On the 16th of July 1988 went to the Rhythm and Blues Festival in Peer,
Belgium. Main act that day was Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Very curious about him, he was the rising star in the blues scene! First
there were The Sultans, Louisiana Red, Jo-Ann Kelly & The All Stars, Melvin
Taylor & The Slack Band, Tom Principato Band, Joe Louis Walker & The
Bosstalkers before as final act SRV. He played the same set as on the double
live album, “Live Alive” and the man played fabulous, long time didn’t hear
somebody play the guitar like Stevie!
Who was Stevie Ray Vaughan?
THE EARLY YEARS:
Stephen Ray was born on October the 3th 1954 in Dallas, Texas; his
parents were Jimmie Lee Vaughan and Martha Cook. His father was, due to alcohol
abuse, a violent man.
He got his first instrument, a toy guitar with 3 strings at the age of
7, and inspired by his older brother Jimmie, he began playing it.
Together, the brothers immersed themselves in the work of blues guitar
greats like B.B. King, Albert King, and Freddie Kings, and early rock
guitarists like Lonnie Mack (whose 1985 comeback, Strike like Lightning,
Vaughan would co - produce)
With an exceptional ear, (Stevie never learned to read sheet music)
Stevie taught himself to play the blues by the time he'd reached high school,
testing his stage skills at a Dallas club any chance he could.
By the time he was 14, Vaughan was already playing Dallas blues clubs
with a variety of bands including Blackbird, the Shantones, and the Epileptic
Marshmallow.
SRV - BAREFOOT
In September 1970, Vaughan made his first studio recordings with the
band Cast of Thousands.
In late January 1971, feeling confined by playing pop hits with
Liberation, Vaughan formed his own band, Blackbird. After growing tired of the
Dallas music scene, he dropped out of school and moved with the band.
Dropping out of high school, in 1972, Vaughan relocated to Austin,
Texas, the up-and-coming musical haven where his brother had already
established himself.
Blackbird played at several clubs in Austin and opened shows for bands
such as Sugarloaf, Wishbone Ash, and Zephyr, but could not maintain a
consistent line-up.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Best Guitar Player - Sound Check
In March 1973, Vaughan joined Marc Benno's band, the Nightcrawlers,
after meeting Benno at a jam session years before. The band featured vocalist
Doyle Bramhall, who met Vaughan when he was twelve years old.
In 1975, Vaughan joined a six-piece band called Paul Ray and the Cobras
that included guitarist Denny Freeman and saxophonist Joe Sublett. For the next
two-and-a-half years, he earned a living performing weekly at a popular venue
in town, the Soap Creek Saloon, and ultimately the newly opened Antone's,
widely known as Austin's "home of the blues".
In addition to playing with the Cobras, Vaughan jammed with many of his
influences at Antone's, including Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Lightning'
Hopkins, and Albert King.
Stevie Ray 1975: The Cobra's, Other Days
The Cobras, a band Stevie Ray vaughan was in early in his career, this
is a song from a demo of theres called Other Days. Stevie has one
smooth, yet blistering solos here. overall the band sounds great
In September 1977, Stevie left The Cobras, and formed Triple Threat
Revue, which included singer Lou Ann Barton, bassist W. C. Clark, and drummer Freddie
Pharaoh.
Barton and Clark left the band in 1978. Pharaod also left the band and
was finally replaced by Chris Layton.The group decided to continue performing
under the name Double Trouble, which was inspired by the Otis Rush song of the
same name; Vaughan became the band's lead singer.
In 1981 Tommy Shannon joined on bass and the power trio was set.
ALBUMS WITH “DOUBLE TROUBLE”:
Through the early 1980s Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played the
Texas club circuit, becoming one of the most popular bands in the area. In 1982
the band played the Montreux Jazz Festival and their performance caught the
attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne. After Double Trouble's
performance, Bowie asked Vaughan to play on his forthcoming album, Let’s Dance,
which, with Stevie’s lead guitar on six of the eight songs, became Bowie’s bestselling
record to date. After an after-hours jam in the artists’ bar Jackson Browne
offered the group free recording time at his Downtown Studio in Los Angeles.
Shortly afterward, legendary producer John Hammond landed Vaughan and Double
Trouble a record contract with Epic, and the band recorded its debut album in
two days over the Thanksgiving weekend at Downtown Studios.
-
Texas Flood:
Vaughan and his bandmates were signed to a record deal with Epic, where
they were put in the capable hands of legendary musician and producer, John
Hammond, Sr.
The resulting record, Texas Flood, did not disappoint, reaching No. 38
on the charts and catching the notice of rock stations across the country. For
his part, Stevie was voted Best New Talent and Best Electric Blues Guitarist in
a 1983 reader's poll by Guitar Player Magazine. Double Trouble set off on a
successful tour.
Bassist Tommy Shannon recalls of the sessions, "It really was just
a big warehouse with concrete floors and some rugs thrown down. We just found a
little corner, set up in a circle looking at and listening to each other and
played like a live band."[5] Vaughan used two Fender Vibroverbs and a
150-watt Dumbleland Special
SONGS ON
THE ALBUM: -
"Love Struck Baby" (Stevie Ray
Vaughan) – 2:24
"Pride and Joy" (Vaughan) – 3:40
"Texas Flood" (Larry Davis,
Joseph Wade Scott) – 5:21
"Tell Me" (Howling' Wolf) – 2:49
"Testify" (Ronald Isley/O'Kelly
Isley, Jr. /Rudolph Isley) – 3:25
"Rude Mood" (Vaughan) – 4:40
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" – 2:47
"Dirty Pool" (Doyle Bramhall,
Vaughan) – 5:02
"I'm Cryin'" (Vaughan) – 3:42
"Lenny" (Vaughan) – 4:58
Stevie Ray Vaughan Riviera Paradise/Lenny Live
-
Couldn’t Stand The
Weather :
During January 1984, Vaughan and Double Trouble spent 19 days at the
Power Station in New York City. John Hammond was executive producer and
supervised the sessions.
Layton later recalled working with Hammond: "He was kind of like a
nice hand on your shoulder, as opposed to someone that jumped in and said,
'Let's redo this, let's do that more.' He didn't get involved in that way at
all. He was a feedback person.
Vaughan's cover of Bob Geddins' "Tin Pan Alley" was recorded
while audio levels were being checked. Layton remembers the performance:
"... we did probably the quietest version we ever did up 'til that point.
We ended it and [Hammond] said, 'That's the best that song will ever sound,'
and we went, 'We haven't even got sounds, have we?' He goes, 'That doesn't
matter. That's the best you'll ever do that song.' We tried it again five, six,
seven times—I can't even remember. But it never quite sounded like it did that
first time.”
The album was more successful than its predecessor, reaching number 31
on the charts; by the end of 1985, the album went gold.
SONGS ON THE ALBUM:
"Scuttle Buttin'" – 1:52
"Couldn't Stand the Weather" – 4:40
"The Things (That) I Used to Do"
(Eddie Jones) – 4:55
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (Jimi
Hendrix) – 8:01
"Cold Shot" (originally credited to
Michael Kindred and W. C. Clark; later incorrectly credited to only Michael
Kindred) – 4:01[14]
"Tin Pan Alley" (originally credited
to Robert Geddins; later credited to James Reed) – 9:11
"Honey Bee" – 2:42
"Stang's Swang" – 2:46
Stevie Ray Vaughan -Tin Pan Alley (Dirty Pool)
SOUL TO SOUL:
Double Trouble added keyboardist Reese Wynans in 1985, before they
recorded their third album, Soul to Soul. The record was released in September
1985 and was also quite successful, reaching number 34 on the charts.
Although his professional career was soaring, Vaughan was sinking deep
into alcoholism and drug addiction.
Roadie Byron Barr later recalled: "The routine was to go to the
studio, do dope, and play Ping-Pong." Vaughan, who found it increasingly
difficult to be able to play rhythm guitar parts and sing at the same time,
wanted to add another dimension to the band.
Vaughan commented: "As far as what's on there song-wise, I like the
album a lot. It meant a lot to us what we went through to get this record. There
were a lot of odds and we still stayed strong. We grew a lot with the people in
the band and immediate friends around us; we learned a lot and grew a lot
closer. That has a lot to do with why it's called Soul to Soul.
SONGS ON THE ALBUM:
"Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up on
Love" – 6:07
"Change It" (Bramhall)
– 3:57
"Empty Arms" – 3:03
"Life without You" –
4:18
LIVE ALIVE:
After touring for nine and a half months,
Epic requested a fourth album from Double Trouble as part of their contractual obligation.
Vaughan decided that they would record the LP, Live Alive, during three live
appearances in Austin and Dallas.
On July 17 and 18, the band performed
sold-out concerts at the Austin Opera House, and July 19 at the Dallas
Starfest. They used recordings of these concerts to assemble the LP, which was
produced by Vaughan. Shannon was backstage before the Austin concert and told
manager Alex Hodges that both Vaughan and he were "headed for a brick
wall". Guitarist Denny Freeman attended the Austin performances; he called
the shows a "musical mess, because they would go into these chaotic jams
with no control. I didn't know what exactly was going on, but I was
concerned." Both Layton and Shannon remarked that their work schedule and
drugs were causing the band to lose focus. According to Wynans: "Things
were getting illogical and crazy."
Vaughan later admitted that it was not one of
his better efforts; he recalled: "I wasn't in very good shape when we
recorded Live Alive. At the time, I didn't realize how bad a shape I was in.
There were more fix-it jobs done on the album than I would have liked. Some of
the work sounds like [it was] the work of half-dead people. There were some
great notes that came out, but I just wasn't in control; nobody was."
When the European tour of the Soul to Soul
Tour began in September 1986, Vaughan's abuse of drugs and alcohol had reached
a peak, using a quarter-ounce of cocaine and drinking a quart of whiskey a day.
Despite his declining health, Vaughan continued to push himself to the
point of collapse in Germany in late September 1986. Almost three weeks of the
European tour were cancelled while Vaughan successfully rehabilitated back in
the States. The band released the double live album Live Alive in November of
1986 and launched an extensive American tour in support. Although the band’s touring
schedule slackened slightly, Vaughan performed many concerts in 1988, including
opening for the Robert Plant tour, a headlining gig at the New Orleans Jazz
& Heritage Festival and a European tour.
On October 2, 1986, Double Trouble appeared at London's Hammersmith
Palais , where Vaughan accidentally fell from a narrow plank after leaving the
stage. The remainder of the tour, which included thirteen shows, was cancelled.
On October 13, Vaughan returned to the United States and checked into Peachford
Hospital in Atlanta, where he spent four weeks in rehabilitation; Shannon, who
had also abused drugs and alcohol, checked into a rehab facility in Austin.
The Live Alive album was released on November 17, 1986, and the only
official live Double Trouble LP made commercially available during Vaughan's
lifetime, though it never appeared on the Billboard 200 chart. Though many
critics claimed that most of the album was overdubbed, engineer Gary Olazabal,
who mixed the album, asserted that most of the material was recorded poorly.
SONGS ON THE ALBUM:
"Say What!" – 4:51
"Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up on Love" –
6:24
"Pride and Joy"
– 5:04
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" (Buddy Guy)
– 4:15
"Superstition" (Stevie Wonder) –
4:43
"I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)"
(Chester Burnett) – 5:35
"Cold Shot" (W. C. Clark, Michael
Kindred)" – 5:40
"Willie the Wimp" (Bill Carter, Ruth
Ellsworth) – 4:38
"Look at Little Sister" (Hank
Ballard) – 4:13
"Texas Flood" (Joseph Wade Scott,
Larry C. Davis) – 6:30
"Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)"
(Jimi Hendrix) – 9:37
"Love Struck Baby" – 3:46
"Change It" (Doyle Bramhall) – 5:04
"Life without You" - 9:30 (appeared
only on vinyl and cassette copies)
Stevie Ray Vaughan Voodoo Child live
IN STEP:
In Step, appeared in June of 1989, peaking at number 33 on the charts,
earning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Recording, and going gold just
over six months after its release.
Stevie Ray he enjoyed the chance the album gave him to express his
experience with sobriety. Vaughan brought with him his deep devotion to music
and sobriety, which had an impact on the band's positive attitude during the
album. His goal to improve his guitar playing on the album was largely driven
by a desire to make better music, or as drummer Chris Layton put it, more
"essential music". Many of the songs written for In Step were
composed during the Live Alive Tour. The album was
stylistically unlike their previous albums, with less blues and more original,
groove-oriented material.
Lou Reed selected In Step as one of his 'picks of 1989.
In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic rated In
Step five out of five stars. He noted that before the album was released,
"his song writing was hit or miss. Even when he wrote a classic modern
blues song, it was firmly within the genre's conventions." He further
stated that it helped "Vaughan found his own song writing voice, blending
blues, soul, and rock in unique ways, and writing with startling emotional
honesty." Although he stated that "tunes like the terse "Tightrope"
and the dense "Wall of Denial" feel so intensely personal, it's hard
to believe that they weren't the product of just one man", he also stated
that "the lighter numbers [...] are just as effective as songs." He
concluded that "it's fully realized, presenting every facet of Vaughan's
musical personality, yet it still soars with a sense of discovery.
SONGS ON THE ALBUM:
"The House Is
Rockin'" (Doyle Bramhall, Vaughan) – 2:24
"Crossfire" (Bill Carter, Ruth
Ellsworth, Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, Reese Wynans) – 4:10
"Tightrope"
(Bramhall, Vaughan) – 4:40
"Let Me Love You
Baby" (Willie Dixon) – 2:43
"Leave My Girl
Alone" (Buddy Guy) – 4:15
"Travis Walk" –
2:19
"Wall of Denial"
(Bramhall, Vaughan) – 5:36
"Scratch-N-Sniff"
(Bramhall, Vaughan) – 2:43
"Love Me
Darlin'" (Chester Burnett) – 3:21
"Riviera
Paradise" – 8:49
Stevie Ray Vaughan Leave My Girl Alone
FAMILY STYLE:
In March 1990, Vaughan collaborated with his brother, Jimmie, to record
Family Style, produced by Nile Rodgers which was released on September 25,
1990. Containing ten songs, the album was a long-awaited project for both
brothers; Jimmie said that the sessions "seemed natural" and
"almost like we were back home". Vaughan said, "We've probably
gotten closer making this record than we have been since we were little kids at
home, and I can honestly say I needed it."
SONGS ON THE ALBUM:
"Hard to
Be" (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Doyle Bramhall) – 4:43
"White Boots"
(Billy Swan, Jim Leslie, Deborah Hutchenson) – 3:50
"D/FW" (Jimmie
Vaughan) – 2:52
"Good Texan" (J.
Vaughan, Nile Rodgers) – 4:22
"Hillbillies from
Outerspace" (J. Vaughan, S. R. Vaughan) – 3:42
"Long Way from
Home" (S. R. Vaughan, D. Bramhall) – 3:15
"Tick Tock" (J.
Vaughan, Rodgers, Jerry Lynn Williams) – 4:57
"Telephone Song"
(S. R. Vaughan, Bramhall) – 3:28
"Baboom/Mama
Said" (J. Vaughan, S. R. Vaughan, Denny Freeman) – 4:29
"Brothers" (J. Vaughan, S. R.
Vaughan) – 5:05
Vaughan Brothers: Brothers
STEVIE AND JIMMIE VAUGHAN
EARLY DEATH:
In August 1990, Double Trouble opened for Eric Clapton during two
concerts held at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The
second of the two shows took place on August 26 and featured a jam session,
including Vaughan, with Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, and Jimmie Vaughan,
who performed "Sweet Home Chicago" as the finale to Clapton's set;
Clapton introduced them as "the best guitar players in the entire
world".
BB KING & SRV
Drummer Chris Layton recalled the conversation he had with Vaughan
backstage after the show:
The conversation was actually very light;
there was nothing heavy in it. It was just like, 'this is a great coupla nights
and wasn't it great to be here,' and talked about the record that he and Jimmie
just made, how they had a lot of fun and that was exciting. He was looking
forward to that coming out and looking forward to us making another record. He
was in great spirits. I mean, we just had two great nights and we talked about
all kinds of stuff, talked about the son that my wife and I were getting ready
to have–we didn't know it was a boy–but just anything and everything. We talked
for, I guess, almost 30 minutes.
Then he got up and said, 'I'm gonna go back
down to the dressing room for a minute.' I don't know, maybe five minutes or so
later, he came back up and he had his jacket on, he had his bags. He was making
this turn, and I said, 'Hey, what are you doin'?' And he said, 'I'm gonna go
back to Chicago.' I said 'Well, now?' And he said, 'Yeah, I gotta get back. I
want to call Janna,' his girlfriend, in New York. I thought, 'Jeez, you could
actually call her anywhere and then call her later,' but he turned around and
said, 'Call me when you get back. I love you,' and kinda gave me that wink of
the eye he would do. And then he was gone. He just disappeared into the night.
All of the musicians boarded four helicopters bound for Chicago, which
were waiting on a nearby golf course. According to a witness, there was haze
and fog with patches of low clouds. Despite the conditions, the pilots were
instructed to fly over a 1000-foot ski hill. Vaughan, along with three members
of Eric Clapton's entourage (agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel Browne, and
assistant tour manager Colin Smythe), boarded the third of the four
helicopters—a Bell 206B Jet Ranger—flying to Meigs Field. At about 12:50 am
(CDT), the helicopter departed from an elevation of about 850 feet, veered to
the left and crashed into the hill. All on board, including the pilot, Jeff
Brown, were killed instantly.
The Walworth County coroner conducted an autopsy and found that Vaughan
suffered from multiple internal and skull injuries. The cause of death was
officially stated as "exsanguination due to transverse laceration of the
aorta".
Vaughan's memorial was held on August 30, 1990, at Laurel Land Cemetery
in Dallas, where he was buried next to his father.
Kim Wilson, Jeff Healey, David Bowie, Charlie Sexton, ZZ Top, Colin
James, and Buddy Guy attended the event. Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne, and
Bonnie Raitt sang "Amazing Grace" at the event. Nile Rodgers gave a
eulogy, while a member of the Nightcrawlers read chapters five and eleven from
The Big Book, the 'bible' of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Stevie Ray Vaughan died at the age of 35.
In 1995, the Vaughan family
received an undisclosed settlement for wrongful death
GRAVE OF SRV
Stevie Ray Vaughan with Lonnie Mack - Oreo Cookie Blues
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