Release Date: 05 November, 1991
Audio CD
Tracks
- Boot Hill
- Sky Is Crying
- Empty Arms
- Little Wing
- Wham!
- May I Have a Talk With You
- Close to You
- Chitlins con Carne
- So Excited
- Life by the Drop
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Rating 4.5
Lovingly Produced TributeAll these years later, this is still a difficult disc to listen to. Read the liner notes, which include comments by Stevie's brother Jimmy, Double Trouble bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton - as well as Stevie himself. In sum, these comments and other historical tidbits provided by Dan Forte make for a poignent backdrop to these excellent outtakes. The tunes work just fine as an album, pointing towards Stevie's own inspirations, including Elmore James, Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters and Lonnie Mack.
Two tracks in particular bring out strong blues pangs - Little Wing and Life By The Drop. The music stands out in stark relief and is captured with such clarity and dynamic range that Stevie seems to be suspended lifelike in the three dimensional space in front of the listener. Like Hendrix, many focus on Stevie's guitar playing and seemingly miss the salt-of-the-earth vocals that glue the songs together. Absolutely priceless.Distilling blues at its finestScreaming, crying, bleeding, that was SRV at his best. Never sloppy either--each note was always at the very peak of polish, as if it were etched in stone. He went beyond the idiom of Blues, but not so far that you can't always put him in the category of blues. Virtuosity and technique do not always work towards a blues player's advantage, but if you're into hearing Blues at its very highest peak, SRV is your man--still distilling Blues at its finest. Don't pass this one byI first became aware of Stevie's music when the single "The Sky is Cryin" was released, not long after his death. I remember being sooo impressed, I immediately went out and bought this album. I was blown away. I came to realize that I had heard some of his stuff (Pride & Joy, Cold Shot) But this album exposed me to his brillance. His cover of "Little Wing" is just so soulful, I hope no one hates for me for saying I'd rather listen to Stevie's version then the Hendrix one. The tile track has some some of greatest guitar work ever, in my humble opinion. It saddens me when I listen to "Life by the Drop" because even thought it's lyrics make it so clear that Stevie had faced and conquered his demons, he didn't live long enough to bask in the glory of it. A truly wonderful track from a truly magnificent album, DON'T pass it by. |
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