Stevie Ray Vaughan: The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Genre: Blues	Dates: 1980's

After you listen to In the Beginning, a 1981 live recording made while Vaughan was a wild, raw youth, marvel at his development over the decade-and shed a tear over what could have been-that is captured on this double set. This is how you compile a career summary: classic originals ("Pride and Joy," "Texas Flood," "Love Struck Baby"), killer covers (Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)," Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," Earl King's "Come On," Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig"), and lots of live excitement. The man could flat-out make a guitar scream, pick with blinding speed and extreme volume, and improvise with the best ever, but he learned to control those skills and put them to use in areas he'd never have dreamt from the beginning. He also learned to control his demons ("Crossfire," "Wall of Denial"), which makes his early death all the more tragic.

Playlist:
DISC 1:
1. Shake For Me - (live)
2. Rude Mood / Hide Away - (live)
3. Pride And Joy
4. Love Struck Baby
5. Texas Flood
6. Mary Had A Little Lamb
7. Lenny
8. Scuttle Buttin'
9. Couldn't Stand The Weather
10. Things That I Used To Do, The
11. Cold Shot
12. Tin Pan Alley - (aka The Roughest Place In Town)
13. Give Me Back My Wig
14. Empty Arms
15. Sky Is Crying, The - (live)
16. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - (live)

DISC 2:
1. Say What!
2. Look At Little Sister
3. Change It
4. Come On (Pt. III)
5. Life Without You
6. Little Wing
7. Willie The Wimp - (live)
8. Superstition - (live)
9. Leave My Girl Alone - (live)
10. House Is Rockin', The
11. Crossfire
12. Tightrope
13. Wall Of Denial
14. Riviera Paradise
15. Telephone Song - (with The Vaughan Brothers)
16. Long Way From Home - (with The Vaughan Brothers)
17. Life By The Drop