It's hard to overestimate the impact
Stevie Ray Vaughan
's debut,
Texas Flood
, had upon its release in 1983. At that point,
blues
was no longer hip, the way it was in the '60s.
changed all that, climbing into the Top 40 and spending over half a year on the charts, which was practically unheard of for a
recording.
Vaughan
became a genuine star and, in doing so, sparked a revitalization of the
. This was a monumental impact, but his critics claimed that, no matter how prodigious
's instrumental talents were, he didn't forge a distinctive voice; instead, he wore his influences on his sleeve, whether it was
Albert King
's pinched yet muscular soloing or
Larry Davis
' emotive singing. There's a certain element of truth in that, but that was sort of the point of
.
didn't hide his influences; he celebrated them, pumping fresh blood into a familiar genre. When
Vaughan and Double Trouble
cut the album over the course of three days in 1982, he had already played his set lists countless times; he knew how to turn this material inside out or goose it up for maximum impact. The album is paced like a club show, kicking off with
's two best self-penned songs,
"Love Struck Baby"
and
"Pride and Joy,"
then settling into a pair of covers, the slow-burning title track and an exciting reading of
Howlin' Wolf
's
"Tell Me,"
before building to the climax of
"Dirty Pool"
"I'm Crying."
caps the entire thing with
"Lenny,"
a lyrical, jazzy tribute to his wife. It becomes clear that
's true achievement was finding something personal and emotional by fusing different elements of his idols. Sometimes the borrowing was overt, and other times subtle, but it all blended together into a style that recalled the past while seizing the excitement and essence of the present. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine