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Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Pride and Joy
(Epic/Legacy)
First Appeared in
The Music Box, November 2007, Volume 14, #11
Written by John Metzger
Mon November 5, 2007, 06:40 AM CST
The underlying purpose of MTV always has revolved around product packaging,
but considering its heavy slate of reality and other non-music-related
programming of late, anyone who has stumbled upon the channel in the past decade
would be well within their rights to wonder how in the world the station
obtained its name. There was a time, however, when MTV’s focus was entirely upon
promoting songs and albums. When it debuted in August 1981, its operators
desperately were in need of material to broadcast.
Although MTV played a significant role in altering the course of the music
industry, it initially wasn’t limited to pushing style over substance.
Undeniably, artists were made to look as physically appealing as possible, but
having good looks wasn’t a requirement for getting on the air. It’s true that
MTV played its share of hokey pop tunes, but it had no choice but also to
incorporate promotional videos by Elvis Costello, Dire Straits, the Grateful
Dead, and Stevie Ray Vaughan into its standard repertoire. The stylistic
juxtapositions were strange, but this was a big part of MTV’s appeal.
Pride and Joy originally was issued in 1990, shortly after a helicopter
carrying Vaughan and four other passengers tragically crashed in the wake of a
show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. Hastily rushed to
market in the VCR era, the 30-minute collection compiled all eight of the videos
that Vaughan had made between 1983 and 1989. There’s nothing truly special about
any of the promotional spots either. The cheesy storylines and fake performance
settings were standard fare for the day, and the visuals hardly could be
considered cutting edge. Nevertheless, they achieved their goal of gaining a lot
of exposure for Vaughan’s work, and — whether it’s the barroom blues of Love
Struck Baby, the turbulence of Couldn’t Stand the Weather, or the
raucous Jerry Lee Lewis-meets-Chuck Berry mayhem of The House Is Rockin’
— the music undeniably was both vibrant and engaging.
Still, it was his performance of Howlin’ Wolf’s I’m Leaving You (Commit a
Crime), from a Mardi Gras celebration hosted by MTV in 1987, that served as
Pride and Joy’s highlight. Delivered as a blast of Doors-ian roadhouse
blues that also was filtered through the legacies of the Rolling Stones and the
Grateful Dead, the song simultaneously was snarling and soulful. As it wound
toward its conclusion, Vaughan couldn’t help but to allow the tune to drift
through Smokestack Lightning, another of Howlin’ Wolf’s compositions.
While Vaughan’s recorded output largely was hit-and-miss, he clearly was in his
element on stage.
Although the collection has been expanded considerably for its release on
DVD, Pride and Joy is still a shambles. In addition to replicating the
original program, the new edition boasts several live performances, a few
forgettable television commercials, and an array of promotional segments for
material that was issued after Vaughan’s untimely death, including an interview
that he and his brother Jimmie conducted in conjunction with their collaborative
effort Family Style. Like its predecessor, however, there are some rather
magnificent moments that emerge from within the messiness of Pride and Joy’s
construction. The video that was compiled for Vaughan’s instrumental rendition
of Little Wing, for example, is a touching tribute not only to his career
but also to his fellow bluesmen as well as his beloved Fender Stratocaster.
Similarly, his acoustic showcase on MTV’s Unplugged — during which he
delivered sterling interpretations of Rude Mood, Testify, and the
set’s title track — is a raw, urgent, and dazzling display of his talent as a
guitarist.
At the time of his passing, Vaughan had just begun to put his life in order
after overcoming his issues with substance abuse. His work on the posthumously
issued Family Style hinted at his newfound maturity, which unfortunately
never had the opportunity to come fully to fruition. Still, the polished R&B
flavors of the hit single Tick Tock served as a prelude to the material
on Eric Clapton’s Pilgrim and John Mayer’s Continuum. Although
Pride and Joy struggles at times to paint a comprehensive overview of
Vaughan’s career, anyone who takes the time to examine its details will discover
the magnitude of what the world lost when he died. 
Pride and Joy is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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