Texas Flood is the debut studio album by the American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, released on June 13, 1983, by Epic Records. The album was named after a cover song featured on the album, "Texas Flood", which was first recorded by blues singer Larry Davis in 1958. Produced by the band and recording engineer Richard Mullen, Texas Flood was recorded in the space of three days at Jackson Browne's personal recording studio in Los Angeles. Vaughan wrote six of the album's ten tracks.
Two singles, "Love Struck Baby" and "Pride and Joy", were released from the album. A music video was made for "Love Struck Baby" and received regular rotation on MTV in 1983. Texas Flood was reissued in 1999 with five bonus tracks, including an interview segment, studio outtake, and three live tracks recorded on September 23, 1983, at The Palace in Hollywood, California. The album was reissued again in 2013, with two CDs in celebration of the album's 30th anniversary. Disc 1 is the original album with one bonus track, "Tin Pan Alley". Disc 2 is selections from a previously unreleased concert recorded at Ripley's Music Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 1983, originally recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio program.
Texas Flood received positive reviews, with critics praising the deep blues sound, and Vaughan’s songwriting, while some criticized the album for straying too far from mainstream rock. A retrospective review by AllMusic awarded it five out of five stars.
Background
Vaughan and Double Trouble had performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1982 and caught the attention of musician Jackson Browne. He offered the band three days' free use of his Los Angeles recording studio. They accepted the offer and recorded a demo during Thanksgiving weekend in late November.[1] It was heard by record producerJohn H. Hammond, who had discovered artists such as Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen among many others.[2] He presented the demo to Greg Geller, head of A&R at Epic Records, and arranged a recording contract.[3][4]
Recording and production
As the first day of production largely involved setting up equipment, Texas Flood was recorded in two days,[5] with no overdubs.[6] In early 1983, subsequent to the band's signing with Epic, they were given an advance of $65,000 to re-master the recordings.[3] The album was mixed and mastered in New York City.[3] The recordings were released as Texas Flood in June 1983.
BassistTommy Shannon recalls of the sessions, "It really was just a big warehouse with concrete floors and some rugs thrown down. We just found a little corner, set up in a circle looking at and listening to each other and played like a live band."[5] Vaughan used two Fender Vibroverbs and a 150-watt Dumbleland Special owned by Browne. A combination of these amps marked the first time Vaughan used the Dumbleland Special, which contributed to his trademark sound.[7][8] Engineer and co-producer Richard Mullen says of his production techniques:
Just one mic on everything. I used two Shure SM57s on his guitar amps—one on a Fender Vibroverb with a 15-inch Altec Lansing speaker, and one on a Dumble 4x12" bottom (with Electro-Voice speakers) connected to a Dumble head. Stevie played through two Vibroverbs, but I only miked one of the speakers in one of them. I positioned the mics about three or four inches off the cabinet at about a 45 degree angle to the cone. The only effect he used was an Ibanez Tube Screamer.
Vaughan and Double Trouble toured North America and Europe in June–December 1983 to support Texas Flood. On July 15, 1983, they performed at the Rooftop Skyroom Bar in Buffalo, NY, then July 20 the El Mocambo in Toronto and a film was released in December 1999 by Sony named Live at the El Mocambo on DVD. A performance from Austin City Limits was also released on the video Live from Austin, Texas. On August 22, 1983, the band performed a sold-out concert at The Palace in Hollywood.[10] The show was broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and three tracks were included on the reissue of Texas Flood.[11] The tour continued on through Europe and the band appeared at the Reading Festival in England.[12] They went back to the United States and opened 17 shows for The Moody Blues.[13]
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 Rock Instrumental Performance. The album was mostly well received by critics. A retrospective five-star AllMusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine described it as a "monumental impact" and said it "sparked a revitalization of the blues". Despite many positive responses, it also received some negative notices with Rolling Stone criticizing Vaughan for a lack of originality and claiming that he did not possess a distinctive style.
Texas Monthly gave the album a positive review, calling Vaughan "the most exciting guitarist to come out of Texas since Johnny Winter".[24] In a less enthusiastic review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau felt that the album lacked "momentum and song form", which he averred to be the essence of rock and roll. It was the lack of these characteristics that was, he said, the reason his attention wandered "after the kickoff originals 'Love Struck Baby' and 'Pride and Joy.'"[21] The album peaked at #38 on the Billboard 200 chart immediately after its release. It went platinum in Canada and double-platinum in the United States, selling over 2,000,000 units.
On December 21, 2020, it was announced that the album was a 2021 inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame in recognition of its historical significance.[25]
Note: Many releases of the album erroneously attribute songwriting credits of "Testify" for Parliament members who have written an unrelated song of the same name.
"SRV Speaks" is from a studio interview with Timothy White for Westwood One Radio. "Tin Pan Alley" is a studio outtake from the sessions for the album. The remaining bonus tracks are all from recordings for the Superstar Concert Series radio broadcast.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
Texas Flood (booklet). Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. New York City: Epic Records. 1999. p. 6. EK 65870.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
