Solos, Sessions & Encores

Upon first glance, Epic/Legacy's 2007 collection Solos, Sessions & Encores might seem like little more than bottom-of-the-barrel scrapings, the last possible release that could be cobbled together from Stevie Ray Vaughan's plundered vaults. After all, this consists entirely of recordings where SRV was either a guest or a sideman, taking a spotlight on-stage or stepping into a studio to lay down a solo, and for many musicians such extracurricular activity is often tossed off, so it wouldn't add much to their legacy. Not so for Stevie Ray Vaughan. Part of his legend is built upon his boundless love for playing, of which his solo work and albums with Double Trouble was just part of the picture, so the 14 tracks on Solos, Sessions & Encores help fill out the details as everything from a previously unreleased 1978 cut with his former lover Lou Ann Barton to live recordings from ten years later is collected. Roughly half of this disc is previously unreleased -- including a blistering "Albert's Shuffle" with Albert Collins, a low-down "Change It" with Jimmie Vaughan, and a slow, smoldering "Texas Flood" where Bonnie Raitt stands toe to toe with Stevie -- but the unearthed gems matter less than the context. By collecting all this stray material, ranging from straight-up blues sessions like Marcia Ball's "Soulful Dress" to SRV's big breakthrough on David Bowie's "Let's Dance," this album showcases Vaughan's range and generosity as a player. Here, his skill for mimicry seems sympathetic, as he can allude to the right player at the right time in a variety of settings, all the while without ever abandoning his style. Plus, there's just some fantastic playing here, highlighted by a ferocious "Goin' Down" with Jeff Beck and a version of "The Sky Is Crying" with Albert and B.B. King. As sheer music, this is very enjoyable, but Solos, Sessions & Encores is most noteworthy for how it finally fills out SRV's legacy by capturing what a giving guitarist he was -- based on this, there are few who function better as a sideman than he. It may feel a bit like a fifth disc in a box set rather than its own standalone compilation, but Solos, Sessions & Encores is nevertheless a welcome addition to his catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine