Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble - Live At The El Mocambo [1983]

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• Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Pride And Joy [1990]
• Eric Clapton - Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007
• The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Rewind to 1983 and here is Stevie Ray at the beginning of his fame, his first album with his backing band Double Trouble, Texas Flood, having just been released to critical and popular acclaim. The venue is the El Mocambo club in Toronto, a dark, smoky joint with a laid-back but appreciative clientele. Vaughan, drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon share the tiny stage. The guitarist, bedecked in trademark hat and alligator-skin boots, is pale of complexion, sweating from the heat and physical exertion, and physically much smaller than Shannon, who towers over him. But Vaughan dominates, as much by the magnetism of his flamboyant personality as his guitar playing. And what playing: by turns fiery, funky, then limpid and surprisingly graceful. Here is an authentic blues artist captured in the throes of living through his music. At this early stage in his career he was still very much in thrall to Jimi Hendrix (the flower-power shirt gives it away), as covers of "Voodoo Chile" and "Third Stone from the Sun" (the latter a Hendrix-inspired guitar-abuse session) indicate. The highlight of the show, however, is his rendition of "Texas Flood" which turns out to be an amazing essay on the art of blues guitar. This is a raw, intimate and spontaneous record of a one-off event. All fans of the blues will be grateful to those who had the foresight to capture it on film.

On the DVD: The disc allows the viewer to chose a lyrics on/off option, as well as different audio mixes (Dolby Surround or Stereo). There's also a short interview with Double Trouble's Clayton and Shannon, recorded in 1999, in which they reveal that Stevie never bothered with a set list, and a biography, discography and timeline. --Mark Walker

I'll listen to this again and again.

The guitar playing world in 1983 was heading in two directions: electronic buffoonery of the worst order from the likes of those dolts Satriani and Vai, and the "energy and raw power" school of thought, populated by idiots who couldn't play their instruments and didn't understand any better what this wonderful medium is all about. Oh, it makes me so ANGRY to even think about it.

So exactly what Stevie Ray Vaughan and his merry men thought they were up to, in that sort of context, is anyone's guess. But, frankly, who cares? Let's just be grateful for these small shafts of brilliant light, whatever their provenance.

From the first second of the show, shimmying in from stage-left, Stevie pulverises the stage, his instrument and his face and bedazzles the crowd with the most gut-wrenching sonic assault I have ever seen or heard. Outstanding though most of his studio albums may be, you have no idea - really, none - of the energy - the man's sheer brute strength - the power of Stevie Ray Vaughan's playing until you see it unfold before you, even on a slightly tinny DVD. And WHAT he plays is inconceivably brilliant. You will shake your head in wonder.

Hendrix, the great deconstructor himself, is pulled apart limb from limb and ghoulishly re-arranged like the victim of some crazed serial killer. Lonny Mack is gunned down the straight like an over-powered dragster. SRV's wife Lenny is eulogised, sweat cascading down face, as the man gets through a whole smoke in one go without taking it out of his mouth. Even if you don't like his music the DVD is worth getting simply for the man's legendary facial expressions, and the marathon take on Texas Flood will do you till Tuesday week. You should just SEE the looks on the faces of those lucky Canadians in the audience.

Truly, TRULY outstanding.

Olly Buxton