Couldn't Stand the Weather

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Editorial reviews

Album Description
Reissue of 1984 album with 4 bonus tracks. 2001.

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Amazon.com essential recording
In a brief interview that precedes this CD's four bonus tracks--all unreleased gems from the original 1984 sessions--Stevie Ray Vaughan makes the point that "music used to be more based on common everyday occurrences like a train's sound going down the track ... a horse walking." Then he comes on with a version of Freddie King's "Hideaway" that chugs like a locomotive. There's also a heretofore unheard slide-guitar-powered "Give Me Back My Wig" and a blueprint of what became Soul to Soul's radio hit "Look at Little Sister." All those follow the improved mixes of the original CD, which include Vaughan's heartbreak chronicles "Couldn't Stand the Weather" and "Cold Shot"; his first jazzer, "Stang's Swang"; and his initial Hendrix outing, "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)." It's the sound of the guitar hero growing as an artist on his own terms--sidestepping the irony that poisoned '90s rock to stay true to the real-life aesthetic of the blues. --Ted Drozdowski

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2009-01-04 rating:
The next guitarrist after Hendrix
If ever there was a best-of-genre album for driving rockabilly blues, this is it. This album catches SRV at the top of his game. Fully developed, chemical-free, and not overly commercial or over-produced. People can do other things really, really, well, but no-one will ever top this album on it's own terms. Stevie's guitar playing is soulful and virtuosic, his band could not be tighter, and his vocals add the perfect focus for his songwriting. Even the slow, quiet songs are so high energy that listening to them is like being bathed in intense white light.

Scuttle Buttin' is burst of high-speed virtuoso blues energy. The title track shows the band's ease with changing time signatures. Stang's Swang is a credible attempt at electric jazz blues (though serious jazz musicians will complain that he plays IV-V-I over every II-V-I cadence, true rockers will like it better than any jazz they have ever heard).

He gives a nod to his blues roots in almost every song (several are blues standards), but none more-so than Voodoo Child. His version is more driving and "perfect" than Hendrix's though somewhat less spontaneous. In fact, I would go so far as to sum him up as "The Next Jimi Hendrix," except that SRV was a composer while Hendrix was an improviser. What I mean by that is that SRV played exactly the same solos in concert as he did on the record. But he plays each note with such conviction that you would never know without studying his discography.

At one point, I held that against him and passed up an opportunity to see him perform because the show would be "just like the album" and I thought I could always catch him the next time he came to town. Tragically he died a few weeks later and I passed up the chance of a lifetime. I will regret that decision the rest of my days.

Do not wait for something better to come along. Buy this album, clear your schedule, and treat yourself to the best Texas blues ever performed on guitar.

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review by: date: 2008-06-27 rating:
The Best of his Era
Blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughn tears it up in this, his sophomore effort with backing band Double Trouble. From the electrifying opening track "Scuttle Buttin'" to the jazzy "Stang's Swing" Vaughn shows why he was the premiere axman of his era. There may have been guitarists in the past who were more in touch with the raw emotion of the blues, but nobody can match his technique, his precision, and his fire. Other standouts include the title track (with its unusual timings) "Things That I Used to Do" (applying his lightning fingers to a slower blues) and the delicious "Cold Shot". Throughout, Vaughn does a creditable job with the vocals, and his backing band wisely stays out the way. He fails to come up with anything special for his cover of Hendrix' "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" but then, when has anyone ever managed to improve on Hendrix? A must for aficionados of blues guitar.

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review by: date: 2008-02-07 rating:
Good, but not his best
This has never been one of my favorite releases from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. It's not bad by any stretch, but it never hooked me that way I would have liked. For example, "Scuttle Buttin'" is a decent opener, and a high energy one at that, but I've never thought it to be quite up to some of their other instrumental pieces. And, while a bit of Jimi Hendrix is always appreciated, his treatment of "Voodoo Chile" doesn't really offer up anything new and, so, is a bit disappointing.

None of these songs are bad. They just don't grab my attention the way SRV did with his debut, Texas Flood, or would again on later albums. There are some very strong points, however, such as the soulful slow blues of "Tin Pan Alley," which really is a top notch track.

This seems like a negative review...but I really like this album! It's just that I have high standards when it comes to SRV, and this one doesn't quite measure up to his best work. But it's still good!

The album sounds great, so it gets high marks for the remaster.

The bonus tracks are always a nice addition, but they just don't make a big impact on this one. "Hide Away" is relatively mild and "Look at Little Sister" doesn't come across as much different than the version on Soul to Soul. Decent additions...but not much that's above and beyond.

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review by: date: 2007-10-05 rating:
one of the best blues albums
one of my friends was trying to get me to buy this cd and I was septical because if you have heard one blues artist you have heard them all right? WRONG! this guys is probubly the best "blues" guitar players I have ever heard. He is nothing like anything you have ever heard. This earns 10 stars even though there is only room for 5. If your into blues music, do your self a favor and pic up this album. it will imediatly become the one you compair all the others to. ENJOY!


review by: date: 2007-04-06 rating:
Bluesy, Jazzy Vaughan Breaks From the Pack
On Couldn't Stand The Weather, Stevie Ray Vaughan began to separate himself from every other modern bluesman with his distinct playing style.

On this record, you can hear a number of influences both individual and stylistic. The obvious Hendrix influence in a scorching version of "Voodoo Chile," Guitar Slim/Albert King/Albert Collins on "The Things That I Used To Do," and jazzy influenced "Tin Pan Alley" and "Stang's Swang." These, plus "Cold Shot" and the title cut elevated Vaughan to a different level than most of his contemporaries.

This is a fantastic blues/jazz album.

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Music . Styles . Blues . Contemporary Blues
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