The Sky Is Crying

"The Sky Is Crying" is the fifth and final studio album by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, released 14 months after Vaughan's death in 1990. The album compiles ten previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1989, with only one song, "Empty Arms," having appeared on any of the group's previous albums. The tracks were compiled by Vaughan's brother, Jimmie Vaughan, and the album reached number 10 on the charts, making it Vaughan's highest-charting album.

Critics received the album mostly positively, praising its blues and jazz styles and solid track listing, though they criticized the lack of original songs. The Sky Is Crying showcases many of Vaughan's musical influences, featuring traditional Delta blues, Texas blues, Chicago blues, jump blues, jazz blues, and blues-rock reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix. The tone of the album alternates between uptempo pieces and gritty, slow blues. Highlights include a Grammy-winning extended instrumental cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing," Kenny Burrell's jazz instrumental "Chitlins con Carne," and "Life by the Drop," a song written by Vaughan's friend Doyle Bramhall, performed on a twelve-string acoustic guitar.