Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites is blues-rock pioneer Jimmie Vaughan s second helping of covers of the roots music that inspired him, with versions of songs by Ray Charles, Hank Williams Sr., Lloyd Price, Jimmy Reed, and others. The album was recorded in Austin, Texas, and features legendary blues singer Lou Ann Barton joining him once again, on three tracks. Vaughan founded the iconic Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1974,and they became famous for the high-octane blues-rock sound that earned them critical acclaim in the '70s and platinum albums in the '80s. In 1990, Vaughan recorded a duets album, Family Style, with his brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, shortly before the latter's untimely death, and then went on to a successful solo career.
The 1996 concert video A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan gathers Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Art Neville, Dr. John, and brother Jimmie Vaughan to celebrate the talent and life of the modern electric blues guitar virtuoso. Double Trouble and the Tilt-a-Whirl Band support these stars as they interpret Vaughan's songbook in an 80-minute concert; brief interviews with the featured artists enrich the proceedings with even more respect and affection. Highlights of Vaughan's performance on the PBS series Austin City Limits hit home just how great a talent was lost when he was killed in 1990. Ultimately, though, A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan focuses on the uplifting memory of his warmth and musical gifts, keeping them alive with the help of his very able friends.
Originally recorded for the Canadian television program In Session in 1983, this was a historic meeting of two artists that has been proven to be a very special moment This famed live jam session by Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan has proven to be an evening that will never be forgotten. "It was evident from the first choruses," writes liner notes author/musicologist Samuel Charters, "that they were playing for each other. And that was the best audience either of them could ever have. The music never lost its intensity, its quality of something very important being handed back and forth and there was time for Stevie and Albert to see where their ideas took them."