''The Sky Is Crying'' is the fifth and final studio album by

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

and Double Trouble, compiling songs recorded throughout most of their career. Released 14 months after Vaughan's death in 1990, the album features ten previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1989. Only one title, "Empty Arms" (complete reprisal), appeared on any of the group's previous albums. The tracks were compiled by Vaughan's brother,

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Vaughan (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Several notable blues guitarists have had a significant ...

, and was Vaughan's highest charting album at number 10. The album received mostly positive reviews. Critics praised the blues and jazz styles, and the solid track listing, but criticized the lack of original songs. ''The Sky Is Crying'' illustrates many of Vaughan's musical influences, including songs in the style of traditional

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

Texas blues Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock. History Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900 ...

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

jazz blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

, and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

's blues-rock. 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 "Little Wing" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1967. It is a slower tempo, rhythm and blues-inspired ballad featuring Hendrix's vocal and guitar with recording studio effects accompanied by bass, d ...

"; Kenny Burrell's "

Chitlins 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 ...

", a jazz instrumental; and, "Life by the Drop", a song written by Vaughan's friend

Doyle Bramhall Doyle Bramhall (February 17, 1949 – November 12, 2011) was an American blues singer, guitarist and drummer with deep roots in the Austin, Texas music scene. Career Bramhall joined The Chessmen with Jimmie Vaughan while in high school. ...

and played on a twelve-string acoustic guitar.

Track listing

Album details are taken from the original 1991

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

CD liner notes and may differ from other sources; track timings are from the

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

album review. # "Boot Hill" (Unknown)"Boot Hill" was recorded by the little-known Sly Williams (possibly a pseudonym) around 1958–1959 and released on the

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mot ...

album ''Stormy Monday and Other Blues'' (early 1960s, Sutton Records 316);

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

recorded a version for '' Guitar Slinger'' (1984) that also shows "Unknown" for the songwriter's credit. – 2:15 # " The Sky Is Crying" (

Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam ...

Morris Levy Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records, founding partner ...

, Clarence Lewis) – 4:38 # "Empty Arms" (

) – 3:31 # "

" (instrumental) (

) – 6:50 # "Wham" (instrumental) (

Lonnie Mack Lonnie McIntosh (July 18, 1941 – April 21, 2016), known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was an influential trailblazer of blues rock music and rock guitar soloing. Mack emerged in 1963 with his breakthroug ...

) – 2:27 # "May I Have a Talk with You" (Chester Burnett

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

) – 5:50 # "Close to You" (

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

) – 3:13 # "

" (instrumental) (

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

) – 3:59 # "So Excited" (instrumental) (Vaughan) – 3:32 # "Life by the Drop" (

, Barbara Logan) – 2:27

Personnel

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble *

– guitars, vocals *

Chris Layton Christopher Layton (born November 16, 1955), also known as "Whipper", is an American drummer who rose to fame as one of the founding members of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Te ...

– drums *

Tommy Shannon Tommy Shannon (born Thomas Lafitte Smedley; April 18, 1946) is an American bass guitarist, who is best known as a member of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Shannon moved to Dumas, Texas whe ...

– bass guitar *

Reese Wynans Reese Wynans (born November 28, 1947) is an American keyboard player, who has done session work and has been a member of Double Trouble and progressive rock band Captain Beyond. In 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a ...

– keyboards Production *Track 1 produced by Jim Gaines and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble :Recorded at Kiva Studios, Memphis, Tennessee, 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, Texas, 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, New York City, 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, 4/89–5/89 *Compilation and additional production –

* Mixed and

engineered Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specializ ...

by Richard Mullen *Assistant engineer – Jeff Powell *Production coordination – Mark Proct, Mark Rutledge, Roger Klein *

Mastered Mastering, 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 master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

*Art direction – Arnold Levine/Mark Burdett *Photography – William Snyder *Inside photo – Stephanie Chernakowski *Band photo – Alan Messer

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sky is Crying Stevie Ray Vaughan albums Albums published posthumously 1991 albums Epic Records albums Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album