Stevie Ray Vaughan
Collections

Are you familiar with the typical big bin present in all the retail outlets of any record store chain offering deals at 5.90? The one, to be clear, where you often find the less fortunate episode of the '70s/'80s cult rock band of choice, rather than the collection of "hits" (.....) by Righeira, alongside "the best" of Sandro Giacobbe. Sometimes it happens, due to some unhealthy, sadistic call of the "squashed cat" syndrome, that you stop in front of one of these bins to peek here and there among unlikely titles and covers, occasionally bearing the Italian tricolor; and are suddenly surprised to find in the midst of them one with a photo of Stevie Ray Vaughan. The first thought that runs through your head is: "Great, but will it be the usual collection of poorly recorded bootlegs or filler b-sides". Turning the CD, in this case, I had to rethink.

"Collections," by title, could not be otherwise, is nothing but a collection of some significant tracks by the Dallas guitarist recorded in the period after the Montreux festival (during which he was noticed by David Bowie who wanted him for his famous "Let's Dance" in '83) until 1991, the year of his tragic end.

The cover that serves as the opener to a very sparse booklet is nothing more than that of "Soul to Soul" (enlarged) by the same SRV and sees the Texan bluesman unusually wielding a 335 Gibson (the guitars you will hear on the record are predominantly Fender Strat and Valley Arts). Most of the tracks are co-written with Doyle Bramhall senior. There is no cover of Jimi Hendrix, for those who are not aware, SRV was one of the best interpreters of Hendrix. All the tracks, except obviously for the two instrumentals, are sung by Vaughan.

It starts with the verve of the twelve-bar blues "Look at Little Sister," noteworthy in this track is the presence of a brief sax solo right when the listener would expect the Texan guitarist's solo outburst, which nonetheless won’t be long in coming. This is followed by the incisive "funky blues" of "Tightrope," followed by the famous "Texas Flood," a slow "minor" blues in true Texan style where Stevie Ray was the undisputed master. The fourth track is "Boot Hill," another blues-rock track with a strong Texan flavor from 1991. Another "minor" slow blues is the next one, "Dirty Pool." Number 6 is the overwhelming instrumental "Scuttle Buttin," a sped track where our Stevie rolls out a series of mind-blowing riffs with southern rock legatos. Moreover, "Scratch and Sniff" presents itself as a typically rock'n'roll style track. "Ain't gone'n give up on love" adds nothing to the record as it's very similar to "Dirty Pool." A brief "Wham," SRV enjoys quoting some fragments of "Scuttle Buttle." The collection closes more than decently with the angry shuffle blues of "Change it."

In essence, I feel that if you exclude a couple of tracks like the very famous "Pride and Joy" or some classic Hendrix tracks left out, this collection of 10 tracks can be more than satisfactory for those who wish to approach one of the most significant rock blues artists of all time, as well as one of the most easily recognizable rock guitarists of his time.

Greetings to all the DeBaseriani, Stay Rock!