7 Aug 2013: it's... 1991

[Lightnin' Rod]

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble "Little Wing"

BOS.  This is a lovely cover, and as a bonus, he doesn't sing.  I'm a little surprised at the lack
of regard for contemporary blues guitarists on this board.  I guess you purists only listen to
Robert Johnson, Albert King, etc.

BOS from me too, though I wasn't around for the set.  Only other option would be Nirvana, but that's really overexposed.  Not a strong following of the blues for most of this board -- most are more "pop" or "single" oriented.  SRV was what got me through the late eighties, personally.  I've stopped defending the blues, because people like what people like.  And a lot of them aren't turned on by straight blues.

That said, the slide away from instrumental virtuosos was in really getting underway by 1991.  The glories of excessive guitar wankery pretty much died with SRV.

[ggould]

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble "Little Wing"

BOS.  This is a lovely cover, and as a bonus, he doesn't sing.  I'm a little surprised at the lack
of regard for contemporary blues guitarists on this board.  I guess you purists only listen to
Robert Johnson, Albert King, etc.

BOS from me too, though I wasn't around for the set.  Only other option would be Nirvana, but that's really overexposed.  Not a strong following of the blues for most of this board -- most are more "pop" or "single" oriented.  SRV was what got me through the late eighties, personally.  I've stopped defending the blues, because people like what people like.  And a lot of them aren't turned on by straight blues.

That said, the slide away from instrumental virtuosos was in really getting underway by 1991.  The glories of excessive guitar wankery pretty much died with SRV.

I think many of us love the blues, we're just not as loud.  For myself, I think the best record of last year was the live album from the Tedeschi Trucks Band.  Nobody talks about it, but it's a great record.

[dischead]

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble "Little Wing"

BOS.  This is a lovely cover, and as a bonus, he doesn't sing.  I'm a little surprised at the lack
of regard for contemporary blues guitarists on this board.  I guess you purists only listen to
Robert Johnson, Albert King, etc.

If SRV is the quinessential contemporary blues artist, then the genre didn't develop in a way I liked.

Quintessential?  Perhaps not, but I'd say he is very talented, and ranks among the best.  He's
certainly head and shoulders above Robert Cray.  (Who in my estimation is not bad, but not
exceptional either.)

[Here'sToYa!]

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble "Little Wing"

BOS.  This is a lovely cover, and as a bonus, he doesn't sing.  I'm a little surprised at the lack
of regard for contemporary blues guitarists on this board.  I guess you purists only listen to
Robert Johnson, Albert King, etc.

I'll cop to being one of those people. I'm usually suspicious of looking for purity in rock 'n' roll because so much of the best of it is full of artifice, but cleanly-produced blues just doesn't sound right to me and seems a pale, pale imitation of the blues in its heyday.

[Tinka Cat]

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble "Little Wing"

BOS.  This is a lovely cover, and as a bonus, he doesn't sing.  I'm a little surprised at the lack
of regard for contemporary blues guitarists on this board.  I guess you purists only listen to
Robert Johnson, Albert King, etc.

I'll cop to being one of those people. I'm usually suspicious of looking for purity in rock 'n' roll because so much of the best of it is full of artifice, but cleanly-produced blues just doesn't sound right to me and seems a pale, pale imitation of the blues in its heyday.

BOS from me, too.  I tinker around on guitar, and when SRV hit the scene back in the day I was all "OH MY GAWD."    I saw him on Austin City Limits I was an instant fan.  I wound up seeing him twice, once in '85 opening for Dire Straits,  After his set, I was walking around the arena (it was a hockey Arena on the U of Toronto campus) and saw a crowd around a slightly open door --  his dressing room!  He was in there, big ol' smile on his face, rather short in stature.   Got a good look at him before the door shut. Lots of people in there.  He looked really sweaty, probably hammered.  This was before he cleaned up and got sober.  I saw him again in 1988 in NYC as headliner, but thought he was less exciting.