Stevie Ray Vaughan - Transmission Impossible (3 CD Box set, Collector's Edition) (2015)

"Despite his mainstream career only lasting seven years, terminated by the tragic helicopter crash that killed him along with four others in 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan had played the clubs and bars of Texas for nigh on 15 years before his big break at 1982 s Montreux Festival, and his appearance on David Bowie s Let s Dance album the following year. But once he did take off there was barely any stopping him and across this short period he built an enormous following from both blues fanatics who had been bereft of a true guitar hero since Jimi Hendrix had passed on more than a decade earlier, and from younger enthusiasts tired of the plastic synth scene that was concurrently tearing up MTV and the Billboard Charts. He d release five studio albums during his short career and tour religiously - interrupted only by his months of rehab in 1986, and for a two year period between 1987 and 1989 when he was unable to record or compose for legal reasons, while his divorce to Lenora Bailey was going through. This 3 CD collection features a triumvirate of live Stevie Ray shows, all taken from FM Broadcasts, performed throughout the period when his star was shining brightest. The first of these, on DISC ONE of this set, is the early show played at the Spectrum in Montreal, Canada, on August 17th 1984, a few months following the release of his second album, Couldn t Stand The Weather, and thus featuring a number of cuts from that record, but mixing it up too with earlier songs and covers. It should be noted this is a completely different show to that now featured on the Deluxe Edition of Couldn t Stand the Weather, which is the late set, albeit performed on the same day The second show, on DISC TWO, is Stevie s complete set played at the Chicago Blues Festival on June 7th 1985, when Soul To Soul was all but in the can awaiting release in September of that year. The set list this time however only features a couple of tracks from this forthcoming album, and the selection played is more varied, not unusual when performing in front of a festival crowd. On DISC THREE, perhaps the most interesting of all, features Stevie s complete New Year s Eve show 1986, performed at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after he d completed rehab and was back in defiant mood and making the party go with a swing. Joined for a couple of cuts by fellow guitar legend Lonnie Mack, this gig is often acclaimed as one of Vaughan s best ever."-- Amazon