Song of the Day: Scuttle Buttin’ (by Stevie Ray Vaughan)

If you’re diving into Stevie Ray Vaughan, you’ve gotta start with “Texas Flood“—that’s his absolute magnum opus, where his insane technique clashes head-on with raw, improvisational creativity in the most soul-shaking way. It’s like he’s channeling every ounce of Texas blues heartache through those bends and sustains, turning a cover into something timeless and volcanic.

“Scuttle Buttin’“, though? That’s SRV straight-up flexing for the shredders of his era, proving he could hang with the fastest gunslingers on the block while keeping it filthy and fun. It’s less about deep emotional pours and more about cocky, machine-gun precision that still drips with blues swagger—no fancy effects, just pure Stratocaster fury.

The real fireworks hit in the guitar solo, which begins around the :35 second mark, where he unleashes a torrent of rapid-fire picking, hammer-ons, and pulls that’d make any ’80s metal dude sweat. It’s not just speed for speed’s sake; every phrase snaps back to that gritty SRV attitude, like he’s daring you to keep up while grinning the whole time.

Trust me, crank this one up if you want to hear why Vaughan wasn’t just a blues guy—he was a monster who could out-shred anyone on their own turf. Jimi Hendrix had “Little Wing” to showcase his guitar solo mastery, but for SRV, “Scuttle Buttin’” was that track, proving why, of all the guitar players since Hendrix, only SRV truly picked up the mantle of the blues musician who straddled both blues and rock genres, making them bend to his will and talent. That’s why SRV is only surpassed in my mind by Hendrix as the greatest rock guitarist of all-time and top 5 guitarist regardless of music style.