The Sky Is Crying (album)
Encyclopedia
The Sky Is Crying is an electric blues
album
containing studio 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 tracks originally recorded between 1984 and 1989.
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.
Production
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
containing studio 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 tracks originally recorded between 1984 and 1989.
The Sky Is Crying illustrates many of Vaughan's musical influences, including songs in the style of traditional Delta blues
Delta blues
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
, Chicago blues
Chicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
, jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
, jazz blues, and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
. The album's tone alternates primarily between uptempo pieces and gritty, slow blues. The album includes a Grammy-winning extended instrumental cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing
Little Wing
"Little Wing" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix. It was first recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience on their 1967 album Axis: Bold as Love...
"; "Chitlins con Carne", a jazz instrumental; and, "Life by the Drop", a song written by Vaughan's friend Doyle Bramhall
Doyle Bramhall
Doyle Bramhall was an American singer-songwriter and drummer, closely associated with the music of Austin.-Biography:...
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.
Track listing
- "Boot Hill" (Writer Unknown) – 2:15
- "The Sky Is CryingThe Sky Is Crying (song)"The Sky Is Crying" is a song that has become a blues standard. The song was written and recorded by Elmore James in 1959. Called "one of his most durable compositions", "The Sky Is Crying" became a R&B record chart hit and has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists.-Original song:"The...
" (Elmore JamesElmore JamesElmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
, Morris Levy, Clarence Lewis) – 4:36 - "Empty Arms" (Stevie Ray VaughanStevie Ray VaughanStephen 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...
) – 3:29 - "Little WingLittle Wing"Little Wing" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix. It was first recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience on their 1967 album Axis: Bold as Love...
" (Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
) – 6:49 - "Wham" (Lonnie MackLonnie MackLonnie Mack is an American rock, blues and country guitarist and vocalist....
) – 2:25 - "May I Have a Talk with You" (Howlin' WolfHowlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
) – 5:49 - "Close to You" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) – 3:10 - "Chitlins con CarneChitlins con Carne"Chitlins con Carne" is a jazz blues instrumental composed by guitarist Kenny Burrell and first released on his 1963 album Midnight Blue. The original version featured Burrell on guitar, Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Major Holley on bass, Billy Gene English on drums, and Ray Barretto on...
" (Kenny BurrellKenny BurrellKenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
) – 3:57 - "So Excited" (Vaughan) – 3:30
- "Life by the Drop" (Doyle BramhallDoyle BramhallDoyle Bramhall was an American singer-songwriter and drummer, closely associated with the music of Austin.-Biography:...
, Barbara Logan) – 2:28
Personnel
- Stevie Ray VaughanStevie Ray VaughanStephen 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...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Chris Layton – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Tommy ShannonTommy ShannonTommy Shannon is an American bass guitarist best known as a member of the blues-rock group Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble and as an early bass player in Johnny Winter's band.-Biography:...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Reese WynansReese WynansReese Wynans is a keyboard player who has done session work and has been a member of Double Trouble and progressive rock band Captain Beyond.- Personal life :Reese Wynans grew up in Sarasota, Florida during the 1950s...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Production
- Track 1 produced by Jim Gaines and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
- Recorded at Kiva Studios, Memphis, TN, 2/89–4/89
- Engineered by Jim Gaines and Richard Mullen
- Assistant engineers – Evan Rush, Danny Jones
- Tracks 2, 6, 8, and 9 produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble and Richard Mullen
- Recorded at The Dallas Sound Lab, Dallas, TX, 3/85–5/85
- Engineered by Richard Mullen
- Assistant engineer – Ron Cote
- Tracks 3–5 and 7 produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, Richard Mullen, and Jim Capfer
- Recorded at The Power Station, NY, 1/84–2/84
- Engineered by Richard Mullen
- Assistant engineer – Rob Eaton
- Track 10 produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jim Gaines
- Recorded at Sound Castle Studios, Los Angeles, CA, 4/89–5/89
- Compilation and additional production – Jimmie VaughanJimmie VaughanJames Lawrence "Jimmie" Vaughan is an American blues rock guitarist and singer from Dallas, Texas, United States. He is the older brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan....
- MixedAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and engineeredAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
by Richard Mullen - Assistant engineer – Jeff Powell
- Production coordination – Mark Proct, Mark Rutledge, Roger Klein
- MasteredAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
by Bob LudwigBob LudwigBob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....
- Art direction – Arnold Levine/Mark Burdett
- Photography – William Snyder
- Inside photo – Stephanie Chernakowski
- Band photo – Alan Messer
External links
- Music video for Stevie Ray Vaughan's instrumental cover version of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing"