Texas Flood

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 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.

This article is about the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble album. For the weather event in Texas and Oklahoma, see 2015 Texas–Oklahoma flood and tornado outbreak.
Texas Flood
Studio album by
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
ReleasedJune 13, 1983 (1983-06-13)
RecordedNovember 22–24, 1982
StudioDown Town Studio
(Los Angeles, California)
Riverside Sound
(Austin, Texas)
Genre
Length38:48
LabelEpic
Producer
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
  • Richard Mullen
  • John Hammond (exec.)
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble chronology
Texas Flood
(1983)		 Couldn't Stand the Weather
(1984)
Singles from Texas Flood
  1. "Love Struck Baby"
    Released: 1983
  2. "Pride and Joy"
    Released: 1983

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 a previously unreleased concert recorded at Ripley's Music Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 20, 1983.

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 of free use in his Los Angeles recording studio. During Thanksgiving weekend, they accepted Browne's offer and recorded a demo.[1] It was heard by record producer John 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

Since 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.

Bassist Tommy 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. 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.

— Richard Mullen, [7]

Touring
Further information: Texas Flood Tour

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 20th 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.[8] The show was broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and three tracks were included on the reissue of Texas Flood.[9] The tour continued on through Europe and the band appeared at the Reading Festival in England.[10] They went back to the United States and opened 17 shows for The Moody Blues.[11]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[14]
MusicHound Blues3.5/5[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[17]
The Village VoiceB[18]
Classic Rock[19]

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 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 didn't 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".[20] 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.'"[18] 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.

Track listing

Original Release

All tracks are written by Stevie Ray Vaughan except where noted.

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Struck Baby" 2:19
2."Pride and Joy" 3:39
3."Texas Flood"Larry Davis, Joseph Wade Scott5:21
4."Tell Me"Howlin´ Wolf2:48
5."Testify"Ronald Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley3:20
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rude Mood" 4:36
2."Mary Had a Little Lamb"Buddy Guy2:46
3."Dirty Pool"Doyle Bramhall, Vaughan4:58
4."I'm Cryin'" 3:41
5."Lenny" 5:00

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.

1999 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."SRV Speaks" 0:37
12."Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place in Town)"Robert Geddins7:42
13."Testify" 3:54
14."Mary Had a Little Lamb"Buddy Guy3:31
15."Wham!"Lonnie Mack4:20

2013 reissue
Disc One
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Struck Baby" 2:23
2."Pride and Joy" 3:40
3."Texas Flood" 5:21
4."Tell Me" 2:48
5."Testify" 3:22
6."Rude Mood" 4:40
7."Mary Had a Little Lamb"Buddy Guy2:47
8."Dirty Pool" 5:02
9."I'm Cryin'" 3:47
10."Lenny" 5:02
11."Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place in Town)" 7:37

Disc 2
  1. "Testify" (Live) - 4:14
  2. "So Excited" (Live) - 4:17
  3. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Live)" - 7:44
  4. "Pride and Joy" (Live) - 4:57
  5. "Texas Flood" (Live) - 10:00
  6. "Love Struck Baby" (Live) - 3:08
  7. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (Live) - 2:59
  8. "Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place in Town)" (Live) - 8:14
  9. "Little Wing/Third Stone from the Sun" (Live) - 12:28

Personnel
Double Trouble
Production
1999 reissue
  • Executive producer – Tony Martell
  • Produced by Bob Irwin
  • Mastered by Vic Anesini
  • Track 12 mixed by Danny Kadar
  • Dialogue edited by Darcy Proper
  • Research assistance by George Deahl, Al Quaglieri, Matthew Kelly, and Jon Naatjes
  • Art direction by Josh Cheuse
  • Editorial direction by Andy Schwartz
  • Liner notes by Michael Ventura

Release history
Region Year Label Format Catalog
United States 1983 Epic Records LP 38734
1990 CD
1999 Epic/Legacy Recordings 65870
Japan 2005 Sony Music Entertainment CD 636

Charts
Chart (1983) Peak

position

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 116
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[22] 20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 16
US Billboard 200[24] 38

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[25] Platinum 100,000^
France (SNEP)[26] Gold 100,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[27] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Silver 60,000
United States (RIAA)[29] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Notes
  1. Gregory & August 2003, p. 74
  2. Kitts & September 1997, p. 7
  3. Gregory & August 2003, p. 78
  4. Prial & June 2006, p. 295
  5. Guitar World & October 2008
  6. Nixon, Bruce (June 1983). "Playing the Blues for Bowie". Record. 2 (8): 21.
  7. Guitar World February 2004
  8. Los Angeles Times & August 1983
  9. Texas Flood album notes & March 1999, p. 6
  10. Noble & January 1996
  11. Moody Blues Tourbook 2000
  12. Allmusic 2009
  13. Larkin & March 2002
  14. Schinder & April 1999
  15. Rucker & Schuller 2002
  16. Loder & August 1983
  17. Hoard & November 2004, pp. 844–45
  18. Christgau 1983
  19. Needs, Kris (28 October 2019). "Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: Texas Flood - Album Of The Week Club review". Loudersound. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  20. Plowman & September 1983, p. 192
  21. "Ultratop.be – Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – {{{album}}}" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  22. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2685". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  23. "Charts.nz – Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  24. "Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  25. "Canadian album certifications – Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble – Texas Flood". Music Canada.
  26. "French album certifications – Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  27. NZ Top 40 Albums Chart. The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Recorded Music NZ. 1985.
  28. "British album certifications – VAUGHAN, S.R. & DOUBLE TROUBLE – Texas Flood". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Texas Flood in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  29. "American album certifications – VAUGHAN, S.R. & DOUBLE TROUBLE – Texas Flood". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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References
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