Rehearsals provide some fantastic boots, for many reasons.  First, they're always well recorded, because they're taken off the soundboard by the road crew. That means that the signal goes directly from the mixer, which puts all the instrument and microphone signals together in the proper proportion, to the recorder. This gives better quality, of course, than a microphone sitting somewhere in the audience an untold (usually) distance away. The music is interesting as well, because you are hearing the artists try out ideas that they may or may not use in concert. Some things sound cool, others sound half baked, but the fun is in listening to the idea develop. You also get to hear some of your faves screw up royally, which, of course, is what rehearsal is for. That is why they record themselves- to hear what they did with an audience's ear, and pick out the things that don't work BEFORE doing an actual performance.

In this case, the rehearsal recording is the only way to hear this particular band lineup, because it never happened onstage. David Bowie had tapped an unknown guitar talent named Stevie Ray Vaughn to play guitar for his "Let's Dance" album, which did very well in the stores. Stevie, at the time, was also in the process of recording an album- the second recorded, but the first to actually be released. He agreed to tour with Bowie, but then dropped out. Some sources say that he needed to tour for his own album, released just a few months after "Let's Dance".  Others cite "disputes". Either way, SRV was replaced, and went on tour with Double Trouble instead.

Now, on the surface, Bowie and SRV go together like ham and chocolate. Listening to the discs, you can spot several instances where Stevie's style simply wasn't appropriate to the song. Examples include "Heroes", where he tried to play Robert Fripp's part without the Frippertronics, and "Station to Station", where Bowie HAD to long for Carlos Alomar. However, he did sound good on a lot of songs, especially those written with a bluesy style in mind, or those re-arranged to fit him. This week I will share one of the latter.

TVC15 is one of my favorite Bowie tunes, and I like this version because it's very different from any other I've heard. This song normally has a honky-tonk sound to it, but this version is very bluesy, and lets SRV cut loose for a couple blues riffs. It's a fun listen, and an interesting glimpse into the band that never happened.

Here's David Bowie with Stevie Ray Vaughn playing TVC15 on April 27, 1983

Congrats to jollykay for figuring it out! The full show is already on its' way!

Next week: What's that smell like fish, oh baby?