Okay, John and Jax. Having been tagged by both of you in less than 24 hours, I guess I really need to go ahead and devote the time to this task.
My favorite 10 albums of all time. It simply cannot be done. To try and cultivate into a mere 10 albums and let alone rank them a half a century of musical tastes and preferences is physically impossible. So I cannot even begin to do so.
I can however, relate to you perhaps ten albums that, for a plethera of reasons, have impacted who I am, how I feel about life or world issues or just everyday living, or have seeded themselves firmly into the medley of musical variations I have come to enjoy over the span of 50 years. Some are rock, some are country, some are blues, some are just uniquely different. But the majority of them have had their early roots in the blues, or have been influenced by various blues artists to some degree.
So in no particular order, here they are. Released about one year after Vaughan's death in , the album features ten tracks originally recorded between and The Sky Is Crying illustrates many of Vaughan's musical influences, including songs in the style of traditional Delta blues, Chicago blues, jump blues, jazz blues, and Jimi Hendrix. 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 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.
