Stevie Ray Vaughan Soul To Soul CD

This 1999 reissue contains three bonus tracks not on the original release.
Personnel: Stevie Ray Vaughan (vocals, guitar); Joe Sublett (saxophone); Reese Wynans (keyboards); Tommy Shannon (bass); Chris Layton (drums).
Producers: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Double Trouble, Richard Mullen.
Reissue producer: Bob Irwin.
Recorded at Dallas Sound Labs, Dallas, Texas and Riverside Sound, Austin, Texas. Originally released on Epic (40036). Includes liner notes by Timothy White.
Digitally remastered by Vic Anesini (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).
By adding two members to Double Trouble -- keyboardist Reese Wynans and saxophonist Joe Sublett -- Stevie Ray Vaughan indicated he wanted to add soul and R&B inflections to his basic blues sound, and Soul to Soul does exactly that. It's still a modern blues album, yet it has a wider sonic palette, finding Vaughan fusing a variety of blues, rock, and R&B styles. Most of this is done through covers -- notably Hank Ballard's "Look at Little Sister," the exquisitely jazzy "Gone Home," and Doyle Bramhall's impassioned soul-blues "Change It" -- but Vaughan's songwriting occasionally follows suit, as well. Even if only the tortured blues wailer "Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up on Love" entered his acknowledged canon, he throws in some delightful soul-funk touches on "Say What!," the instrumental wah-wah workout that kicks off the album, and the Curtis Mayfield-inspired closer, "Life Without You," captures Vaughan at his best as a composer and performer. It's such a seductive number -- such a full realization of his soul-blues ambitions -- that the rest of the album pales in comparison. In fact, for all of its positive attributes, Soul to Soul winds up being less than the sum of its parts, and it's hard to pinpoint an exact reason why. Perhaps it was because Vaughan was on the verge of a horrible battle with substance abuse at the time of recording or perhaps it just has that unevenness inherent in transitional albums. Still, he has good taste in covers, his originals are sturdy, and there's not a bad performance here, so Soul to Soul winds up enjoyable in spite of its flaws, and it clearly points the way to his 1989 masterpiece, In Step. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
1985's SOUL TO SOUL was Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's third album and on it, they are joined by keyboardist Reese Wynans whose contributions gives it a funkier edge than its two predecessors. Vaughan was always respectful of his roots and this time out he chose to included covers of songs by Hank Ballard ("Look At Little Sister"), Earl King ("Come On [Part III]") and Willie Dixon ("You'll Be Mine"). Even on songs he'd written himself, the Texas guitar slinger can be heard channeling Albert King's high-bent, string-squeezing technique on "Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love," while a Jimi Hendrix-like combo of squalling leads and wah-wah-soaked rhythm playing saturate the infectious title track.
Wynans fattened up the trio's sound and his use of Hammond organ is a perfect compliment to the Grant Green-like touch Vaughan gave to Eddie Harris' "Gone Home." "Change It" takes on an insistent edge as Wynan's organ swirls around SRV's crunching riffs. The bonus tracks include a 1989 interview with Timothy White along with the Slim Harpo-flavored "Slip Slidin' Slim" and a monster medley of Hendrix's "Little Wing/Third Stone From The Sun."Entertainment Weekly (4/2/99, p.95) - "The late Texas guitarist was a fiercely distinctive blues-rock phenom whose sensitivity and imagination justified his rapid rise to prominence..."