Best-known as the late
Stevie Ray Vaughan's rock-solid rhythm section,
Double Trouble actually began life as a band of equals in 1978, the year vocalist
Lou Ann Barton left a blues group called
Triple Threat in which
Vaughan was the guitarist. Accompanied by bassist
Jackie Newhouse and drummer
Chris "Whipper" Layton,
Vaughan took over vocal duties and the band renamed itself
Double Trouble after an
Otis Rush song. Bassist
Tommy Shannon, who learned the blues serving an apprenticeship with
Johnny Winter, joined the outfit in 1980, and he and
Layton would accompany
Vaughan throughout the guitarist's meteoric career, from his 1983 debut album
Texas Flood to his tragic death in 1990.
Shannon and
Layton regrouped as part of a blues-rock supergroup called
the Arc Angels, who released a self-titled album in 1992; subsequently, the duo became an in-demand session team, backing artists like
W.C. Clark,
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and
Doyle Bramhall, among others.
Shannon and
Layton also recorded with the Austin-based blues collective
Storyville during the '90s. For their first album as
Double Trouble, the duo recruited a bevy of guest stars to handle vocals and guitar, including
Bramhall,
Lou Ann Barton, longtime
Vaughan keyboardist
Reese Wynans,
Jonny Lang,
Willie Nelson,
Dr. John, and
Jimmie Vaughan. The result,
Been a Long Time, was released in early 2001 on the Tone-Cool label. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide