ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 4, 1989
By Steve Newton
It’s been four years since Stevie Ray Vaughan‘s last studio album, but with In Step he’s made the long wait worthwhile. The Texas blues-rocker covers a lot of musical bases on this latest effort, and comes through with flying colours.
The album kicks off on a boogie note with Vaughan’s own “The House is Rockin'”, then quickly turns into a heavy R&B shuffle for the first single, “Crossfire”. With the help of keyboardist Reese Wynans, Vaughan goes honky-tonkin’ on “Travis Walk”, and then plays it pretty in a smooth jazz mode for the nine-minute instrumental, “Riviera Paradise”.
As usual, Vaughan pays tribute to his biggest blues influences: Buddy Guy (“Leave My Girl Alone”) and Willie Dixon (“Let Me Love You Baby”). Here’s hoping it’s not another four years till Stevie gets on tape again.
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