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Live Concert Database
Damian: Stevie Ray Vaughan 1985-03-??
Identifier7143695
Created AtTue May 23 2023 23:54:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Reference NumberDAA103
Media TypeCD
Media Count4
NoteStevie Ray Vaughan
Life Without You : "Soul To Soul" studio sessions
Dallas Sound Labs: Dallas, Texas March-May, 1985
"Soul To Soul" Studio Sessions
From Bob Willmot’s Excellent SRV Gig Database - http://willmot.com/twiki/bin/view.cgi/SRV/ImportCd_life_without_you
Incorrectly labeled as having been recorded in New York, 1985 most tracks contain low-level background noise and some include fade out/in of instruments/vocals, otherwise, sound quality varies from good to excellent.
CD 1: (73:29, 12 tracks)
Track : Title Time Notes
1: Tell Me Where We're Going 8:28 instrumental jam
2: Life Without You 8:02 take 2, instrumental
3: Lightnin' Sky Hopkins 5:45 "Give Me Back My Wig"
4: Hangnails And Boogers/
Lightnin' Sky Hopkins 3:53 acapella/"Slip Sliding Slim"
5: Hug You Squeeze You 2:16 take 1
6: May I Have A Talk With You 8:12 take 1
7: I'm Leaving You (Commit A Crime) 6:34
8: Blues 2:56
9: Guitar Solo 1:36
10: Say What 7:18 take 2
11: Jazzy Thing 9:00 "Boiler Maker"
12: Chitlins Con Carne 9:27
CD 2: (75:35, 17 tracks)
Track : Title Time Notes
1: Gone Home 4:02 SRV plays acoustic guitar
2: Hey Motherf***er 1:46 SRV/soundbooth dialogue
3: Hug You Squeeze You 4:03 take 2
4: Say What 4:20 take 6
5: Say What 6:36 take 11
6: Hangnails And Boogers 5:21 acapella
7: Hangnails And Boogers 3:43 acapella
8: Life Without You 6:50 take 3, instrumental
9: Jam 12:03 instrumental jam
10: The Sky Is Crying 4:38
11: Boot Hill 3:29 take 1
12: Boot Hill 3:14 take 2, vocal fades out
13: Empty Arms 3:23
14: You Don't Wanna Hear Me Sing
That Sh*t 2:09 SRV/soundbooth dialogue
15: Life Without You 6:02 take 12, instrumental
16: Bass Theme ala Nosferatu 1:04 bass keyboards?
17: Guitar Licks 2:50
CD 3: (71:43, 14 tracks)
Track : Title Time Notes
1: Look At Little Sister 3:10 "Boot Hill", instrumental
2: Testify 2:56 slow version
3: May I Have A Talk With You 5:56 take 3 and 4
4: Shuffle Thing 2:35 instrumental
5: Come On (Part III) 6:48 take 2
6: Empty Arms 4:03 take 36
7: May I Have A Talk With You 4:03 take 6
8: Maudie 6:15 Doyle Bramhall, lead vocal
9: Instrumental Medley 6:02
10: Another Shuffle Thing 3:08 instrumental
11: Rude Mood 2:04 variation of "Scuttle Buttin'"
12: Rude Mood 1:31 "Testify"
13: Life Without You 15:05 take 17, instrumental
14: Jam 8:05 instrumental jam
CD 4: (76:23, 17 tracks)
**Tracks 15-17 are from the "Rockline" radio tribute show following Stevie's death. These were originally performed by Stevie in the studio where "Rockline" was broadcast.
• "Rude Mood" performance date unknown.
• "Pride and Joy" is from 25 Oct 85.
• "Untitled Blues Jam" is from 3 Jul 89.
Track : Title Time Notes
1: Testify /
Third Stone From The Sun 6:11 doesn't sound like "Testify"
2: Shuffle 8:22
3: Life Without You 5:32 take 27, instrumental
4: Life Without You 5:45 take 31, instrumental
5: You've Got Me Floating 0:53
6: Little Wing 1:04 take 1
7: Little Wing 2:04 take 2
8: Little Wing 6:30 take 3
9: Third Stone From The Sun 3:32 take 1
10: Third Stone From The Sun 6:08 take 2
11: Say What 0:43 take 14, with organ
12: Come On (Part III) 4:52 take 4, no audible vocal
13: Jam 11:16
14: Empty Arms 1:32 take 40, w/belching intro
15: **Rude Mood 2:55 Stevie unaccompanied on guitar
16: **Pride And Joy 3:51 unaccompanied guitar/vocal
17: **Untitled Blues Jam 5:11 w/Chris Layton keeping time
on phone book

Below are a couple of articles I found on the web. In each case I have given credit for the source of the articles along with the web links.
This is a review from Vince’s SRV Page (http://www.srvrocks.com/ )
• The discs are very special. The set is titled “Life Without You - The Soul to Soul Sessions” Vol. 1-4 [Blue Knight Records, BKR 017,18,19,20]. “LWY-TStSS” is 59 tracks of superb, unreleased studio recordings [New York, 1985].This set is probably not for the casual SRV listener. However, if you ever want to take a “time trip” and hear what it was like to be in the studio with Stevie, Tommy, Chris and Richard [sound engineer], then these discs are the ticket.
• Quality comparable to a studio release or an ‘official’ live album. Has good mixing, no tape hiss, good production.
• Soul To Soul sessions boots. It’s 3 CDs of just about everything that was recorded for that album, so (obviously) everything is from the studio. They recorded all of their rehearsals, so there’s a lot of messing around with different songs, talking, etc. The version “I’m Leaving You” is complete as far as I can remember. They mess around with “Give Me Back My Wig” for a long time, but it sounds like Stevie didn’t know the words and they never get a complete take. After one of the failed attempts he says he’s gonna have to call Johnny Winter and ask him for the words.
• It’s interesting to listen to everything that’s on these boots. It’s fun to hear someone like Stevie Ray mess up -- he IS human! There are some great (and funny) chokes. There’s also a lot of brilliant playing (to be expected). Some of the stuff that’s on “The Sky Is Crying” is from these sessions. The original take of “The Sky Is Crying” is there -- the vocals must have been overdubbed later, but the guitar parts are from this take. “Chitlins Con Carne” is also from these sessions, only it was cut and edited for “The Sky Is Crying.” There’s some cool stuff that was cut out. Stevie also messes around with “Riviera Paradise,” before it was known as “Riviera Paradise.” There are also a bunch of jams on “Boot Hill,” even though the version on “The Sky Is Crying” is from the In Step sessions. Cool stuff.
• On the CDs “Life Without You” (soul II soul sessions) Vol.4 are 3 tracks from the radio show Rockline. That is great stuff also, especially the “untitled blues jam.”
• Most tracks suffer from low-level background noise and some include fade out/in of instruments/vocals, otherwise sound quality varies from good to excellent.
• I can’t get past the first track without believing that Jimi’s spirit really DID inhabit Stevie. Awesome.
• excellent quality
• I have these four CDs as well and agree totally. They are very very good quality. Well worth it to have. If you see any of ’em pick them up.
• Four INCREDIBLE jam packed disks of Soul to Soul studio outakes!!!
• taken from the studio tapes of the Soul to Soul sessions in New York. They have several alternate takes of songs from the album as well as Stevie noodling around on the guitar (a real treat) and various other gems (Hangnails ’n’ Boogers- you’ve just got to hear it yourself, I can’t explain that one and do it justice).
• Excellent quality, “distilled” version of the Soul to Soul sessions
• Some great alternate takes and mixes of Boot Hill.
This is a great write up about the S2S session recordings from Steven Toney: ( http://www.srvrocks.com/boot_review/s-toney.htm )
From: Steven G. Toney Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 Subject: Soul to Soul Sessions; The REAL Story
(Preface: The following is a LONG message which summarizes the results of my research into the details of the Soul to Soul sessions, and what portions of this session have appeared on CD. This is a detailed (at times maybe confusing) message. If you are not interested, please delete now.)
Many of you are aware that there is a tape series, consisting of 9 or 10 ninety-minute cassette tapes of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the studio. These tapes were the source of several different bootleg CDS. On TexasFlood, we have long discussed whether the source of the bootleg CDS is the ‘Soul-to-Soul' sessions. Until now, it was only conjecture as to what actually came from these sessions, and what material came from other sources.
I have completed a Stevie Ray ‘research project' (ne: labor of love) to settle the uncertainties of these discussions. Over the course of several weekends, I put on my Sherlock Holmes hat (complete with magnifying glass) got my watch out (with sweep second hand), and listened to all the tapes. Originally, I had eleven tapes, however, I discovered that two of the tapes are duplicates. My goal was to figure out the names of the songs, determine how many takes were made, label the takes, time the takes, characterize each take (instrumental, vocals, no vocals, wah pedal, drop-outs, loud and rowdy, soft and mellow, etc.), time the blank space in between takes, and characterize the spaces between takes (which in most cases is SRV, Tommy, or Chris practicing.)
Once the entire source tape set was labeled, timed, and characterized, I got out the CDS or copies of CDS that have been attributed to the Soul to Soul Sessions to determine if the songs are the same...and also to associate specific tracks on the CDS to specific takes on the tape series. (Thanks go out to Jim Zintz, who loaned me his Unsurpassed Masters CDS.)
To date...there have been six CDS or CD sets attributed to this studio session. These include:
• Life Without You, Volumes 1 through 4
• Best Of Soul to Soul Sessions
• Accolades - Volume 3
• Touch the Sky
• Unsurpassed Masters, Volume 1 through 3
• A Tale Untold, Volumes 1 through 4
The last set, A Tale Untold, is a duplication of the first set, with the exception that A Tale Untold has a few extra tracks on one of the CDS from a live concert SRV did.
It took a long time, but my discoveries and/or conclusions are provided below:
Two of my eleven Soul to Soul session tapes were duplicates. Most people I've seen that have this series says that it's 900 minutes, rather than 800 minutes (9 tapes x 90 minutes). So, unless I am missing some of the session, the actual length of the source tapes is roughly
800 minutes. Based on a comparison with the Life Without You four-CD set, I don't think that I am missing any tapes, however, since I was able to associate all 59 CD tracks to a ‘take' on the tapes that I have. That gave me a ‘warm fuzzy' feeling that I have all the source tapes. So, you might want to consider changing your lists from 900 minutes to 800 minutes (...or 810 minutes for you mathematicians out there).
As stated in the above paragraph, all of the 59 tracks on the Life Without You four-CD set are from these nine tapes. On my copies, the sound quality of the CDS was superior to the tapes.
There are still some songs that Stevie cut during the sessions that have not been committed to CD yet. Also, there are some killer takes that weren't included on any of the six releases summarized above. Even so, if a person has the Life Without You set, he/she has pretty much a 90 percent representation of the material on the nine tapes. (i.e. You'd probably be happy with the CDS and trading for the entire nine tape series wouldn't add much ‘meat' to your collection.)
Accolades , Volume 3 is mostly from this session. I could not identify the source of three takes on Accolades , Vol 3. Eleven takes were positively identified as being from the nine tape S2S series. Of the eleven takes from the S2S sessions, eight takes exist on either the LWY four disk set, or the Unsurpassed three disk set, or both. Three songs are not duplicated on either LWY or Unsurpassed . (conclusion: If you desire as many takes on CD as possible, you should get Accolades ... if you are lucky enough to find it.)
All 14 tracks from Best of Soul to Soul Sessions are from the nine-tape set. All 14 tracks are duplicated from the Life Without You set and most are duplicated on the Unsurpassed Masters set. (conclusion: If you have the Life Without You set or Unsurpassed sets, you don't need the BOS2S CD.)
The three CDS in the Unsurpassed Masters series are made up of 45 tracks. All 45 tracks are from the S2S session tapes. As for Life Without You, the sound quality of the Unsurpassed Masters series is better than the tapes I have. Of the 45 tracks on Unsurpassed , there are 44 different takes...one take is duplicated. Of the 44 takes, 26 of the takes also exist on the Life Without You series, and 18 takes are ‘new' to CD, although most of the ‘new' stuff are just alternate takes of the same songs that are on the LWY set. (conclusion: If you are a ‘completist' desiring everything that's out on SRV, you should get all three Unsurpassed disks, since they all have ‘new' material. Otherwise, if you have LWY, you would not need to buy Unsurpassed to get a good representation of the Soul to Soul sessions...same if you have Unsurpassed ; you wouldn't need to buy LWY.)
I found the CD entitled Touch The Sky to be the most interesting. First off, TTS is a mixture of several different recording sessions. Portions of this CD are taken from the Soul to Soul sessions and portions are from other sessions that are not part of the nine tape series. What's most interesting about TTS is that the tracks on this CD are ‘post-processed' tracks. In other words, the tracks have been processed...reverb added, errors deleted, maybe in some cases there were some overdubs (although I didn't specifically identify any cases of this). Comparing the tracks from the S2S sessions with the tracks on TTS, one can tell that they are the same tracks, but they have a different sound to them. It's obvious that the person who ‘leaked' these tapes was a real insider, close to the actual raw recording session tapes and then the mixed ‘masters.'
Of the 15 tracks on the TTS disk, seven tracks are from the nine-tape series. Eight tracks are from other recording sessions. Of the seven tracks from the S2S session, four of the tracks also appear on both the Life Without You four-disk set, and on the Unsurpassed Masters three-disk set. Three tracks appear on neither LWY or Unsurpassed. In addition, two of the tracks on TTS also appear on Accolades, Volume 3. Neither of these two tracks appear on LWY or Unsurpassed. (conclusion...Touch the Sky is one-half made up of material from the S2S sessions. Of this, some of the material is duplicated (albeit ‘post-mixed') in the LWY and Unsurpassed series, but there are three tracks that do not appear on any boot CDS.)
Final conclusion...most of the good stuff from the nine-tape Soul to Soul session series has been committed to CD, but there are still some tracks that are awesome that have not been put out on CD, but the number is probably less than five or six. For the most part, either the Life Without You series, or the Unsurpassed Masters series contains good representations of most of the material from the S2S sessions. Either series would be a good purchase for someone that wants additional unreleased Stevie studio material.
For the completist, you must have LWY series, Unsurpassed series, TTS, and Accolades to get ALL the different stuff from the S2S sessions that's been committed to CD, since each of these CDS has material that is not on any of the other CDS. Best of Soul to Soul sessions has no new material. This disk would be a waste for the completist, unless he/she simply wanted to collect everything released of SRV. Otherwise, all tracks on ‘Best of' are duplicates.
Obviously, to complete this project, I have completed detailed track lists for each of the tapes, including track titles, takes, times, notes, etc. If anyone has the entire S2S series and desires the DETAILED set list, please email me and I will provide it to you. Similarly, if you have any of the CDS and desire to assimilate the CD tracks with the S2S session tapes, email me and I will send you the necessary information.
An example of the detail with which I have compile this information follows.
Track 3 on the ‘Best of Soul to Soul' CD is entitled ‘Hug, Kiss, Squeeze'. The source of the track is ‘Hug, Kiss, Squeeze, Take 2' in the S2S session nine-tape series. It is located on Tape 2, Side B, track 2. Also, this take is 4 minutes, 25 seconds long and has SRV vocals (other takes do not have any vocals). The take is preceded by 3 minutes of drum tuning/practice/talking and SRV saying "hey motherf***er, do I tell you how to turn the knobs?" This take is also included on the Life Without You four-disk set (disk 2, track 3) and the Unsurpassed Masters three-disk set (disk 1, track 1).
I am providing this information to Bob Willmot so that it can be entered into the gig-database, for everyone to reference in the future. I'm not sure how this detailed info can be easily presented in an understandable manner, however, I have a couple ideas.
I hope that I have not bored you all with this message. I realize that it is VERY detailed and probably difficult to read...however, for those of you with the S2S nine-tape series and/or any of the referenced CDS, you should find the results of this ‘project' to be quite interesting and informative.
Not to be self-serving, but one reason that I conducted this research was the MANY questions that have been asked about these sessions in the past. Therefore, I am forwarding this letter, and the supporting information to Jack Klosterman for inclusion of this ‘data' in the SRV FAQ.
Another reason for it to be FAQed is that this effort took HOURS and HOURS to complete and we all need this to be a part of the ‘permanent' SRV record.
Thanks for your time.
Trades Allowed
Performance
Stevie Ray Vaughan 1985-03-?? "Soul To Soul" Studio Sessions, Dallas, TX
Set 1 S.R.V. Soul 2 Soul Sessions


Stevie Ray Vaughan -- The Complete Soul To Soul Sessions
TAPE 1, SIDE A

1) Scuttlebuttin' Variation 1 (a couple places where Tommy/Chris play
alone, then Stevie
says `Tell me where we're goin'), 2:13
2) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 1 (this version is more voodoo-
like? part of song
is played with chorus effect), 5:37
3) Background silence + plus practice, 0:44
4) Life Without You 1, 0:43
5) Life Without You 2, 8:06
6) Tuning and LWY practice without Tommy/Chris, 1:35
7) Life Without You 3, 0:40
8) Life Without You practice, 1:06
9) Life Without You 4 (ends with low E string snap), 1:14
10) Slide Thang (Stevie uses the slide on the second measure, ends
with Chris playing
drums for an additional couple of seconds), 1:43
11) Bass practice for about 40 seconds followed by slide guitar
practice, 0:53
12) Slide Thang 2 (Stevie plays slide opening for this take), 6:57
13) Background and/or silence, 1:19
14) Slide Thang 3 (very mellow version), 3:47
15) Background and/or silence, 0:30
16) Slide Thang 4 (aggressive) , 2:43
17) The Sky Is Crying 1 (slide version!!), 5:13

TAPE 1, SIDE B

1) Practice, 2:00
2) Quiet Slide Blues (without Tommy/Chris except for a very short
time), 2:37
3) Gimme Back My Wig (this take has vocals…at the end, Stevie says
`don't know the
words to that song…'), 4:59
4) Speaking, 0:46
5) Hangnails and Boogers 1, 0:44
6) Gimme Back My Wig 2 (no vocals), 2:55
7) Gimme Back My Wig 3 (no vocals), 1:53
8) Bass Practice + tuning/loosen up, 1:56
9) Hug, Kiss Squeeze 1 (with vocals), 1:49
10) Speaking and bass tuning (Stevie says `am I as out of tune as I
think I am?'), 0:30
11) May I Have A Talk With You 1 (with vocals, Stevie talks a bit at
the start. Tommy/
Chris keep playing the groove after Stevie stops, then Stevie start
back again and plays
the complete song.), 8:01
12) Commit A Crime (with vocals), 6:18
13) Background and/or silence, 1:00
14) Red House Type Slow Blues (very soft and slow), 2:52
15) Background and/or silence, 1:22
16) Funk Rhythm Groove (Tommy/Chris groove for a couple minutes, then
Stevie joins
in.), 3:30

TAPE 2, SIDE A

1) Background (some silence + guitar practice followed by bass/drum
practice), 11:23
2) Say What 1, 2:32
3) Background and/or silence, 0:41
4) Say What 2, 7:23
5) Background and/or silence, 2:28
6) Boilermaker 1, 8:59
7) Background and/or silence, 0:48
8) Chitlins Con Carne 1 (I think this is the version that is on the
album.), 6:22
9) Background and/or silence (Riviera Pradise practice), 3:51

TAPE 2, SIDE B

1) Gone Home Practice, 4:47
2) Background and/or silence (drum tuning followed by practice and
talking, Stevie says
`hey motherfucker at 1:58'), 3:03
3) Hug Kiss Squeeze 2 (with vocals), 4:17
4) Background and/or silence, 1:50
5) Stevie's Slow Blues, 9:42
6) Background and/or silence (Stevie belching and crazy talking), 1:27
7) Background and/or silence (bass/drum practice followed by more
silence + two
minutes of `Woke Up' guitar practice), 9:56
8) Woke Up This Morning, My Baby Was Gone, 2:51
9) Slow Guitar Blues without vocals (very quiet, the end is cut), 6:17

TAPE 3, SIDE A

1) Ain't Gone N Give Up On Love Variation 1, 5:14
2) Say What 3, 0:57
3) Background and/or silence, 0:52
4) Say What 4, 2:46
5) Background and/or silence (drum tuning + silence + talking +
guitar/ drum practice,
Stevie messing around with effects, reverb, wah, etc.), 3:22
6) Say What 5, 4:06
7) Background and/or silence, 2:09
8) Say What 6, 6:15
9) Background and/or silence (bass/guitar tuning + Stevie talking
`We've forgotten
something about this song.'), 2:07
10) Say What 7 (slightly slower, mellower start, at about 1:15 Stevie
`kicks' it.), 4:21
11) Background and/or silence, 0:50
12) Say What 8 (Stevie's volume being messed with…cuts in with
`heavy' guitar.'), 0:56
13) Background and/or silence (Stevie giving instructions + silence),
4:41
14) Say What 9, 0:24
15) Background and/or silence, 0:42
16) Say What 10, 1:02
17) Background and/or silence (Chris/Tommy practice Say What groove +
silence), 1:04
18) Background and/or silence, 5:02

TAPE 3, SIDE B

1) Say What 11 (starts with average intensity then builds, Chris and
Tommy get kinda
goofy at the end.), 2:13
2) Background and/or silence, 2:24
3) Say What 12, 0:43
4) Background and/or silence (drum/bass practice/tuning) , 3:11
5) Say What 13, 5:47
6) Background and/or silence, 2:09
7) Hangnails and Boogers 2 (quiet at the beginning), 8:48
8) Life Without You 5 (starts and then stops only after a brief
time), 0:35
9) Life Without You 6, 6:40
10) Background and/or silence, 3:10
11) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 2 (this version is more Voodoo-
like) , 3:47
12) Background and/or silence, 0:26
13) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 3 (this version is more Voodoo-
like; with guitar;
starts over at about 1:40 then at 2:20 Stevie practices one section
quite a few times.), 0:55
14) Background and/or silence, 0:15
15) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 4 (Stevie practices one section
quite a few times;
cuts out at end.), 2:21


TAPE 4, SIDE A

1) Boot Hill 1 (no vocals), 2:17
2) Boot Hill 2 (Stevie's guitar volume goes way down at about 2
minutes for about 25
seconds.), 3:08
3) Background and silence (silence + guitar tuning + guitar
practice), 1:15
4) Boot Hill 3 (Stevie guitar stops at about 30 seconds for ten
seconds or so; you can
hear Stevie singing. Guitar stops again at 1:40 and 2:20.), 3:36
5) Background and/or silence, 0:27
6) Say What 14 (dive bomb at about 2:18 and 2:43, abrupt ending), 3:11
7) Background and silence (silence + messing around with amp), 2:09
8) Say What 15, 0:45
9) Background and/or silence, 0:55
10) Say What 16, 1:02
11) Background and/or silence, 0:38
12) Say What 17 (at about 1:40 Chris and Tommy stop and Stevie keeps
playing then
Chris/Tommy join back in.), 3:06
13) Background and/or silence, 0:40
14) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 5 (more of a superstition feel
to this version), 1:21
15) Background and/or silence, 0:51
16) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 6, 10:13
17) Background and/or silence (some low volume continuation of the
above song; Stevie
unplugs his guitar and plugs back in a minute later, then silence and
some guitar
strumming.), 5:26
18) Empty Arms 1 (no vocals), 1:12
19) Empty Arms 2 (with vocals), 1:20
20) Background and/or silence (Stevie talking then a big burp.), 0:40
21) Empty Arms 3, 1:35
22) Background and/or silence (Stevie talking and some guitar
feedback.), 1:32

TAPE 4, SIDE B

1) Little Wing 1, 0:34
2) Little Wing 2, 0:51
3) Background and/or silence, 0:55
4) Little Wing 3, 1:52
5) Background and/or silence (Stevie talking, lots of reverb on
Stevie's voice.), 0:30
6) Little Wing 4 (Stevie uses Wah pedeal at about 3 minutes for about
a minute.), 6:48
7) Third Stone 1 (mostly practicing feedback and noises), 3:02
8) Background and/or silence, 0:47
9) Third Stone 2 (complete song; pans left and right), 6:31
10) Background and/or silence, 0:51
11) Say What 18 (includes organ), 0:50
12) Background and/or silence, 0:23
13) Ain't Gone N Give Up On Love 2 (very subdued and sparse beginning
and ending),
5:05
14) Background and/or silence, 0:24
15) Ain't Gone N Give Up On Love 3, 6:13
16) Come On 1 (Practicing start of song without vocals; end cuts
without outro.), 6:15
17) Keyboard practice, 2:33

TAPE 5, SIDE A

1) Background and/or silence (drum practice and silence), 6:05
2) Life Without You 7, 7:17
3) Life Without You 8, 5:39
4) Background and/or silence, 0:41
5) Life Without You 9, 7:09
6) Life Without You 10 (tape replay of track 3 above), 5:37
7) Background and/or silence (bass practice, portions of this sound
like bass line for
`Shake For Me'.), 10:31
8) You Got Me Floating, 0:58
9) Background and/or silence, 3:15

TAPE 5, SIDE B

1) Life Without You 11, 1:49
2) Background and/or silence (drum tuning), 1:40

NOTE: Tracks 3 through 6 are mostly Stevie messing around.,
3) Guitar Practice (without accompaniment; open string picking
practice; `Gimme Back
My Wig' and then at about 3 min they start a Chuck Berry Style Boogie
Woogie Thing 1
without accompaniment; starts over several times; Stevie messes with
amp settings,
Stevie's guitar tone is different than normal.), 8:24
4) Chuck Berry Style Boogie Woogie Thing 1 (with the band; band stops
around 40
seconds for about 20 seconds.), 4:27
5) Third Stone 3 (with effects), 1:05
6) Boilermaker Variation 2 (with effects), 1:02
7) Come On 2 (instrumental variation; abrupt cut in), 5:46
8) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 6 (a bit slower than the other
versions on this
series; more of a Voodoo-type feel to this take.), 2:51
9) Background and/or silence (Chris plays some more of the funk
groove; some faint
guitar feedback; Chris/Tommy start a quiet rhythm groove.), 8:50
10) Life Without You 12 (a bit slower and more surreal version;
starts over a bunch of
times with Stevie talking between starts; mostly just practice.),
11:19

TAPE 6, SIDE A

1) Empty Arms 4, 4:09
2) Background and/or silence, 0:29
3) Empty Arms 5, 3:17
4) Background (Stevie says `I forgot my own fuckin'…ugh, my own goll
darn song'), 0:34
5) May I Have A Talk With You 2, 8:09
6) Background and/or silence, 1:56
7) May I Have A Talk With You 3, 5:55
8) Background and/or silence, 1:18
9) Maudie (Doyle Bramhall vocals), 6:02
10) Background and/or silence (brief start to So Excited then cut),
1:32
11) So Excited 1 (cut in), 5:28
12) Background and/or silence, 1:57
13) Say What 19, 2:23
14) Scuttlebuttin' Variation 2, 2:06
15) Background and/or silence, 0:25
16) Testify (cut shortly after start), 1:14

TAPE 6, SIDE B

1) Come On 3 (without vocals), 2:40
2) Background and/or silence (tuning up, talking, messing around with
instruments. ),
6:11
3) Don't Lose Your Cool, 6:18
4) Rude Mood Variation (several short takes), 3:49
5) Tin Pan Alley, 3:19
6) Background and/or silence, 2:25
7) Life Without You 13, 1:17
8) Background and/or silence, 0:28
9) Life Without You 14, 1:42
10) Background and/or silence, 0:39
11) Life Without You 15, 1:21
12) Background and/or silence, 0:49
13) Life Without You 16, 14:46
14) Background and/or silence (one take of LWY starts but cuts only
after a couple of
seconds), 0:55

TAPE 7, SIDE A

1) Background and/or silence (starts and stops five or six times, LWY
rhythm, no guitar.)
, 9:44
2) Life Without You 17, 6:14
3) Background and/or silence, 3:03
4) Life Without You 18, 6:14
5) Background and/or silence, 0:25
6) Life Without You 19, 6:15
7) Background and/or silence (Stevie practices some short jazzy
pieces + bass
practice.), 2:28
8) Background and/or silence (two basses alternate between left and
right channels.),
5:35
9) Hendrix-type Funk Tune, 3:18
10) So Excited 2 (Stevie stops playing at 37 seconds and starts again
at 1:28.), 3:40

TAPE 7, SIDE B

1) Boot Hill 4 (no vocals), 3:18
2) Scuttlebuttin' Variation 3, 2:53
3) Background and/or silence, 1:43
4) May I Have A Talk With You 4 (with vocals), 6:48
5) Collins Shuffle , 2:42
6) Background and/or silence (guitar tuning), 2:16
7) Come On 4 (Stevie starts singing after first line or two of the
song.), 1:00
8) Background and/or silence, 3:37
9) Come On 5 (Stevie misses the first couple words at the beginning
of verses one and
two. He chuckles a bit when he sings `flippin' like a flag on a
pole'.), 6:48
10) Background and/or silence, 0:57
11) Gimme Back My Wig 4, 0:48
12) Background and/or silence (bass drum boogie + silence), 6:24

TAPE 8, SIDE A

1) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 8 (Stevie starts this many
times.), 11:35
2) Superstition/ Voodoo Funk Groove 9 (fairly complete take of this
song.), 2:27
3) Background and/or silence (bass and drum rhythm from the above
song until about
4:40. Stevie cuts in briefly at about 5:21. Stevie cuts in again at
about 6:00 with guitar
and chorus effect…continues to around 8:40. From 8:40 to 11:55 Stevie
plays a couple
takes with chorus effect. At about 14:10 Chris and Tommy start rhythm
for Say What.),
16:10
4) Say What 20, 0:39
5) Background and/or silence, 0:52
6) Say What 21, 2:09
7) Background and/or silence, 1:40
8) Runnin' All Over Myself 1 (bass/drum intro at start, guitar cuts
in at about 1:25, big
belch at 2:00, starts the song over a couple of times, Stevie talks
the lyrics out a couple of
times.), 8:05
9) Runnin' All Over Myself 2 (fairly complete take), 2:11

TAPE 8, SIDE B

1) The Sky Is Crying 2 (without vocals), 1:44
2) Background and/or silence, 1:26
3) The Sky Is Crying 3 (with vocals), 1:27
4) Background and/or silence, 1:23
5) The Sky Is Crying 4 (with vocals), 4:32
6) Background and/or silence, 0:33
7) Boot Hill 5 (with vocals), 3:06
8) Background and/or silence, 1:07
9) Boot Hill 6 (this is a tape replay of track 7 above except the
audio engineer fades
Stevie's vocals out of the mix a little after the start of the
song.), 3:06
10) Background and/or silence, 0:21
11) Empty Arms 6 (rhythm only), 3:21
12) Background and/or silence, 1:20
13) Empty Arms 7 (rhythm only; there is a drop-out a little after 3
minutes), 4:10
14) Background and/or silence, 1:32
15) Empty Arms 8 (with lead guitar), 3:23
16) Background and/or silence, 1:12
17) Empty Arms 9 (with lead guitar), 0:28
18) Background and/or silence, 0:21
19) Empty Arms 10 (with lead guitar and vocals), 0:59
20) Background and/or silence, 0:22
21) Empty Arms 11 (with lead guitar and vocals), 1:14
22) Background and/or silence, 0:16
23) Empty Arms 12 (with lead guitar and vocals), 1:15
24) Background and/or silence, 0:25
25) Empty Arms 13 (with lead guitar and vocals), 2:29
26) Background and/or silence (tape ends with Stevie listening to
tape replays.), 5:02

TAPE 9, SIDE A

Note: All takes of Empty Arms on this side have vocals, rhythm and
guitar except for
tracks 11, 17, and 19 which do not have vocals.
1) Empty Arms 14, 2:00
2) Background and/or silence, 2:49
3) Empty Arms 15, 3:03
4) Background and/or silence, 0:26
5) Empty Arms 16, 0:58
6) Background and/or silence, 0:18
7) Empty Arms 17, 1:05
8) Background and/or silence, 1:57
9) Empty Arms 18, 3:22
10) Background and/or silence, 1:48
11) Empty Arms 19, 2:42
12) Background and/or silence, 0:33
13) Empty Arms 20, 0:38
14) Background and/or silence, 0:46
15) Empty Arms 21, 1:17
16) Background and/or silence, 5:16
17) Empty Arms 22, 0:25
18) Background and/or silence, 0:58
19) Empty Arms 23, 0:41
20) Background and/or silence, 0:43
21) Empty Arms 24 (restarts once), 3:28
22) Background and/or silence (a few short replays and Stevie
talking), 3:24
23) Empty Arms 25, 3:00
24) Background and/or silence, 0:42
25) Empty Arms 26 (sounds like either the key or the rate changes in
the middle of the
song.), 3:16

TAPE 9, SIDE B

1) Background and/or silence (Stevie starts out humming and doing a
lot of talking.),
2:11
2) Empty Arms 27, 1:21
3) Background and/or silence, 0:23
4) Empty Arms 28 (a number of starts, stops, playbacks; Stevie talks
to control room;
Stevie briefly sings accapella.), 6:41
5) Empty Arms 29, 3:00
6) Background and/or silence, 0:56
7) Wham 1, 0:41
8) Wham 2, 1:50
9) Background and/or silence (some cool guitar riffs), 3:27
10) Background and/or silence (bass drum groove), 7:11
11) Background and/or silence (messing around with the superstition
voodoo thing, a
little quiet.), 3:43
12) Background and/or silence, 2:14
13) Life Without You 20, 0:38
14) Background and/or silence, 1:30
15) Life Without You 21, 1:00
16) Background and/or silence, 1:40
17) Life Without You 22, 6:01
Set 2
Set 3
Comment"In March of 1985, SRV rented out some space at the Power Station Studios in New York City to rehearse for Soul To Soul and break in the new keyboard man. They were there for
about 2 weeks. Everything was recorded digitally on VHS tape with a PCM processor in audio format only. Dozens of tapes were used but when they finished, the band left behind 14 of these VHS tapes. Through a taper friendly contact in the
studio, the tapes were lent out over a holiady weekend and a PCM converter set up was rented. Over the next three days straight, unedited copies were done onto at least two
cassette decks and one reel. No one had DAT yet or a PCM of their own. What came out was over 800 minutes of material. At the time, it was asked that these recordings be kept under wraps but as always, things tend to get out. The rest is history... "

Obviously, this is a studio session, so there are lots of times when Stevie is talking to the engineers about this-and-that. Some of these exchanges timelessly capture Stevie's off-camera personality, as he sometimes swears about something or belches loudly into the mic between takes. Generally, the tapes capture live some of the
experimentation that went into Stevie's creative processes during this particular stage of his career. Like a Mastercard TV commercial, it's priceless!!!