Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - The Real Deal: Greatest Hits 2

Media Type: AUDIO CD! - Media Title: The REAL DEAL: Greatest Hits 2 (with Double Trouble) -Audio CD Release Date: (March 23, 1999) - Number of Discs: 1 - Label: Sony - Artist: Stevie Ray Vaughan::- AUDIO CD!

The real deal is that this is not so much a hits package as a hyped collection of songs that made the charts, album tracks, and rarities like Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pipeline" duet with surf-rock king Dick Dale. (At least SRV completists no longer have to buy the God-awful Back to the Beach soundtrack.) Blending blues classics, rockers, and instrumentals was a signature of Vaughan's sets, but it doesn't work for these 16 tunes. Lesser numbers like "Empty Arms," "Shake for Me," and "Wall of Denial" seem filler between thrillers like "Telephone Song," "Scuttle Buttin'," and a version of "Leave My Girl Alone" that had been available only on a promotional CD. Remember, Vaughan's recording career lasted seven years--too short a time to merit two hits discs. Yet his guitar acrobatics and gut-deep vocal testimonials are never less than satisfying. --Ted Drozdowski