Stevie Ray Vaughan – The Sky Is Crying (180G Vinyl Lp)

Check out Vaughan's jazz chops on Kenny Burrell's "Chitlins Con Carne," and Hendrix's "Little Wing," arguably this collection's most staggering achievement, alternately whisper-sweet and screamingly fierce, says The Absolute Sound. Other tips of the hat are to Muddy Waters, Lonnie Mack ("Wham"), Elmore James, and Albert King (the title track), yet each song is pure, unleashed SRV. The sound is big, bold, up front, and clean as a whistle. Vaughan's different tonal shadings — from warmly purring, to raggedly distorted, to wasp-tailed sting, plus a rare acoustic turn on the gorgeous closer, "Life By The Drop" — are all superbly captured, and the drums and bass have plenty of clarity and wallop. As TAS says, "A brilliant musical document…if a sad reminder."

This was posthumously released after his helicopter crashed in 1990. The best blues guiterist..!