Stevie Ray Vaughn

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Stevie Ray Vaughn
Stephen Ray Vaughn

BORN: October 3, 1954, Dallas, Texas
Died: August 27, 1990, East Troy, Wisconsin
Guitars Used: Fender Stratocaster

Fender Artist Series Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster Electric Guitar
(3-Tone Sunburst)
$1,529.99
List Price: $2,149.99
Savings: $620.00 (28%)

Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990), born in Dallas, Texas, was an American blues-rock guitarist. His broad appeal made him one of the world's most influential electric blues guitarists. Known for his warm blues rock tone, Vaughan characteristically used very heavy strings on his guitar ranging from 11 to 16-gauge sets to give a fuller sound which he tuned down a half-step to the key of E flat. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, and Classic Rock Magazine ranked him #3 in their list of the 100 Wildest Guitar Heroes in 2007. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan, born 1951.

Life and career

Early life

Vaughan was born at 05:13 am on Saturday, October 3, 1954 in Dallas, Texas and was raised in the city's Oak Cliff neighborhood. Neither of his parents had any strong musical talent but were avid music fans. They would take Vaughan and his older brother Jimmie to concerts to see Fats Domino, Johnny Williamson III, Jimmy Reed, and Bob Wills.

Even though Vaughan initially wanted to play the drums as his primary instrument, Michael Quinn gave him a guitar when he was seven years old. Vaughan's brother, Jimmie Vaughan, gave him his first guitar lessons. Vaughan was later quoted in Guitar Player as saying, "My brother Jimmie actually was one of the biggest influences on my playing. He really was the reason I started to play, watching him and seeing what could be done." He played entirely by ear and never learned how to read sheet music. By the time he was thirteen years old he was playing in clubs where he met many of his blues idols. A few years later he dropped out of Sunset High School in Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX) and moved to Austin to pursue music. Vaughan's talent caught the attention of guitarist Johnny Winter, and blues-club owner Clifford Antone.

Adult life and career

Vaughan's first recording band was called Paul Ray and the Cobras. They played at clubs and bars in Austin during the mid-1970s, and released one single. Vaughan later recorded two other singles under the band name The Cobras. Stevie left the Cobras, leaving Denny Freeman still in his role of original lead guitarist, and formed Triple Threat in late 1975, which included bassist Jackie Newhouse, drummer Chris Layton, vocalist Lou Ann Barton, and sax player Johnny Reno. Barton left the band in 1978 to pursue a solo career, followed by Reno in 1979. The three remaining members started performing under the name Double Trouble, inspired by an Otis Rush song of the same name. Vaughan became the band's lead singer.

Tommy Shannon, the bass player on Johnny Winter's early albums, replaced Newhouse in 1981. A popular Austin act, Vaughan soon attracted the attention of musicians David Bowie and Jackson Browne. Both Browne and Bowie first caught Vaughan at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival, where some members of the audience booed the band because they disliked Double Trouble's hard blues sound; the crowd response was quite different when they were subsequently invited to headline "Blues Night" at the festival in 1985.

In November, 1982, Vaughan recorded in Jackson Browne's studio in downtown Los Angeles. The recordings were brought to the attention of A&R man John Hammond and became Double Trouble's critically acclaimed first album, Texas Flood (1983), produced by Hammond; it featured the Top 20 hit "Pride and Joy" and sold 500,000 copies, earning the band a gold record. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award, and its song "Rude Mood" was nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental". Vaughan won three categories in Guitar Player's readers poll: "Best New Talent", "Best Blues Album", and "Best Electric Blues Guitarist". He became the second guitarist to win three Guitar Player awards in one year (the first is Jeff Beck). Vaughan won the "Best Electric Blues Guitarist" award every year until 1991.

Also in 1983 Bowie featured Vaughan on his 1983 album Let's Dance. Vaughan was asked to go on tour with Bowie, but declined so he could continue to play with Double Trouble. Reportedly, Vaughan, who was still driving a delivery truck to support himself, was furious when he saw Bowie pantomiming over Vaughan's guitar solo in the video for "Let's Dance".

The band's next album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, was recorded in January 1984. During mid-1984 Vaughan and Double Trouble made numerous TV appearances, performing on Rockpalast, MuchMusic, and Solid Gold.

During the Grammy Awards of 1984, Vaughan and George Thorogood presented Chuck Berry with a lifetime achievement award. "Rude Mood" from Texas Flood was nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".

The band played Carnegie Hall in New York City on October 4, 1984. The show featured one Double Trouble set, and a second with guests Dr. John on keyboards, George Rains on drums, Jimmie Vaughan on guitar, Roomful of Blues Horns, and singer Angela Strehli. The group rehearsed in September 1984 at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas.

In November, Vaughan won two W.C. Handy National Blues Awards: "Entertainer of the Year" and "Blues Instrumentalist of the Year". It was the first time a white person won either award. During this time, he also began recording with one of his earliest idols, blues-rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack, to produce the album Strike Like Lightning on the Alligator label.

In late January 1985, the band went on a six-night Japanese tour with various interviews and performances. In March, the band started to produce their third album Soul to Soul. Reese Wynans, a former keyboardist with Captain Beyond and Delbert McClinton's band, was added to the band not long after. The album's production lasted for two months. On April 10 Vaughan played "The Star Spangled Banner" for opening day of the National League baseball season at the Houston Astrodome (supposedly he didn't get a good audience response from that crowd; he did, at least, get to meet former New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle afterwards). Soul to Soul was released on September 30, 1985; Vaughan received his fifth Grammy nomination: "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for one of its songs, "Say What!".

I n the following months of 1986, Vaughan and Double Trouble went on tour in New Zealand. It was around this time that he met Janna Lapidus, a touring model in New Zealand.

In mid-1986, the band was considering ideas of a new album, particularly a live album. Shows were set up at the Austin Opera House and at the Dallas Starfest. Audiences saw Vaughan struggle through these shows, as some of the original recordings were filled with technical difficulties.

On August 27, 1986, the Vaughan brothers' father, Big Jim, died of heart failure. A funeral was arranged two days later. The boys rushed home to comfort their mother, yet had little time to mourn. After the funeral was finished, a jet rushed Vaughan to Montreal, Quebec, where he played the Miller Beer Festival in Jarry Park.

The recordings in both Dallas and Austin, as well as the Montreux Jazz Festival, were edited and later released on Live Alive in November 1986.

Drugs and alcoholism

Drug addiction and alcoholism took a toll on Vaughan in mid-1986. Cocaine and Crown Royal whiskey were among his addictions. Vaughan used to dissolve cocaine in his whiskey, which doctors later discovered was eating away his stomach lining. After becoming acutely ill in Germany while on tour, Vaughan managed to struggle through three more shows, but was soon admitted into a hospital in London. Dr. Victor Bloom, who has helped Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend with their addictions, told Vaughan if he hadn't come to the hospital he would have died in a month. After a struggle to get sober in London, he then flew to Atlanta, Georgia to a rehabilitation center. He eventually recovered fully from his addictions and became a teetotaler.

Redemption

Upon his return from rehab, Vaughan did a number of works with other artists including Dick Dale (making a cameo appearance as himself performing a duet of "Pipeline" in the movie Back to the Beach, which was then released as a single), Jennifer Warnes, and Stevie Wonder (playing "Superstition" on the MTV special "Stevie Wonder's Characters").

In 1988, Vaughan continued to tour with Double Trouble throughout Scandinavia. Vaughan and Double Trouble recorded In Step in February 1989, which was their fourth studio album and praised by some as the band's best work since Texas Flood. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Vaughan shared a headline tour with guitarist Jeff Beck in the fall of 1989. In his beloved Austin, the city he made the "Live Music Capital of the World", Vaughan was presented with a proclamation from the mayor declaring November 26, 1989 Stevie Ray Vaughan Day.

On January 3, 1990, Vaughan gave a speech and addressed the Aquarius Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. On January 30, 1990, Vaughan made his first appearance on MTV Unplugged in New York City. It was originally scheduled for Stevie to do a closing jam with Joe Satriani, but Stevie said he had to leave right away.

Vaughan spoke two years earlier about wanting to help produce an album with his brother, Jimmie Vaughan. That time came in March 1990, when the Vaughan Brothers went to work at the Dallas Sound Lab, the same studio used to record Soul to Soul.

Around this time, Stevie spoke of singing beginning to hurt him with a condition he liked to call "hamburger throat". He had acupuncture done to his neck, but had to take cortisone shots to relieve the pain, which made his face puff up.

Death

On August 26, 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble finished a tour with a show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, just outside of East Troy, Wisconsin. The show also featured Robert Cray and his Memphis Horns, and Eric Clapton, who played the closing set. At the end of the show, as fog settled over the audience in the arena, Clapton introduced Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughan. The musicians chose the appropriately titled "Sweet Home Chicago", a blues classic written by Robert Johnson. After the twenty-minute jam, the lights went up and the musicians went backstage to trade compliments. Clapton and Vaughan talked about future dates in London to pay a tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

Double Trouble drummer, Chris Layton, recalls his last conversation with Vaughan backstage. He then remembers Vaughan saying he had to call his girlfriend, Janna Lapidus, back in Chicago. He headed out the door to the helicopters, which had been arranged for flight (through Omni Flights) by Alex Hodges, Double Trouble's tour manager.

The musicians expected a long bus ride back to Chicago. Vaughan was informed by a member of Clapton's crew that three seats were open on one of the helicopters returning to Chicago with Clapton's crew, enough for Vaughan, his brother Jimmie, and Jimmie's wife Connie. It turned out there was only one seat left; Stevie requested it from his brother, who obliged. At 12:44 am pilot Jeffrey Browne guided the helicopter off the ground. Moments after takeoff the helicopter crashed into a ski slope and all five on board were killed. Although the crash occurred only 0.6 miles from takeoff, it went unnoticed by those at the concert site.

The search for the wreckage had begun at 5am and had been found at 7am via the help of its locator beacon. The main cause of the crash was believed to be pilot error. Vaughan's was the only body found outside of the wreckage.

Chris Layton and Jimmie Vaughan did not find out about the crash until they returned to the motel in Chicago. The following morning Jimmie and Eric Clapton were called to identify the bodies. The coroner's report stated that the cause of death was exsanguination caused by severing of the aorta.

The media initially stated that Vaughan and his band had been killed in the crash. Layton and Shannon called their families to let them know they were okay.

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

Posthumous events and recognition

September 1990 saw the release of Family Style. The 1991 compilation album The Sky Is Crying was the first of several posthumous Vaughan releases to achieve chart success. Jimmie Vaughan later co-wrote and recorded a song in tribute to his brother and other deceased blues guitarists, entitled "Six Strings Down". Many other artists recorded songs in remembrance of Vaughan, including Eric Johnson, Buddy Guy and Steve Vai ("Jibboom" on the album The Ultra Zone, 1999).

In 1991, Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3, Vaughan's birthday, to be "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day". An annual motorcycle ride and concert in Central Texas benefits the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Scholarship Fund.

In 1992, the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released the Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster, which Vaughan had helped design. As of 2007, the model is still in production. In 2004, Fender also released a limited edition exact replica of "Number One".

Stephen King's short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" concerns a small town called Rock and Roll Heaven that's populated by late rock musicians, one of which is Vaughan himself when he's referred to as one of the late music legends set to perform at a concert.

In 1994, the city of Austin erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake, the site of a number of Vaughan's concerts. It has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

In 2000 Stevie Ray Vaughan was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame

Musicians such as John Mayer (who has a tattoo duplicating the "SRV" lettering on Vaughan's Number One guitar), Robert Randolph, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Colin James, Jonny Lang, Jason Wayne Loftice, Los Lonely Boys, Mike McCready, Eric Johnson and Doyle Bramhall II have cited Vaughan as an influence.

The last guitar that Vaughan played prior to his death is on display in the Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg,TN.

In November 2007, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released a second tribute to Stevie, an exact replica of his second beloved guitar: Lenny. This guitar was given to him by his wife Lenora ("Lenny") on his 26th birthday and Stevie was very fond of it. According to Fender, the original Lenny was a 1965 Strat that he saw in the window of a pawn shop that he was unable to afford. The guitar is sold with a strap, a case with Stevie's name embroidered in the fabric lining, a number of brochures and memorabilia and a leather bound certificate of authenticity.

In 2008, Stevie Ray Vaughan will become eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Musical influences and style

Vaughan's blues style was strongly influenced by many blues guitarists. Foremost among them were Albert King, who dubbed himself Stevie's "godfather", Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix. The song "Rude Mood" is a direct derivative (according to SRV himself) of a Lightnin' Hopkins tune called "Lightning Sky Hop". He was also strongly influenced by early blues-rock guitarist Lonnie Mack, who, according to Vaughan himself, "really taught me to play guitar from the heart" (Davis, History of the Blues, DaCapo 2003, p. 246). Vaughan, who had idolized Mack since childhood, produced and played on Mack's 1985 Alligator Records album "Strike Like Lightning" and covered two Mack tunes from the early 1960s, "Wham!" and "Chicken-Pickin'" (which Vaughan renamed "Scuttle Buttin'").

Vaughan's sound and playing style, which often incorporated simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, drew frequent comparisons to Hendrix; Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in performance, such as "Little Wing", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", and "Third Stone from the Sun". He was also heavily influenced by Freddie King, another Texas bluesman, mainly in the use of tone and attack; King's heavy vibrato can clearly be heard in Vaughan's playing. Another stylistic influence was Albert Collins. By utilizing his index finger as a pick a la Albert Collins, he was able to coax various tonal nuances from his amplifiers. Vaughan's brother Jimmie Vaughan has stated that Johnny "Guitar" Watson was the guitarist he and Stevie studied the most.

Vaughan worked with only the support of bass and drums for a long time before Wynans joined the group. He exhibited an amazing command of feedback, volume, and distortion. He could play lead and rhythm simultaneously with the rare ability to rattle out massive chord clusters and piercing barrages of single notes with incredible precision, drenching them in exotic tones produced by pickup switches, wah-wah pedals, and overamplification.

Guitars and Amplifiers

Vaughan is recognized for his distinctive guitar sound, which was partly based on using heavy guitar strings (anything from 11 to 16-gauge sets) that he tuned down a half-step although he mostly used 11-13s. Vaughan used a wide range of vacuum tube amplifiers during his career, often using multiple different amplifiers simultaneously, but is usually associated with early Fender amplifiers and amplifiers made by boutique amp-maker Alexander (Howard) Dumble. His influence is often credited for helping to launch the "vintage gear" movement among guitarists, which turned old musical equipment that could once be had fairly cheaply into expensive collector's items.

Vaughan preferred to make use of the immediate tonal capabilities of his guitar amplifiers in "overdrive", adding few effects. Stevie's basic effects included an Ibanez Tube Screamer and a Vox wah-wah pedal. He also used loud volumes for dynamic, coaxing effects from the natural overdriven performance of his amplifiers.

Early 1980s equipment

Vaughan was a prominent user of Dumble Amplifiers. He used a 1983 "Steel String Singer" at 150w for the majority of his recording career,which he called his "King Tone Consoul". He applied a decal with that name himself where it would normally say "Steel String Singer." For speakers he used both Marshall 4x12 cabinets loaded with Celestion speakers, or a Dumble 4x12 loaded with EV12L speakers. Vaughan used EV speakers in his Fender amps as well.

SRV first came to know Dumble amps when he recorded "Texas Flood" in Jackson Browne's Studio. For the guitar tracks on "Texas Flood" he used Jackson Browne's "Dumbleland" that he found in this studio. He was so impressed by this "Dumbleland" that he contacted Dumble to order an amp. So Dumble made for him a "Steel String Singer" with a preamp that is a bit different than the preamp of a usual Steel String Singer. Dumble was quoted in Guitar Player in September 1985, commenting on SRV's amp:

"There are some different things about Stevie's. His is set up more like a bass amp, modified to accommodate the guitar range. It's not the usual lead guitar 'singer' approach. One thing he liked was that he could turn the volume control all the way up, and it didn't distort - it just got louder. He does make it distort sometimes because he has about 50 megatons of pressure when he attacks the strings (laughs). He gets an incredible amount of signal out his guitar, and most amplifiers can't take it. He did his first album with a bass amp I'd made for Jackson Browne."

Late 1980s equipment

In the late '80s SRV used the same 1983 Steel String Singer but without the "King Tone Consoul" decal along with a second blackface "Steel String Singer" which Dumble made for him later. Both are 150 Watt models with 4x6550A power tubes. Controls and switches on both amps are from left to right: fet-volume, volume, bright, deep, rock/jazz, treble, middle, bass, hi step filter, low step filter, reverb send reverb return, master, presence (small knob). SRV used the "normal" input (not "fet"). SRV kept the "volume" setting quite low (for low preamp distortion) but the master setting very high. SRV had this to say in Guitar Player:

"I destroy everything eventually, because I play so hard," he explains. "I run 'em so hot. The thing about the Dumble is that it doesn't run hot, and so I don't have to worry about it." (Guitar Player, August 1983)
You don't use the Super Reverbs now? "Right now, I use a Dumble 150 watt. He calls it the Steel String Singer; I call it the King Tone Consoul [laughs] - that's s-o-u-l. It's like an overgrown Fender tube amp. Some Dumbles - like the Overdrive Special - you 've got to know what you 're doing with them, because they'll get away from you and take you with 'em." (Guitar Player, October 1984)
Are your Dumbles Overdrive Specials? "Steel String Singers. I like them much better." (Guitar Player, Spring 1998)
"For a long time... I just used two Vibroverbs... to run the Leslie... and a Dumble with one cabinet." (Guitar Player, February 1990)

Grammy Awards

1985: Best Traditional Blues Album for Blues Explosion – various artists
1990: Best Contemporary Blues Album for In Step – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
1991: Best Contemporary Blues Album for Family Style – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan

Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "D/FW" – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan

1993: Best Contemporary Blues Album for The Sky Is Crying – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Little Wing" – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Discography

Studio albums

Texas Flood (1983)
Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984)
Soul to Soul (1985)
In Step (1989)
Family Style (with brother Jimmie Vaughan as The Vaughan Brothers, 1990)
The Sky Is Crying (posthumous compilation, 1991)

Live albums

In the Beginning (recorded 1980)
In Session (with Albert King, recorded 1983)
Live at Carnegie Hall (recorded 1984)
Live Alive (recorded 1985 and 1986)
Live at Montreux 1982 and 1985 (recorded 1982 and 1985)
Live at the El Mocambo (recorded 1983, video release)
Live from Austin, Texas (recorded from concerts of 1983 and 1989, video release)
Live in Tokyo (recorded January 24, 1985, video import release)

Compilations

Greatest Hits (1995)
The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1999)
Blues at Sunrise (2000)
SRV (box set, with early recordings, rarities, hits, and live material) (2000)
The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (2002)
Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues – Stevie Ray Vaughan (2003)
The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2006)
Solos, Sessions and Encores (2007)