3. October 2013
Stevie Ray Vaughan Lives On Within Us All…
Stevie Ray Vaughan 1954 -1990
Today we The GTC & the world of music lovers celebrate the day of birth of the one and only Stephen “Stevie” Ray Vaughan.
There is much to say about a man who’s career was relatively short but had such a major impact on and shown the light onto American blues and Texas music at a time when the world was listening to synth-driven noise and spandex-clad pretty boys.
We simply thanks you for being a true man of the music and being a grand showman. You and your band Double Trouble will always be examples on how music should be made. No matter what genre, it is the standard to follow…
With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the ’80s. Vaughan drew equally from bluesmen like Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Albert Collins and rock & roll players like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as jazz guitarists like Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery, developing a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre. Vaughan bridged the gap between blues and rock like no other artist had since the late ’60s. From 1983 to 1990 Stevie Ray was the leading light in American blues, consistently selling out concerts while his albums regularly went gold. His tragic death in 1990 at age 35 cut short a brilliant career in blues and American rock & roll just as he was on the brink of superstardom.
Read the full (official) SRV bio here.
“I remember when he first came out, he was doing that Hendrix song [Voodoo Chile], and I heard all these people going, “Ah, he’s just trying to do Hendrix. But he went a lot further than that. He was absolutely 100-proof, pure blues. Albert Collins, Muddy Waters – the essence of that was in everything he played. More than the Allman Brothers, he was straight-down-the-line blues.” – Gregg Allman
“The second time (I saw Stevie) was at a Double Trouble gig in 1990. With bright, shiny eyes, a huge warm grin and hug, he brought me back into his dressing room. Sure enough, times had changed and he related to me with passion how bad things had gotten and how good they were now. Happiness, hope, and fulfillment filled his face. Right there I knew he had become as tall as the thoughts in the book of which he had spoken those many years before. Stevie had one thing going that eludes so many. He had grown into the man he knew he always was.” – David Bowie
“I don’t think anyone has commanded my respect more, to this day. The first time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought, “Whoever this is, he is going to shake the world.” I was in my car and I remember thinking, I have to find out, before the day is over, who that guitar player is. That doesn’t happen to me very often, that I get that way about listening to music. I mean, about three or four times in my life I’ve felt that way, in a car, listening to the radio, where I’ve stopped the car, pulled over, listened, and thought, I’ve got to find out before the end of the day, not, you know, sooner or later, but I have to know NOW who that is.” – Eric Clapton
And let us hear from the man himself….
“You know, there’s a big lie in this business. The lie is that it’s okay to go out in flames. But that doesn’t do anybody much good. I may be wrong, but I think Hendrix was trying to come around.” – Stevie Ray Vaughan
“I was taught to think the next week or month or year will only get better than it is today. So I just keep waiting to see how great it will get!” –Stevie Ray 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?” – Stevie Ray Vaughan
R.I.P. Stevie Ray Vaughan
You & your music live on in all of us….
You & your music live on in all of us….