Album Review Friday - 1984 Countdown, #10
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#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
There are certain musicians that create a sound that is so unique it only takes a few notes before the listener identifies its source. John Bonham’s crushing drum rhythms, Prince’s screeching guitar solos, and John Entwistle’s thunderous bass lines are a few that quickly come to mind. But in 1983 a new artist created a fusion of blues and rock that had not yet to be heard. With a guitar sound forged from the heaviest strings, high-set frets and a merciless pounding of his workman like hands, Stevie Ray Vaughan introduced the pop-drunk music audience of the early 1980s to his version of the Texas blues. He made his mark on his debut album Texas Flood, with the “Pride and Joy” track waking the MTV audience up and making them take notice of this unparalleled bluesman.
In 1984 he released Couldn’t Stand The Weather. Sophomore slump? Not for a man who dropped out of high school to dedicate his life to the blues, sleeping on bar room pool tables after nights of shredding his version of the blues to any Texan willing to listen. Backed by Double Trouble - drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon (and keyboardist Reese Wynans) - Stevie Ray Vaughan (SRV) would stake his claim to the premier blues guitarist of the late twentieth century. The week of Couldn’t Stand The Weather’s release, the top Billboard album spots were held by artists Lionel Richie, Van Halen, Michael Jackson and Culture Club. Little did radio listeners realize a storm was on the horizon.
Couldn’t Stand The Weather was a statement from the opening notes of the first track. “Scuttle Buttin’” makes it clear that SRV is putting everything on the line to prove he is the blues guitarist of the hour. This quick instrumental shows off his technical skill, with a fun beat that kicks off an album totally unlike anything else on the radio at the time.
And then the title track. The slow beginning lulls the listener into thinking this is just another display of SRV’s blues skill, but then the drums and bass kick in, starting and stopping until SRV’s guitar steps in and leads the rest into what becomes a blistering, relentless rock and blues beat that does not let up for the next three minutes.
The next five minutes may be the best on the whole album. “Things That I Used To Do” is just simply SRV doing what he does best – technical, soulful guitar playing and snarling vocals that put together are simply a joy to listen to. And the solo is probably the best on the album, just exhilarating. Sample this outtake from a 1984 show featuring his brother Jimmie Vaughan, which demonstrates the energy and emotion SRV puts into this song, assaulting his guitar to produce another legendary performance.
His take on Jimi Hendrix’ classic “Voodoo Chile” is strong, and shows off why SRV was so talented. The song itself is limited in its construction, but he is able to input his own interpretation that takes it to new places and his solos are exceptional. A joy to listen to as he stretches the rhythms of Hendrix’ version, and uses just enough feedback to pay homage to the original as he brings this classic from the 1960s into the 1980s.
The second half of the album reinforces SRV’s strength on this album, his commitment to the blues with just enough rock beats to keep it fresh. “Cold Shot” and and “Honey Bee” are classic blues riffs with his vocals backed by unrelenting blues jams that still sound sharp over thirty years later. Sandwiched between these is “Tin Pan Alley”, nine minutes of the most honest blues heard on the album. Magnificent, slow guitar licks interrupted with Vaughan’s low growl which create a song unlike any other from the best albums of 1984. Myth is that the album version was a soundcheck outtake done live, giving more credence to how tight SRV and Double Trouble were playing at the time.
In a year that saw Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the soundtrack to Footloose dominate the sales charts, it is a Texas bluesman and his thunderous guitar tone that leads off the best albums of 1984. These albums are chosen on their creativity, sustaining impact, and of course my subjective appreciation of the work.
Following Couldn’t Stand The Weather Stevie Ray Vaughan would continue to carve out a space for blues in the world of 1980s popular music. He proved that music fans in the 1980s were sophisticated enough to appreciate the blues, supported by his continued popularity and musicianship that only were halted by his untimely death in a 1990 helicopter accident.