Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble - The Sky Is Crying (1991)

Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. In spite of a short-lived mainstream career spanning seven years, he is widely considered one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of blues music, and one of the most important figures in the revival of blues in the 1980s. AllMusic describes him as "a rocking powerhouse of a guitarist who gave blues a burst of momentum in the '80s, with influence still felt long after his tragic death."
The Sky Is Crying is the fifth and final studio album containing performances spanning most of the career of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Released about one year after Vaughan's death in 1990, the album features ten previously unreleased tracks, originally recorded between 1984 and 1989. Only one title, "Empty Arms" (complete reprisal), appeared on any of the group's previous albums. The tracks were compiled by Vaughan's brother, Jimmie Vaughan, in an effort to release the title track.
The Sky Is Crying illustrates many of Vaughan's musical influences, including songs in the style of traditional Delta blues, Texas blues, Chicago blues, jump blues, jazz blues, and Jimi Hendrix's blues-rock. The album's tone alternates primarily between uptempo pieces and gritty, slow blues. The album includes a Grammy-winning extended instrumental cover version of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing"; "Chitlins con Carne", a jazz instrumental; and, "Life by the Drop", a song written by Vaughan's friend Doyle Bramhall and played on a twelve-string acoustic guitar. This song is not about Vaughan's struggle with drug abuse, as many think, but actually about Vaughan's friendship with Doyle Bramhall from Bramhall's perspective.

Track listing

01.  "Boot Hill"  – 2:15
02.  "The Sky Is Crying"  (Elmore James, Morris Levy, Clarence Lewis)  – 4:36
03.  "Empty Arms"  (Stevie Ray Vaughan)  – 3:29
04.  "Little Wing"  (Jimi Hendrix)  – 6:49
05.  "Wham"  (Lonnie Mack)  – 2:25
06.  "May I Have a Talk with You"  (Howlin' Wolf)  – 5:49
07.  "Close to You"  (Willie Dixon)  – 3:10
08.  "Chitlins con Carne"  (Kenny Burrell)  – 3:57
09.  "So Excited"  (Vaughan)  – 3:30
10.  "Life by the Drop"  (Doyle Bramhall, Barbara Logan)  – 2:28

Credits
Guitar, Vocals – Stevie Ray Vaughan
Bass - Tommy Shannon
Keyboards – Reese Wynans
Bass – Tommy Shannon
Drums – Chris Layton
Art Direction – Arnold Levine, Mark Burdett
Coordinator [Production Coordination] – Mark Proct, Mark Rutledge, Roger Klein
Liner Notes – Dan Forte
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Other [Special Thanks] – Dave Glew And Everyone At Epic
Photography By – William Snyder
Photography By [Band Photo] – Alan Messer
Photography By [Inside Photo] – Stephanie Chernakowski
Engineer [Assistant] – Jeff Powell, Bob Eaton), Ron Cote
Engineer, Mixed By – Richard Mullen
Producer – Chris Layton, Jim Capfer, Richard Mullen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Ray Vaughan/Double Trouble, Tommy Shannon
Producer [Additional], Compiled By – Jimmie Vaughan

Notes
Compilation and Production Studio: Ardent Recordings, Memphis TN
Mastered at Masterdisk, NY
Release date:  November 5, 1991
Genre:  Texas blues, Blues-Rock
Length:  38:28

Label - Epic Records