Epic's The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble gathers two discs' worth of the late blues guitarist's work, including many live performances and a few tracks with the Vaughan Brothers. The collection presents Vaughan's material in roughly chronological order, from the 1980 live recording "Shake for Me" to 1989's "Life by the Drop." It also touches on most of Vaughan's definitive songs and performances, including "Tightrope," "Wall of Denial," "Couldn't Stand the Weather," and "Cold Shot," and live versions of "The Sky Is Crying," "Superstition," and "Rude Mood/Hide Away." Though this album doesn't offer anything that hasn't already been released in some form or another, it does go into slightly more depth than several of the other Stevie Ray Vaughan retrospectives by presenting both his greatest studio hits and some of his best live work.

Alligator Records shows a different side of its house-rocking face on this 13-cut collection of acoustic blues. While Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Bukka White don't appear here, other performers – some of whom one normally associates with overdriven electricity – are. Buddy Guy is present, as is Stevie Ray Vaughan. Koko Taylor's "The Man Next Door" is here and it's one of her greatest performances on record. In addition, Johnny Winter, who was no stranger to a National Steel string bottleneck earlier in his career, returns to give it another go, and the true roots doctor Corey Harris is here with "God Don't Ever Change," and Carey and Lurrie Bell with "Stop Running Around." Guy's "Hi Heel Sneakers" is terrific as is Winter's "Evil on My Mind." But it's those that are normally associated with the acoustic blues like Harris, Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, Cephas & Wiggins, John Jackson and the legendary Sonny Terry who come off best, bringing the true rhythm and mystery with them into their songs.

Solid, soulful blues, often with humorous, self-deprecating lyrics, comes from the well-respected vocalist, tenor player, composer, and veteran of the bands of Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, and Son Seals. Reed has been called "the definitive Chicago blues sax player." This album features Reed's band, with guests Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: The Complete Epic Recordings Collection includes the group s original four studio albums, five electrifying live releases (including the commercial debut of A Legend In The Making Live At The El Mocambo, a rare Canadian radio promo album) and a double-disc set of killer studio outtakes from throughout Stevie Ray Vaughan s incredible career, including recordings from previous reissues, box sets and posthumous compilations.

It's an all-star blues extravaganza as legendary guitarist B.B. King brings a whole host of popular performers to the stage for a magical night of music captured live at the Ebony Showcase Theater on April 15, 1987. In addition to such classics as "The Thrill Is Gone" and "In the Midnight Hour", King is joined by such talented contemporaries as Eric Clapton, Etta James, Dr. John, Phil Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, Billy Ocean, and Chaka Kahn in performing nine more songs including "Ain't Nobody's Business", "The Sky Is Crying", and "Let the Good Times Roll".

By adding two members to Double Trouble – keyboardist Reese Wynans and saxophonist Joe Sublett – Stevie Ray Vaughan indicated he wanted to add soul and R&B inflections to his basic blues sound, and Soul to Soul does exactly that. It's still a modern blues album, yet it has a wider sonic palette, finding Vaughan fusing a variety of blues, rock, and R&B styles. Most of this is done through covers – notably Hank Ballard's "Look at Little Sister," the exquisitely jazzy "Gone Home," and Doyle Bramhall's impassioned soul-blues "Change It" – but Vaughan's songwriting occasionally follows suit, as well.