"Texas Flood" is a blues song recorded by Larry Davis

Larry Davis (blues musician)

Larry Davis was an American electric Texas blues and soul blues musician. He is best known for co-composing the song "Texas Flood", later recorded to greater commercial success by Stevie Ray Vaughan.-Biography:...

 in 1958. It is considered a blues standard and has been recorded by several artists, including Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...

, who made it part of his repertoire.

Original song

"Texas Flood" is a slow-tempo twelve-bar blues notated in 12/8 time in the key of A. It was written by Davis in California in 1955 and is credited to Davis and Duke Records

Duke Records

Duke Records was an American record label, started in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 by David James Mattis and Bill Fitzgerald, owners of Tri-State Recording Company. Their first release was Roscoe Gordon singing "Hey Fat Girl", issued on Duke R-1, later amended to R-101.After forming a partnership...

 arranger/trumpeter Joe Scott. Nominally about a flood in Texas, Davis used it as a metaphor for his relationship problems:

Well I'm leavin' you baby, Lord I'm goin' back home to stay (2×)

Well where there's no floods or tornadoes, baby the sun shines every day

Although Davis later became a guitar player, for "Texas Flood" Fenton Robinson

Fenton Robinson

Fenton Robinson was an American blues singer and exponent of the Chicago blues guitar.-Biography:Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States, Robinson left his home at the age of 18 to move to Memphis, Tennessee where he recorded his first single "Tennessee Woman" in 1957. He settled in Chicago...

 provided the distinctive guitar parts, with Davis on vocals and bass, James Booker on piano, David Dean on tenor saxophone, and an unknown drummer. The song was Davis' first single as a leader and became a regional hit.

Stevie Ray Vaughan version

According to Clifford Antone

Clifford Antone

Clifford Antone was the founder of a well-known Austin blues club, record label, and a mentor to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan and numerous other musicians....

, Stevie Ray Vaughan was introduced to "Texas Flood" by Angela Strehli

Angela Strehli

Angela Strehli is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US and Canada.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Strehli learned the harmonica and bass...

 at Antone's Austin, Texas club, where the three of them worked out the song. Vaughan drummer Chris Layton recalled that Albert King

Albert King

Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...

 brought Larry Davis to the club several times, where Vaughan was attracted to the "intriguing guitar parts".

In 1983, Vaughan recorded "Texas Flood" for his debut album, also titled Texas Flood

Texas Flood

Texas Flood was released on June 13, 1983, with two singles released from the album—"Pride and Joy" and "Love Struck Baby". "Pride and Joy" peaked at #20 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Texas Flood" was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Performance and "Rude Mood" was nominated for Best...

. He followed Davis' song, although he added several twelve-bar sections of improvised guitar soloing, which nearly doubled the length of the song and provided a showcase for his electric guitar style. Although Vaughan performed it in the fingered key of G, he tuned his guitar one-half step lower resulting in a pitch of G.

Vaughan recorded several live versions of "Texas Flood" during his career, which appeared on such albums as Live Alive

Live Alive

For the anime episode see Haruhi Suzumiya.Live Alive is an electric blues album compiled from four live performances by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. The performances were recorded on July 16, 1985 at the Montreux Jazz Festival; July 17-18, 1986 at the Austin Opera House; and July 19,...

(1986), Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985

Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985

Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985 is a live album of American blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan and his band Double Trouble, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 17, 1982 and July 15, 1985, and released November 20, 2001 on Epic Records....

(released 2001), Live in Tokyo

Live In Tokyo (Stevie Ray Vaughan album)

Live In Tokyo is an electric blues album of a live performance by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble at Shiba Yubinchokin Hall, Tokyo, on January 24, 1985...

(1985, released 2006), and the videos Live at the El Mocambo

Live at the El Mocambo (Stevie Ray Vaughan video)

Live at the El Mocambo is a live video by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. The film was recorded at the El Mocambo club in Toronto, Ontario during the band's Texas Flood Tour...

(1983, released 1991) and Live from Austin, Texas

Live from Austin, Texas (Stevie Ray Vaughan video)

Live from Austin, Texas is a live video by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. It is a retrospective of the band's two performances on Austin City Limits in 1983 and 1989. The film was released as a DVD on September 3, 1997.-Track listing:...

(1983, released 1995).

Other versions

Numerous blues and other artists have recorded "Texas Flood", including original guitarist Fenton Robinson on his album Somebody Loan Me a Dime

Somebody Loan Me a Dime

Somebody Loan Me a Dime is a 1974 studio album by blues singer and guitarist Fenton Robinson, his debut under the Alligator Records imprint. Blending together some elements of jazz with Chicago blues and Texas blues, the album was largely critically well received and is regarded as important within...

(1974), Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy

George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...

 from Breaking Out

Breaking Out

Breaking Out is a blues album by Buddy Guy. It was released in 1988.-Track listing:# "Have You Ever Been Lonesome" - 6:22# "You Can Make It If You Try" - 4:39# "Break Out All over You " - 4:10# "She Winked Her Eye" - 4:55...

(1980, released 1988), and Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

 from Milk Cow Blues

Milk Cow Blues

Milk Cow Blues is an album from American country music artist Willie Nelson. This album was released on September 19, 2000, on the Island Records label. It features many famous blues artists, including B. B. King and Dr. John.-Track listing:...

(2000). Albert King reworked the song as "Floodin' in California" for his album San Francisco '83, which was re-released as Crosscut Saw: Albert King in San Francisco (both 1983).