Track Listing

1. The House Is Rockin'
2. Crossfire
3. Tightrope
4. Let Me Love You Baby
5. Leave My Girl Alone
6. Travis Walk
7. Wall Of Denial
8. Scratch `N' Sniff
9. Love Me Darlin'
10. Riviera Paradise
11. SRV Speaks - (previously unreleased)
12. The House Is Rockin' (previously unreleased, live)
13. Let Me Love You Baby - (previously unreleased, live)
14. Texas Flood - (previously unreleased, live)
15. Life Without You - (previously unreleased, live)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3108 in Music
• Released on: 1999-03-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com essential recording
In Step embraces blues and rock without compromising the primal joys of either. This is Stevie Ray Vaughan's best studio album and the first he recorded sober. "Travis Walk" offers a heady rush of flat-picking, "The House is Rockin'" is full-tilt roots-boogie, "Let Me Love You Baby" and "Leave My Girl Alone" are sweet blues epiphanies, and the nine-minute instrumental "Riviera Paradise" is a truly soulful mix of blues and jazz. By now, just a year before his untimely death, Vaughan had also tamed his bawling voice into a rich instrument. In short, this 1989 session is Vaughan at his artistic peak. And the four compelling live performances added to this reissue--"The House Is Rockin'," "Let Me Love You Baby," "Texas Flood," and "Life Without You," all from the In Step tour--prove there was no studio trickery involved. It's raw blues-rock perfection. --Ted Drozdowski

Customer Reviews

His best album and one of my top 5
I knew of Crossfire and Walkin' the Tightrope from the radio, and The House is Rockin' from sports stadiums. But it's the blues and Wall of Denial that blew me away. Buddy Guy's Leave My Girl Alone and Howlin Wolf's Love Me Darlin' (Or is that the real May I Have a Talk With You?) are emotion-tinged rock blues at its best. My only disappointment about these songs was their length. (I envisioned both songs as 9 minute jam sessions, but that would've tired the other bandmates out.) Whereas I liked the original Leave My Girl Alone for Buddy's screaming, Stevie's guitar solo did the trick for me here. As for Wall of Denial, this song transcends substance abuse. Sometimes I get angry at women for not wanting to date me for whatever reason, and I build up my own wall instead of buiilding up a new relationship. While I still struggle in tearing down my wall the way Stevie tore down his in late '86 and early '87, I know that it's going to "tumble down to the ground" eventually. As for the extra tracks, they speak for themselves. I don't have Soul to Soul yet (don't ask me why), so before I bought the remastered In Step, my only way of hearing Life Without You was in the snippet on VH1 Legends where he talked about his troubles. After hearing this version of Life Without You, I stood still for 10 minutes because I was so mesmerized by his rap and the two blistering solos where he hit some incredible high notes that I didn't think he was capable of hitting. The first time I played it at home, I sang the opening lyric differently: "Well hello Stevie, tell me how have you been, we all have missed you and the way you grin..." If any artist dares think about covering Life Without You, I wouuld strongly suggest using this lyric at the start. Rave On Stevie, and I'll see you someday at the real Great Gig in the Sky.

SRV - In Step
I just wanted to add some info for anyone who's considering buying this but is not completely sure:

The bonus track live version of "Texas Flood" is 7 minutes 22 seconds of Stevie's best live playing EVER recorded. It is amazing. By itself it justifies the $9 expenditure for any SRV fan. The live bonus "Life Without You" is terrific too, by far the best version I've heard of that song (minus the preachy little anti-booze speech he stops to give partway through), but nothing compares to the "Texas Flood" on here. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for not having been born soon enough to see this man play live.

So if you're thinking about getting it - get it!

If you can only have one SRV CD, this is IT!
I'm embarrassed to admit that the first time I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan, I had my eyes closed "watching" MTV before they found reality shows more popular. He was alone, lip-synching something in garish lighting, but the song was HOT. I was fortunate enough that when this album was released, Stevie and Double Trouble promoted it in its entirety at the Arizona State Fair "in the round". People from five years old to 70 were rocking to the music; in my experience, only an Elvis Presley concert crowd matched this crowd's reaction. Stevie got a standing ovation for "Leave My Girl Alone". When I later got the album, I realized he sounded in concert as right-on as he did on the album. I have other of his CDs now but this is the best. Eric Clapton has said he didn't know where those hot licks of Stevie's came from (high praise); B. B. King said Stevie was "one of his children"; the producer of Austin City Limits on PBS said Stevie's concerts (old repeats) are the most requested. For the uninitiated. buy this CD, and you will find out why.