Stevie Ray Vaughan - Testify

This is a live performance from blues guitarist extraordinaire Stevie Ray Vaughan playing the instrumental song Testify live from the El Mocambo venue in Canada.
The song originally consisted of two different recordings of the same song, but with different lyrics. They have been dubbed the names Testify Parts I and II. The song was recorded by The Isley Brothers in 1964 who at this time had Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Embeded below is a short clip of the original recording (or at least one of the original recordings with Hendrix on guitar). It sounds different and has lyrics, but you can recognize the riff that Stevie did a take-off on.

Stevie's version was released on the 1983 album Texas Flood and it was the fifth track on this record. It starts out with a stand-alone guitar riff and on the 7th bar the bass and drums kick in and play with the guitar for the rest of the song.
I think it's a very good song, and without Hendrix's version we wouldn't have had Stevie's. Hendrix just seems a bit like he's holding back, he was playing with a group and hadn't branched out as a solo artist at this point. Remember we were still four years away from Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), but he definitely shines on this as well. Stevie's version just sort of became the famous one, and is in my opinion the superior version.
Especially from The El Mocambo gig which is one of the best gigs ever recorded. It's so good, and if the DVD "Live at The El Mocambo" isn't in your collection, it ought to be!!

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Lonnie Mack - Double Whammy

This is a performance by Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan joining him on stage is guitarist Lonnie Mack who is famous among guitarists for introducing a new kind of playing that influenced a lot of people. He is considered one of the first blues rock performers, and performed many instrumentals, including this one. The original title of the song was simply "Wham", but when played and recorded on Mack's "Strike Like Lightning" album featuring SRV they changed the title.
Lonnie also named the whammy bar on the guitar, before it was known as a tremolo bar, but this recording panned the American term "whammy bar" instead.
Stevie had been playing Lonnie Mack's stuff since the very early days of his learning. He plays it on the "Live at The El Mocambo" DVD, and quotes it as the first record he ever owned.
Stevie and Lonnie became close friends, and the generation gap wasn't a problem. Lonnie has said that Stevie was a mature soul. Also when Lonnie got ill Stevie and the band helped him out by helping to pay his medical bills, and Tommy Shannon and Stevie personally installed an air-condition system in Lonnie's house.
It's a good performance, but you can tell that Stevie is holding back, just a bit, like he always did playing with his heroes. I personally prefer the version from El Mocambo, it's a little faster, and Stevie plays it to the max. But any ways, it's a great performance of a great instrumental from the mind of Lonnie Mack.

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Hug You, Squeeze You

This is a live performance by blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He performs the song "Hug You, Squeeze You", an up beat happy blues song.
The song is a take off, or maybe even a cover of a John Lee Hooker song that at least have very similar lyrics. The John Lee Hooker version is simply titled "I Want To Hug You".
This is a song that Stevie didn't perform very often, and it's also in a key that Stevie didn't use very much. It's played in the key of E. As most people who are fans of Stevie probably know, he tuned his guitar down one half step. This means that the key you get when playing a straight forward shuffle blues starting on the lowest string is in the key of Eb. Stevie basically forms what on a regularly tuned guitar would be an F chord, and takes it from there. So this is one of those rare occasions where Stevie is playing in the key of E on a guitar tuned in the key of Eb essentially. I think this is the only song where he does this, but I'm not sure.
Any ways, it gives the song and performance a unique sound.
It's a great performance, and a great song.

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Mary Had a Little Lamb

This is from one of Stevie's classic shows, it's from the 1983 show at El Mocambo (a DVD of the show exists). This version of Mary Had a Little Lamb was first performed by blues man Buddy Guy, and covered by Stevie on his "Texas Flood" album.
Mary Had a Little Lamb is an English nursery rhyme and dates back to around the 1830's. It's a great and funky performance.

Enjoy ; )