunes (all of their albums had a few) but the strong performances show an embracing of the blues rather than just a retread. The fact that no guitarist could play or sing quite like Stevie Ray certainly distinguished them as well. Everything here works as the band breathes even more fire into Lonnie Mack's "Wham", turns the Jimi Hendrix classic into a slow burner that gains in momentum until it reaches its end, and turns their own "Empty Arms", which sounded somewhat sluggish on Soul to Soul, into a joyous shuffle. Stevie Ray also shows his continued love of jazz on Kenny Burrell's "Chitlins Con Carne" and pays tribute to the Yardbirds on his own instrumental "So Excited." The tracks recorded during the In Step sessions are also great as Stevie Ray's wicked slide playing highlights "Boot Hill" and he gives a passionate vocal performance on "Life by the Drop." The remaining tracks, versions of "May I Have a Talk with You" and "Close To You", are also very good. All told, The Sky Is Crying is a great album, sounding much better than a collection of outtakes has a right to.
|