Epic
's
The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
gathers two discs' worth of the late
blues
guitarist's work, including many live performances and a few tracks with
the Vaughan Brothers
. The collection presents
Vaughan
's material in roughly chronological order, from the 1980 live recording
"Shake for Me"
to 1989's
"Life by the Drop."
It also touches on most of
's definitive songs and performances, including
"Tightrope,"
"Wall of Denial,"
"Couldn't Stand the Weather,"
and
"Cold Shot,"
and live versions of
"The Sky Is Crying,"
"Superstition,"
"Rude Mood/Hide Away."
Though this album doesn't offer anything that hasn't already been released in some form or another, it does go into slightly more depth than several of the other
Stevie Ray Vaughan
retrospectives by presenting both his greatest studio hits and some of his best live work. ~ Heather Phares