Couldn't Stand the Weather

Couldn't Stand the Weather is the second studio album by American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. It was released on May 15, 1984, by Epic Records as the follow-up to the band's critically and commercially successful 1983 album, Texas Flood. Recording sessions took place in January 1984 at the Power Station in New York City.

Couldn't Stand the Weather
Studio album by
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
ReleasedMay 15, 1984 (1984-05-15)
RecordedJanuary 1984
StudioPower Station, New York City
Genre
Length38:08
LabelEpic
Producer
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan
  • Double Trouble
  • Richard Mullen
  • Jim Capfer
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble chronology
Texas Flood
(1983)		 Couldn't Stand the Weather
(1984)		 Soul to Soul
(1985)

Stevie Ray Vaughan wrote half the tracks on Couldn't Stand the Weather. The album reached No. 31 on the Billboard 200 chart and the music video for "Couldn't Stand the Weather" received regular rotation on MTV. The album received mostly positive reviews, with AllMusic giving it a four out of five stars. It received praise for Vaughan’s playing and highlighted songs such as "Voodoo Chile" and "Tin Pan Alley", but received criticism for the lack of original songs.

In 1999, a reissue of the album was released which contains an audio interview segment and four studio outtakes. In 2010, the album was reissued as a Legacy Edition containing two CDs with a previously unreleased studio outtake and selections from an August 17, 1984, concert at The Spectrum in Montreal, Canada, originally recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio program.

Recording and production

During January 1984, Vaughan and Double Trouble spent 19 days at the Power Station recording studio in New York City. John Hammond was executive producer and supervised the sessions.[1][2] The album was produced by the band along with Richard Mullen and Jim Capfer. The album was engineered by Mullen and Rob Eaton.[1] Graphic artist Holland MacDonald designed the album cover art with assistance from Shostal Associates for the tornado image, a photograph of the 1957 Fargo tornado.[3]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[7]
The Great Rock Discography6/10[8]
MusicHound Rock[9]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]

The album was another commercial success for Stevie Ray Vaughan, selling 1,000,000 copies within five weeks. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote: "

Stevie Ray Vaughan's second album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, pretty much did everything a second album should do: it confirmed that the acclaimed debut was no fluke, while matching, if not bettering, the sales of its predecessor, thereby cementing Vaughan's status as a giant of modern blues ... [However,] Vaughan didn't really push himself as hard as he could have, and the feeling that if he had, he would have come up with something a bit stronger.[12]

Robert Christgau wrote in his review that "Though he comes close sometimes, this Texan ain't Hendrix. But between earned Jimi cover and lyric refreshment, album two is almost everything a reasonable person might hope from him: a roadhouse album with gargantuan sonic imagination."[13]

Track listings

Original Release

Details are taken from the 1984 Epic Records album liner notes;[14] reissues show several different songwriter credits.

Side 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Scuttle Buttin'"Stevie Ray Vaughan1:49
2."Couldn't Stand the Weather"Vaughan4:40
3."The Things (That) I Used to Do"Eddie Jones a.k.a. Guitar Slim4:53
4."Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"Jimi Hendrix7:58
Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cold Shot"K. Kendrid, arr. Vaughan[15]3:57
2."Tin Pan Alley"Robert Geddins[16]9:10
3."Honey Bee"Vaughan2:40
4."Stang's Swang"Vaughan2:41

1999 Reissue Bonus Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."SRV Speaks" 1:08
10."Hide Away"Freddie King, Sonny Thompson4:04
11."Look at Little Sister"Hank Ballard2:46
12."Give Me Back My Wig"T. R. Taylor a.k.a. Hound Dog Taylor4:07
13."Come On (Part III)"Earl King4:33

"SRV Speaks" is from a studio interview with Timothy White for Westwood One Radio. The remaining bonus tracks are studio outtakes from the sessions for the album.

2010 Legacy Edition 2-CD reissue
Disc 1 – bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Empty Arms"Vaughan3:28
10."Come On (Part III)"King4:33
11."Look at Little Sister"Ballard2:46
12."The Sky Is Crying"Elmore James4:12
13."Hide Away"King, Thompson4:03
14."Give Me Back My Wig"Taylor4:08
15."Boot Hill"Unknown[17]2:23
16."Wham!"Lonnie Mack2:27
17."Close to You"Willie Dixon3:11
18."Little Wing"Hendrix6:49
19."Stang Swang"Vaughan2:44
Disc 2 – live in Montreal
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Testify"The Isley Brothers4:37
2."Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)"Hendrix11:53
3."The Things (That) I Used To Do"Jones5:30
4."Honey Bee"Vaughan2:33
5."Couldn't Stand the Weather"Vaughan4:53
6."Cold Shot"Michael Kindred, W. C. Clark4:05
7."Tin Pan Alley" (a.k.a. "The Roughest Place in Town)"Robert Geddins10:30
8."Love Struck Baby"Vaughan3:01
9."Texas Flood"Larry Davis, Joseph Wade Scott8:21
10."Band Intros/Encores" 1:18
11."Stang's Swang"Vaughan3:07
12."Lenny"Vaughan11:07
13."Pride and Joy"Vaughan4:59

Personnel

Double Trouble

Additional personnel

Production

1999 reissue

  • Producer – Bob Irwin
  • Executive producer – Tony Martell
  • Mastering engineer – Vic Anesini
  • Tracks 10–13 mixed by Danny Kadar
  • Dialogue edited by Darcy Proper
  • Research assistants – George Deahl, Al Quaglieri, Matthew Kelly, Jon Naatjes
  • Art director – Josh Cheuse
  • Editorial director – Andy Schwartz
  • Liner notes – Bill Milkowski

2010 Legacy Edition issue

  • Photography – Jean Krettler, Robert Matheu, James Minchen III
  • Liner notes – Andy Aledort

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[26] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[28] Platinum 15,000^
United States (RIAA)[29] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes
  1. Album notes & March 1999, p. 5
  2. Prial & June 2006, p. 298
  3. Album notes & March 1999, p. 4
  4. Allmusic 2009
  5. Christgau 2005
  6. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  7. Schinder & April 1999
  8. "Couldn't Stand The Weather". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  9. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). "Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble". MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  10. Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 667. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
  11. Coleman, Mark; Ryan, Chris (2004). "AC/DC". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 4. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  12. "Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: Couldn't Stand the Weather – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  13. "Robert Christgau: CG: Artist 2137". www.robertchristgau.com. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  14. Couldn't Stand the Weather (Liner notes). Stevie Ray Vaughan. Epic Records. 1984. LP labels. FE 39304.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. Reissues list Michael Kindred and W. C. Clark
  16. Reissues list Robert Geddins
  17. Originally recorded in 1958–1959 by the little-known Sly Williams
  18. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 328. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  19. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6817". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  20. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  21. "Charts.nz – Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Couldn't Stand the Weather". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Couldn't Stand the Weather". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  23. "Swedishcharts.com – Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble – Couldn't Stand the Weather". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  24. "Stevie Ray Vaughan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  25. "Top Selling Albums of 1984 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  26. "Sydney Gold Street" (PDF). Cash Box. September 13, 1986. p. 31. Retrieved December 9, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  27. "Canadian album certifications – Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble – Couldn't Stand the Weather". Music Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  28. "New Zealand album certifications". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  29. "American album certifications – S.R. Vaughan & Double Trouble – Couldn't Stand the Weather". Recording Industry Association of America.

References
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