The Allmusic review by Ken Dryden awarded ¡Viva! Vaughan three and a half stars and said "Vaughan is in great voice throughout the date and the material is generally first-rate, except for the bland "Night Song"...Unfortunately, the bossa nova selections ("The Boy From Ipanema" and "Quiet Nights") are burdened with pedestrian string arrangements that date the music as much as the generally uninspired Latin percussion. It's likely that this lack of focus confused the record-buying public as to what type of music this was and caused it to be overlooked."[1]
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