20 years ago today we lost a young 35 year old blues guitarist and singer that was instrumental in bringing the blues and many of it's legendary performers to a new generation. Stevie Ray Vaughan.
On August 26, 1990, a sold out concert of 30,000 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, featured an encore jam with Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Robert Cray. On August 27, shortly before 1 a.m., a helicopter carrying Vaughan en route to Chicago crashed within seconds after takeoff.
Vaughan's blues style was influenced by many blues guitarists. Foremost among them were Albert King, Otis Rush, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix.
Stevie was a very humble musician and had great respect for the elder statesmen of the blues. Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble bassist) said in an interview that Stevie was very excited about an upcoming double bill with BB King, until he found out he was headlining and BB was the opener. He was upset and embarrassed at the same time. That speaks highly of his character.
Youtube has lots a great videos of SRV...performances, interviews, and comments after his death from many of his peers.
If any of you ever met him or saw him live I would love to hear about it.
The video below is a great example of Stevie's phrasing, dynamics, improv, and emotional playing. He gets so deep into the blues zone. Amazing!
A lot of his licks work well on harp. Grab a "B" harp and play along. I'm sure Stevie would love it.
I had the pleasure of catching Stevie and the Fabulous Thunderbirds on the same bill at the Palace Theater in New Haven,Ct. I was almost thrown out of the show after being caught drinking a bottle of Peppermint Schnapps-security said " hand over the bottle,or get out". I handed over the bottle and enjoyed the show. For an encore,Stevie came out and jammed with the T-Birds,Jimmie and Stevie trading licks. Thats the only time I saw him play-but I will treasure that night forever. Godspeed Stevie.
My one and only time to see SRV live was here at the JazzFest, the same year he died. Boz Scaggs opened with a great set, the Stevie came out and lit that stage on fire. A great show, and his death was a great loss. RIP. ----------
Crescent City Harmonica Club Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
Around 1988 I was in a blues club in Seattle called the Jolly Roger. (It later burned down). Curtis Salgado was playing in a band called "In Yo Face" to a crowd of about 12. In walks Robert Cray, Richard Cousins and this dude with knee high moccasins and a flat brimmed hat. I mumbled to myself "this cat thinks he's stevie ray". As it turned out it was. He'd just finished opening for "Men At Work" and was out with Cray. After the break Stevie got on stage, took Lloyd Jones strat and proceeded to tear it up for a set. I was alone, with only 12 others! I furiously called everyone I knew to tell them to "get down here now", but no one was home. By the end of the set, Jones strat had only 4 strings, and I was left with this story and a memory of blazing guitar work.
Last Edited by on Aug 27, 2010 7:49 AM
Back in the late 80s SRV visited NZ to guest on this ad for Europa The songs not bad, and features NZ blues legend Midge Marsden on harp, Hammond Gamble and Murray Grindlay
The dark haired girl (Janna? I forget) was, or maybe then became, Stevie's girlfriend, so he ended up spending a bit of time in the country.
Anyway, so I can recall as a teenager at a blues gig in Wellington, maybe '89 or '90 - the Hot Leftovers, featuring the highly talented Terry Casey on harp, and noticing a familiar-looking guy wander in and sit by himself at the bar checking out the band. I was way too nervous to approach the guy to see if it was really him (no-one else seemed to notice). A few years later the guys from the band did confirm that Stevie did drop by a few times- but refused any invite to jam
@harpdude always enjoy your post-srv was a living legend and his last jam was also legendary with buddy guy his bro EC and robert cray its gratifying to know there are still others carrying the torch like kenny wayne,johnny laing and jason ricci blowin his fantastic harp again I enjoy your post from a fellow east tennessean
I played football in college and was in two-a-days... we were at lunch and my friend who was on the hoops team (they were getting ready to do a tour against European club teams) came up to me and said, "I've been looking all over for you."
"Why? We had practice," I said.
"Stevie Ray Vaughan died last night in a helicopter crash. Eric Clapton and Robert Cray almost got on the same helicopter."
I was useless at afternoon practice. That night, I played Riviera Paradise over and over and just sobbed.
My now late friend called me excited because he had tickets to one of his shows, asked me if I wanted to go and I had just gone to George thorogood a couple days before so I didn't really have the extra cash so I said no. This about a month before his passing. One of those phone calls you never forget. I think George permanently damaged my hearing that night.
I wasn't on the grounds, but had a friend that lived next door to Alpine Valley. Could see the stage with glasses, and hearing was no problem. The jam was fantastic.
Later, a strange inversion fog formed...obscurring what had been a clear summer night. That was what hid the man-made ski hill from the helicopter pilot. SRV took an earlier chopper that had been intended for Clapton. Later choppers took off and had no idea that the first one had crashed into the hill ( still hidden by the fog ). It was only when they got to Chicago, and the SRV chopper had not arrived that they knew something was wrong.
A friend worked for the coroner at the time, and she said it was bits and pieces.
tmf.todd, pluto, scojo, lip, little joe...thanks for the great stories! Big thanks Gambler.. I had NOT seen this . Made my day. Thanks groyster..I love east TN, just wish it was more blues and less bluegrass..lol
This video starts with Buddy Guy talking about Stevie and goes into his version of Hendrix' VooDoo Chile. This was 1989 so STevie had been clean and sober for about 3 years. I have heard several covers of VooDoo Chile, but Stevie's is almost as good as the original. I relate Hendrix and VooDoo Chile to Little Walter and Juke....You hear something new everytime you listen and it is very hard to copy.
Last Edited by on Aug 27, 2010 11:57 AM
Real Estate Stevie Ray Vaughan's Death Remembered 20 Years Later, Legacy Lives OnBy Alex Johnston Epoch Times Staff Created: Aug 27, 2010 Last Updated: Aug 27, 2010 Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Twitter | | Related articles: Arts & Entertainment > Celebrities A Danelectro guitar owned by Stevie Ray Vaughn, valued between $1,000 and $1,500 is displayed at Christie's. The legendary singer died exactly 20 years ago in a helicopter accident on Aug. 27. (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images) Stevie Ray Vaughan, blues guitar hero and singer, died 20 years ago on Aug. 27 in a helicopter accident in Wisconsin.
Vaughan had just been on tour with another legendary guitarist Eric Clapton in front of tens of thousands of people at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin.
Three members of Clapton’s staff were killed in the crash. Reports say the chopper crashed into a ski hill during a bout of heavy fog.
Three days after his death, he was buried next to his father in Oak Cliff, in Dallas, Texas.
Vaughan was only 35 when he died and had just started hitting his stride in the music industry. He had recently released the Grammy Award-winning “In Step” album which went platinum.
In 2000, Vaughan was inducted into the Blue Hall of Fame and in 2008, became eligible to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2003, he was ranked number 7 on Rolling Stone’s top guitarists of all time.
Vaughan captured the world with his unique brand of blues guitar licks--a combination of passion and sheer technical prowess. He used a now-iconic beat up 1963 Fender Stratocaster guitar.
Here are some a notable quotes from Vaughan: “What I am trying to get across to you; is please take 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?”
“You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other; our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That is to help each other and not hurt each other.”
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/41726/
Last Edited by on Aug 27, 2010 12:30 PM
I'll never forget the first time I heard Stevie Ray Vaughn. I was driving to work on a hot summer's day in 1983 when "Pride and Joy" came on the radio. I was stunned. Not only because they were playing blues on commercial radio, but because of the sheer awesomeness of the guitar and vocals. Even though I was running late, I had to turn around, go back home and call the radio station to ask "Who WAS that playing the blues song a little while ago?! I only got to see him once in a crappy venue. I'm kicking myself for passing up multiple chances to see him live... ---------- myspace
First time I saw SRV was Thanksgiving night at the Knickerbocker Cafe in Westerly, RI. Roomful of Blues was the headliner and were debuting their new lineup featuring a 5 piece piece horn section, Ronnie Horvath on guitar and their new singer Lou Ann Barton. The opening act was Lou Ann's old band featuring Stevie. Nobody had ever heard of the guy in RI and people in the club that night were stunned. He was a low down blues gun slinger, the likes we had never seen in New England. The next time I saw him with the Roomful, he was headlining at Carnegie Hall.
