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Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Stephen ("Stevie") Ray Vaughan, commonly abbreviated SRV, (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990), born in Dallas, Texas, was an American blues guitarist, known as one of the most influential electric blues musicians in history.

Contents

Life and career

Vaughan was born and raised in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, but dropped out of Kimball High School and moved to Austin to pursue music. After playing in a series of bands, Vaughan formed the blues rock combo Double Trouble with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Jackie Newhouse in the late 1970s. Tommy Shannon replaced Newhouse in 1981. A popular local draw, Vaughan soon attracted attention from David Bowie and Jackson Browne, and played on albums with both. Bowie first caught Vaughan at the Montreux Jazz Festival where initially a few members of the audience, who disliked his hard blues sound, booed Vaughan during his first visit in 1982, though most of the crowd cheered him during his second visit in 1985, as can be witnessed in the "Live at Montreux" DVD. Bowie featured Vaughan on his Let's Dance album in the songs "Let's Dance", "Modern Love" and "China Girl".

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's debut album was released in 1983. The critically acclaimed Texas Flood (produced by John Hammond) featured the top-20 hit "Pride and Joy" and sold well in both blues and rock circles. The follow-up albums Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984) and Soul to Soul (1985) also sold well, though they did not become as respected as the debut album. Drug addiction and alcoholism took a toll on Vaughan in the mid-1980s, and after suddenly vomiting blood while in Germany on tour, he managed to struggle through three more shows before entering a drug rehabilitation program in Atlanta, Georgia later that year. He ultimately recovered fully from his addictions, save cigarettes, and became a teetotaler. Upon his return from rehab, Vaughan recorded In Step (1989), which is often considered his best work since Texas Flood; it won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Record.

Musical influences and style

Vaughan's blues playing style was strongly influenced by Albert King, who dubbed himself Stevie's "godfather", and by other blues musicians such as Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Stevie is recognized for his distinctive guitar sound, which was partly based on using heavy thirteen-gauge guitar strings. Vaughan's sound and playing style, which often features simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, also draws frequent comparisons to that of Jimi Hendrix; Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in performance, such as Little Wing, Voodoo Chile, Come On! (Part III), and Third Stone from the Sun. He was also heavily influenced by Freddie King, another Texas great, mainly through the use of tone and attack. King's heavy vibrato can clearly be heard in Vaughan's playing. another stylistic influence was Albert Collins. His right hand attack, by using his index finger was utilized extensively by SRV, snapping the string against the fretboard.

Accidental death

Vaughan's comeback was cut short when, in the early morning of August 27, 1990, he died in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin. After a concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theater, where earlier in the evening he appeared with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and his older brother Jimmie Vaughan, the musicians expected a long bus ride back to Chicago. Stevie was informed that three seats were open on one of the helicopters returning to Chicago with Clapton and his crew, enough for Stevie, Jimmie, and Jimmie's wife Connie. It turned out there was only one seat left, which Stevie requested from his brother; Jimmie obliged. Taking off into deep fog, the helicopter crashed moments later into a ski slope on the side of a hill within the Alpine Valley Resort. Vaughan, the pilot, and members of Clapton's crew (his agent, assistant tour manager, and a bodyguard) died on impact. No one realized that the crash had occurred until the helicopter failed to arrive in Chicago, and the wreckage was only found with the help of its locator beacon.[link]

After the news media got word of the helicopter crash, they stated that Stevie Ray Vaughan and his band had been killed in the crash. Chris Layton (Double Trouble's drummer) saw this on the news and had security let him into Stevie's motel room. Layton saw that the bed was made and the clock radio was playing the Eagles' song, 'Peaceful, Easy Feeling', which includes the lyrics "I may never see you again". Layton and Shannon then called their families to let them know they were okay.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is interred in the Laurel Land Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.

Posthumous recognition

Vaughan memorial at Town Lake, in Austin, Texas
Enlarge
Vaughan memorial at Town Lake, in Austin, Texas

A duet album, Family Style, with his brother, Jimmie Vaughan (also a noted blues-rock guitarist and former member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds) was released in September 1990 after Stevie's death and was a popular hit. 1991's The Sky Is Crying was the first of several posthumous Vaughan releases with chart success. Jimmie Vaughan later co-wrote and recorded a song in tribute to his brother and other late blues guitarists, entitled "Six Strings Down". Mark Cole, former guitarist from Charge also wrote and recorded a tribute song to Jimi Hendrix and Vaughan titled Vaughandrix.

In 1991, Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3, Vaughan's birthday, to be "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day."

In 1992, Fender released the Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster, a reproduction of his battered 1962 Fender Stratocaster which he had affectionately named "Number One" (and sometimes referred to as his "First Wife"), designed along with Stevie before his death. As of 2005, the model is still in production. It depicts "Number One" as it would have been brand-new in 1962, though when Stevie bought it in 1974 it was already badly weathered, as can be seen in several photographs of a young Vaughan. It also utilizes the black letter-script pick-guard, a polyurethane finish, Pau Ferro fretboard, and Stevie's initials on the pickguard. The Brazilian rosewood of Stevie's guitar was too expensive, and only about 50 SRV Signature models exist with the Brazilian rosewood instead of the pau ferro. Pau ferro does not appear similar to Brazilian rosewood while it is young, but it darkens with age and will eventually resemble what Stevie's guitar had. Some guitarists feel that a poly finish lessens sustain, but it protects the guitar better and lasts longer than the nitrocellulose lacquer that Stevie's guitar had.

In 1994, the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue was erected at Auditorium Shores on Town Lake in Austin, Texas.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named him number seven on their list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time". [link]

In 2004, Fender released the [Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute Model "Number One" Stratocaster Guitar], a direct replica of Stevie Ray Vaughan's primary guitar, also called "First Wife." A 1962 Stratocaster with that oddly contained 1959-stamped pickups, it possessed a deep, dark growl of a tone that was immediately identifiable. Even though it used all "stock" Fender Strat parts, about the only "original equipment" parts it possessed by 1990 were the body and the pickups. Over the years, Stevie and Rene Martinez, his guitar tech, replaced the pickguard, tremolo, and neck.

The neck was damaged during a stage accident, and a spare was used from another of Stevie's Stratocasters. After he died, the original neck was put back on and the guitar was given to his brother. This is confirmed both by an interview with Jimmie Vaughan as well as pictures of Fender personnel dissecting the guitar to create 100 Custom Shop "Relic" reproductions in a Guitar World Magazine, as well as several other online sources.

Vaughan's guitars and musical equipment

There are many myths about Stevie's stage equipment but here are the facts as reported by his guitar technician Rene Martinez, who worked with Stevie's equipment for many years.

For guitars, Stevie used some acoustics and a Hamiltone Custom, but he mainly used Fender Stratocasters. His most famous was a Strat with a Brazilian rosewood "veneer" fingerboard; it had "1962" stamped on the neck and body, but "1959" written on the pickups. Unlike what was widely believed, he never used bass frets, but did use "jumbo" Dunlop 6105s. On this particular guitar, he also had a left-handed tremolo installed and was known as "Number One" or "First Wife", at least once being called "First Wife" in an interview with Stevie. It had a D-shaped thick neck that was perfect for his large hands and thick fingers. It was taken apart by Fender employees to make 100 exact copies, and these facts were verified as can be read in an issue of Guitar World magazine. The pickups were never overwound purposely, but were from a batch of pickups made at Fender in 1959 that had been mistakenly overwound, producing "Number One's" distinctive sound. This also puts to bed the rumor that it was buried with Stevie. Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie's older brother, has possession of all of Stevie's guitars.

"Lenny" was a 1963 maple-neck that was named after his wife, Lenora. It had a very bright, thin sound. Supposedly, Stevie found this guitar in a pawnshop, but couldn't afford to buy it. One of Stevie's roadies, Byron Barr, bought it and he and Lenora presented it to Stevie for his birthday in 1976. According to the story, Lenora was supposed to pay Byron for the guitar; she started a pool with her friends to collect the money, but it was Stevie who eventually settled the debt, with cash and a leather jacket. Its neck was originally a thin rosewood, but Stevie replaced it with a thicker non-Fender maple neck.

"Charley" was a Stratocaster built for him by Charley Wirz, a friend. Three Danelectro "lipstick tubes" are the pickups, and it had a hardtail bridge.

"Red" was a 1964 with a lefty neck that let him emulate the sounds of Otis Rush and Jimi Hendrix. This setup was able to give Stevie not only the sound he wanted, but the feel that lacked from a right hand neck.

He used a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, many different Ibanez Tube Screamers (most notably the TS-808), Vox or Dunlop Cry Baby wahs (one of which was owned and used by Jimi Hendrix), and at one point a Univibe, though he usually used his rotating Leslie speaker cabinet.

His amps were a blonde '64 Fender Twin, a 100-watt Marshall JCM 800 half stack, a 150-watt Dumble Steel String Singer, two '64 Fender Vibroverbs (they are consecutively numbered: 5 and 6; Stevie was very proud of having obtained such low serial numbers). He also had a pair of 4x10 Fender Super Reverbs. At some venues he also had several Marshall full stacks for volume.

Discography

Studio albums

  1. Texas Flood (1983)
  2. Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984)
  3. Soul to Soul (1985)
  4. In Step (1989)
  5. Family Style (with Brother Jimmie Vaughan as "The Vaughan Brothers", 1990)
  6. The Sky Is Crying (posthumous release) (1991)

Official live audio releases

  1. In the Beginning (recorded 1980)
  2. In Session (with Albert King, recorded 1983)
  3. Live at Carnegie Hall (recorded 1984)
  4. Live Alive (recorded 1986)
  5. ''Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985' (recorded 1982 & 1985)

Compilations

  1. Greatest Hits (1995)
  2. The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (1995)
  3. The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1999)
  4. Blues at Sunrise (2000)
  5. SRV (box set, with early recordings, rarities, hits, and live material) (2000)
  6. Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues - Stevie Ray Vaughan (2003)

[Bob Willmot's SRV Gig Database] contains an extensive list of unreleased live recordings.

External links

Blues | Blues genres
Jug band - Classic female blues - Country blues - Delta blues - Jump blues - Piano blues - Fife and drum blues
Jazz blues - Blues-rock - Soul blues- Punk blues
African blues - British blues - Chicago blues - Detroit blues - Kansas City blues - Louisiana blues - Memphis blues - Piedmont blues - St. Louis blues - Swamp blues - Texas blues - West Coast blues
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