Stevie Ray Vaughan Rock musician Date of Birth: 03.10.1954 Country: USA

1. Stevie Ray Vaughan: Blues Innovator
2. Early Influences and Career
3. Double Trouble and Rising Stardom
4. Battles with Addiction and Triumph
5. Posthumous Legacy

Stevie Ray Vaughan: Blues Innovator

A virtuoso with a blazing guitar technique, Stevie Ray Vaughan sparked a blues revival in the 1980s. Assimilating influences from blues stalwarts Albert King, Otis Rush, and Muddy Waters to rock 'n' roll icons like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as jazz guitarists such as Kenny Burrell, he forged a unique sound and style that defied musical categorization. Vaughan bridged the gap between blues and rock, a feat unmatched by any other musician since the late 1960s. For seven years, Stevie Ray was the pre-eminent guitarist in American blues, packing out concert venues and earning gold records. His tragic death in 1990 cemented his almost mythical status in the annals of American rock 'n' roll and blues.

Early Influences and Career

Born and raised in Dallas, Vaughan began playing guitar as a child, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Jimmie. Throughout his school years, he performed in various garage bands, occasionally securing gigs at local nightclubs. At 17, he dropped out of school to pursue music full-time.

Vaughan's first significant band was The Cobras, who played in Austin clubs during the mid-1970s. After the band dissolved in 1975, he formed Triple Threat with bassist Jackie Newhouse, drummer Chris Layton, and vocalist Lou Ann Barton. In 1978, after several years playing in Texas bars and clubs, Barton left the group. Inspired by an Otis Rush song, the band decided on the name Double Trouble, with Stevie Ray as the band's frontman.

Double Trouble and Rising Stardom

Over the next few years, Stevie Ray and Double Trouble established themselves as a major draw in Austin, becoming one of the most popular bands in Texas. They performed at the Montreux Festival in 1982, which caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne. Bowie invited Vaughan to play on his new album, Let's Dance, while Browne offered the band free recording time at his Downtown Studios in Los Angeles. Both offers were accepted.

In 1982, Vaughan played the guitar track on Bowie's Let's Dance. Shortly after, John Hammond offered Stevie and Double Trouble a contract with Epic Records, and the band recorded their debut album, Texas Flood, in just a few days. The album was released in the summer of 1983, and a few months later, Bowie's Let's Dance hit shelves. While the Bowie association brought Vaughan increased attention, Texas Flood became a bona fide blues blockbuster, garnering rave reviews from both blues and rock 'n' roll publications.

Bowie offered Vaughan the lead guitarist slot on his upcoming 1983 tour, but he declined, preferring to focus on Double Trouble. Stevie Ray and Double Trouble continued to tour successfully and soon recorded their sophomore album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, which was released in May 1984. The album outperformed its predecessor, reaching number 31 on the charts. By the end of 1985, it had gone gold.

In 1985, Double Trouble added keyboardist Reese Wynans to their lineup. The band recorded their third album, Soul To Soul, which was released in August 1985 and was also a success, peaking at number 34 on the charts.

Battles with Addiction and Triumph

Vaughan's career was soaring, but he was also spiraling deeper into alcohol and drug addiction. Despite his deteriorating health, Vaughan continued to perform, releasing the double live album Live Alive in October 1986. He embarked on an American tour in early 1987, during which he checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic. The extended stay took its toll, and the following year was largely inactive for Stevie and Double Trouble.

In 1988, Vaughan played a handful of shows, including an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and recorded his fourth album, In Step, which was released in June 1989. It became Vaughan's most successful album to date, winning a Grammy Award for Best Blues Recording. Six months after its release, the record went platinum.

In the spring of 1990, Stevie Ray recorded an album with his brother, Jimmie, which was slated for release later that year. In the late summer of 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble embarked on a U.S. tour. On August 26, 1990, in their hometown of East Troy, they performed a closing jam with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, and Robert Cray.

After the show, Stevie Ray Vaughan boarded a helicopter bound for Chicago. At 12:30 AM, a minute after takeoff, the helicopter crashed into the ground. Vaughan and four other passengers were killed. He was only 35 years old.

Posthumous Legacy

The "family album" Vaughan had recorded with Jimmie was released in October, peaking at number 7 on the charts. It began a string of posthumous releases that proved to be as popular as Vaughan's recordings during his lifetime. The Sky is Crying - a collection of studio recordings compiled by Jimmie Vaughan - came out in October 1991 and went platinum within three months. In the Beginning - a live recording of Double Trouble from 1980 - was released in the fall of 1992, while a Greatest Hits compilation appeared in 1995.

As recounted in Musician magazine in December 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan was "on fire, playing the best he ever had" that fateful night in East Troy. And when Double Trouble had finished, all the Vaughans, Cray, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton himself went backstage to catch Clapton's set. During a solo, Clapton played a snippet of "Stranger in the Night." Cray turned to Jimmie Vaughan, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, "Hear that?"

"Aw," said Stevie, turning around, "he's been trying to play it all night and he finally got it." And Jimmy and Stevie - just a couple of Texas boys - had a good laugh. And when the superstar guitarist's improvisation on "Sweet Home Chicago" was a bit sloppy, that was funny too.

... After the show, Stevie Ray hugged everyone goodbye and caught one of Clapton's helicopters, which crashed when it hit a set of power lines a half mile away. Like everyone else, Robert Cray didn't find out until the next morning. "I was staying at the hotel, three miles from the gig. Around ten o'clock my manager got a call from Stevie's crew. He came in and said, 'Brace yourself' and…I was in shock. I just don't know what to think about this. I can't believe it really happened. We had such a great time, and Jimmy was there. He was so happy! That morning I drove to Chicago, and I didn't sleep for a week. People kept asking, 'How do you feel, you were one of the last guys to play with him?' But I don't look at it that way. He's much more alive in my mind.

I remember the first time we met, back in '79 at the San Francisco Blues Festival. Chris Layton was on drums, Double Trouble with Lou Ann Barton on vocals, and there was this guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, tearing up his guitar. The next day we were at a party, and he showed up in a full-on Hendrix outfit: ruffled shirt, scarf, and a tight silk kimono. I remember thinking, 'Who in the hell was this guy?'

Here's how that guy will tell it himself. Over the years, Stevie spoke often to Musician, especially with writer Ed Ward in 1987 and his fellow guitarist Larry Coryell in 1989. In his soft-spoken, slightly disjointed narratives, Stevie told of growing up, the bluesmen he loved, how he nearly lost his life to drugs and drink, and how he played his way back. He talked about playing guitar with the same earnest passion but with an unmatched depth of feeling. On August 27, 1990, he fell from a cloud-covered sky in East Troy, Wisconsin. Here, as near as words can get, is his story.

"I was born October 3, 1954, in South Dallas County. My father was a plasterer - he put the asbestos around pipes - so we moved around with his job, to Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and a little bit of Arkansas. But I grew up mainly in Cockrell Hill and Oak Cliff, which were part of South Dallas."

Jim Vaughan Sr. and Martha (née Cook) loved nothing more than to dance. Stevie liked to tell how his father would hear a musician he liked on the radio, and he'd just stop whatever he was doing and dance. But Jim didn't play any instruments. "My dad didn't have a sweet gig. He worked with asbestos, between walls, in temperatures of about 300 degrees. And he was always coughing. He wore that asbestos underwear, and he'd work fifteen minutes, then rest for thirty. So my dad didn't mind us playing - 'Anything but what I did.'"

Jim and Martha would take Stevie and his older brother to concerts by Fats Domino, Jimmy Reed, and Bob Wills, and musicians from the Wills band would come to the Vaughan house to play games of forty-two, hello, and lowball. Can you imagine those musicians tearing it up? Stevie's uncles, Jerry and Joe-Bob Cook, picked.