Soul to Soul

by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan

Overview

By adding two members to Double Trouble -- keyboardist Reese Wynans and saxophonist Joe Sublett -- Stevie Ray Vaughan indicated he wanted to add soul and R&B inflections to his basic blues sound, and Soul to Soul does exactly that. It's still a modern blues album, yet it has a wider sonic palette, finding Vaughan fusing a variety of blues, rock, and R&B styles. Most of this is done through covers -- notably Hank Ballard's "Look at Little Sister," the exquisitely jazzy "Gone Home," and Doyle Bramhall's impassioned soul-blues "Change It" -- but Vaughan's songwriting occasionally follows suit, as well. Even if only the tortured blues wailer "Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up on Love" entered his acknowledged canon, he throws in some delightful soul-funk touches on "Say What!," the instrumental wah-wah workout that kicks off the album, and the Curtis Mayfield-inspired closer, "Life Without You," captures Vaughan at his best as a composer and performer. It's such a seductive number -- such a full realization of his soul-blues ambitions -- that the rest of the album pales in comparison. In fact, for all of its positive attributes, Soul to Soul winds up being less than the sum of its parts, and it's hard to pinpoint an exact reason why. Perhaps it was because Vaughan was on the verge of a horrible battle with substance abuse at the time of recording or perhaps it just has that unevenness inherent in transitional albums. Still, he has good taste in covers, his originals are sturdy, and there's not a bad performance here, so Soul to Soul winds up enjoyable in spite of its flaws, and it clearly points the way to his 1989 masterpiece, In Step. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/19/2024
Label:	Music On Vinyl
UPC:	8719262032194
Rank:	34553

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble   Primary Artist
Stevie Ray Vaughan   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Chris Layton   Drums
Reese Wynans   Keyboards
Tommy Shannon   Bass
Joe Sublett   Saxophone

Technical Credits

Matthew Kelly   Research Assistant
Stevie Ray Vaughan   Composer,Producer,Performer
Hank Ballard   Composer
Timothy White   Producer,Liner Notes
Vic Anesini   Mastering
Willie Dixon   Composer
Tony Martell   Executive Producer
E.J. Harris   Composer
John Hammond, Jr.   Producer
Norm Pattiz   Executive Producer
Josh Cheuse   Artwork
Holland MacDonald   Artwork
J. Hendrix   Composer
Mikie Harris   Assistant Executive Producer
Andy Denemark   Producer
Danny Kadar   Mixing
Al Quaglieri   Research Assistant
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble   Producer,Performer
Andy Schwartz   Editorial Director
Bob Irwin   Reissue Producer
John Hammond, Sr.   Executive Producer
Earl King   Composer
E. Harris   Composer
Doyle Bramhall   Composer
Eddie Harris   Composer
Darcy Proper   Dialogue Editor
Ron Cote   Assistant Engineer
Richard Mullen   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Jimi Hendrix   Composer