Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

Viewed today, Stevie Ray Vaughan's only two appearances on "Austin City Limits" (bookending, as they do, his recording career with Double Trouble) offer a study in contrasts and chronicle the evolution of a brief but amazing musical saga. As has repeatedly been cited by innumerable musicians who "knew him when," he could always play. That was a given. But the guitarslinger who took the release of his debut album, Texas Flood, and the Stevie Ray who returned in 1989, following the release of In Step, were two different people.

As with any great artist, particularly those of the blues persuasion, Stevie Ray Vaughan was constantly taking chances, stretching out, discovering new possibilities even in songs he performed nightly. Brother Jimmie Vaughan hit the nail on the head as only he could: "He never played it the same way once, much less twice." As impressive as Stevie's too-brief studio career was, the records represent only freeze-frame stills of songs (and a guitarist) that were continually evolving.