Stevie Ray Vaughan - The Sky Is Crying / Analogue Productions

With his amazingly mature guitar, Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the eighties. Vaughan took his cues equally from blues musicians like Albert King, Otis Rush, and Hubert Sumlin as he did from rock 'n' roll musicians

like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, and also from jazz guitarists like Kenny Burrell; he developed a uniquely versatile, fiery style with no echoes of other guitarists, regardless of genre.

"The Sky Is Crying" was released only after the 1990 helicopter crash that killed SRV. The ten tracks compiled posthumously prove to be one of Vaughan's most unified albums, rivaling "In Step" as SRV's best apart from the greatest

hits collection. These songs were recorded during a period ranging from 1984's "Couldn't Stand The Weather" to 1989's "In Step," and for unknown reasons were not released with those LPs (or, as in the case of "Empty Arms" on

"Soul To Soul," a different version was used).

What makes this record coherent is its diversity - on "Boot Hill" Vaughan plays slide guitar, while on "Life By The Drop "he plays acoustic; he sings in a husky voice on the slow blues "May I Have A Talk With You" and on the title track as

well as on the fast Lonnie Mack-covered tune "Wham"; he shows the jazzy side of his playing on Hendrix's "Little Wing" as well as on Kenny Burrell's "Chitlins Con Carne".

"Just listen to Vaughan's touch and playing technique on Kenny Burrell's "Chitlins Con Carne" and Hendrix's "Little Wing," perhaps the most breathtaking performance on this LP, alternately delicately whispered and screamingly wild," judges

The Absolute Sound. Other highlights feature tracks originated by Muddy Waters, Lonnie Mack ("Wham"), Elmore James as well as Albert King (the title track), yet each song is pure, unleashed SRV. The sound is strong, bold, head-on,

and bright as a whistle. Vaughan's various shades of sound - from warm whispers to seedy distortion to painful sharpness, plus a rare acoustic twist on the gorgeous closing track, "Life By The Drop" - are all captured beautifully, drums and

bass are full of clarity and bite. To quote TAS again, "A brilliant musical document ... full of sad memories."

Ryan Smith of Sterling Sound is responsible for the cutting of the remaster's lacquer films using the latest VMS 80 cutting machine.

Title

Side One

1. Boot Hill

2. The Sky Is Crying

3. Empty Arms

4. Little Wing

5. Wham

Side Two

1. May I Have A Talk With You

2. Close To You

3. Chitlins Con Carne

4. So Excited

5. Life By The Drop