Texas Flood is perhaps the finest blues album recorded by one of the best blues guitar players ever. This is an essential recording that should be in every blues guitarist’s collection.
The blues album kicks off with Lovestruck Baby, which is a high energy tune that demonstrates Stevie’s ability to incorporate double stops into his solos in a way that is both highly tasteful and rhythmically solid. The second track, Pride and Joy, is probably Stevie’s most well known song. This is a blues shuffle that shows Vaughan’s ability to stay true to the blues form and yet come across as an original artist. The solos in this tune are nothing short of spectacular. The title track, Texas Flood, serves as a string bending clinic with Vaughan making the guitar sing with finesse and grit all at the same time. Tell Me is another medium tempo shuffle. Testify is a nice instrumental piece. Rude Mood is evidence that Stevie has got chops. From the beginning to the end of this instrumental piece, Stevie’s guitar playing is on fire. In spite of the technical difficulty of this song his phrasing remains perfect. Mary Had a Little Lamb makes a nursery rhyme hip. Dirty Pool takes the tempo back down and demonstrates that Vaughan had this amazing ability to strum thirty-second notes in 12/8 time. The next tune, I’m Cryin’, is a nice standard 12 bar blues. Lenny is a perfect way to close a perfect blues album. With its lush chords and warm clean tones Vaughan demonstrates a sensitivity and vulnerability that is refreshing.
This blues album is highly recommended and in my opinion is one of the finest guitar records ever produced.
Top 3 songs:
1) Pride and Joy
2) Texas Flood
3) Lenny
Stevie’s playing on this performance of his classic tune Texas Flood demonstrates from the beginning that he has a wonderful sense of dynamics and is able to effortlessly express emotion on his instrument in a way that moves from soft to intense seamlessly. His masterful playing on this performance should remind us all to play from inside the notes more and search for our own true voice on the guitar.
