A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan (StayThirsty)

http://staythirstymedia.com/RansomNotes/2009/08/fly-on-little-wing/

“I’ve said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed.”
- B.B. King

HE’S MY PRIDE & JOY (SRV 10/3/1954-8/27/1990)

B.B. King had it right when he declared that, “playing the blues [was] like having to be born black twice.” It’s indeed fact that many of the predominant and principle blues greats were African American…utilizing the genre to exhale the difficulty of oppression and combat with the merciless segregated world. Robert Johnson, (African American Blues legend, 1911-1938) is considered, “The Grandfather of Rock and Roll,” being among the most, if not THE MOST, famous of Delta blues musicians recognized for fueling the transition of traditional blues into the Rock & Roll genre. Other famous notables are Bessie Smith and Nat “King” Cole (the original black voices of blues), as well as African American guitarists’ John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and Buddy Guy to name a few. But Robert Johnson’s music and style, especially for its time, inspired later blues guitar greats who were blind to racial boundaries and submitted to their uncontrollable infatuation with the unique brand. Among superstar musicians Keith Richards and Eric Clapton stands Stevie Ray Vaughan, who further stretched the limitless boundaries of the blues-rock copulation with his “electric blues” method and technique. It has been 19 years to the day that Stevie Ray was taken from us in that horrific plane accident…and guitarists have been submerged in a depression ever since.

Stevie Ray was born in Autumn of 1954 in a Dallas, Texas hospital. His older brother, blues guitarist Jimmy Vaughan would later be the one who gave Stevie his first electric guitar and propelled the rock genius he came to be. Around 1973, when Stevie was 18 years old, he found “a battered 1963 Fender Stratocaster at a music store in Austin.” This would become the infamous SRV Fender that he sported throughout his career and cherished as a father would to a son. After jumping around from various bands in his adolescence, Stevie eventually landed himself with the “Triple Threat Revue (1974),” a rock band out of Austin. The title of this group would soon morph to the ever so famous, “Double Trouble” who rolled with Stevie Ray up until his eventual death.

Stevie’s main spotlight brewed from his performance at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Here he was viewed by Rock legends Jackson Browne and David Bowie who eventually nurtured Stevie to stardom. David asked SRV to play lead guitar on his then, upcoming album, Let’s Dance, which he gleefully accepted. Jackson Browne offered Stevie and Double Trouble free recording time at his LA studio because he favored the edgy sound of the musician so much. This would be the place where the infamous Double Trouble debut album, Texas Flood would be born after being discovered by legendary music producer John Hammond (Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan). This, along with his next two albums would all reach gold status.

Stevie had a long and rough substance abuse battle which he eventually was able to defeat in the later months of 1986. That year he debuted a live album, clean and sober, called, Live Alive in Austin. The following years would be positive ones for Vaughan, as his talent and fame would rush the world by storm. In 1990, he recorded an album with his older brother Jimmie called, Family Style and followed that up with a multi-venue tour. The completion of this tour was set to end at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin, featuring notorious musical guitarists Robert Cray and Eric Clapton. The plan was to travel by helicopter to the final shows in order to avoid unforeseen traffic and delays. The sky was dim, and the fog set in…the weather conditions were undoubtedly dangerous to travel in. There were four helicopters, splitting up the members of the tour and shuttling them to the location. Stevie’s helicopter was carrying himself, the pilot and three members of Eric Clapton’s group; this vehicle never made it to East Troy.

Like the early exit of other guitar gods, Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray passed away at a young age, and is among one of the all time greatest to have ever shredded on the stage. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000 and became eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. We will always remember him for his undoubtedly phenomenal guitar skills and his true blue Rock & Roll demeanor. Let him forever be in your hearts…he was TRULY one of a kind.

“What I am trying to get across to you; is please take care of yourselves and those that you love; because that is what we are here for, that’s all we got, and that is all we can take with us. Are you with me? “
Stevie Ray Vaughan