Stevie Ray Vaughan
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| Stevie Ray Vaughan | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | SRV |
| Born | October 3, 1954 |
| Origin | Dallas, Texas, United States |
| Died | August 27, 1990 (aged 35) East Troy, Wisconsin |
| Genre(s) | Electric blues, blues-rock, Texas blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1970–1990 |
| Label(s) | Epic |
| Associated acts | Double Trouble, Jimmie Vaughan, David Bowie |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| See SRV guitars | |
Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American blues-rock guitarist, whose broad appeal made him an influential electric blues guitarist.[1] Known for his warm blues rock tone, Vaughan characteristically used very heavy strings on his guitar ranging from 11 to 56-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,[2] 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.
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[edit] Life and career
[edit] 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."[citation needed] 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 Justin F. Kimball High School in Oak Cliff and moved to Austin to pursue music. Vaughan's talent caught the attention of guitarist Johnny Winter and blues-club owner Clifford Antone.
[edit] Drugs and alcoholism
Drug addiction and alcoholism took a toll on Vaughan by mid-1986. Cocaine and Crown Royal whiskey were his drugs of choice. Vaughan would dissolve cocaine in his whiskey for a morning "pick-me-up", which doctors later discovered was causing severe ulceration of the 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 had 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 in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.
[edit] Redemption
Upon his return from rehab, Vaughan worked with a number of 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, Vaughan made his first appearance on MTV Unplugged in New York City. It was originally scheduled for Vaughan to do a closing jam with Joe Satriani, but Vaughan 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, Vaughan said that singing was becoming painful for him due to a condition he called "hamburger throat". He received acupuncture to his neck, but still had to take cortisone shots to relieve the pain, which caused his face to swell.
[edit] Death
On August 26 and 27, 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble finished the summer portion of the In Step Tour with shows at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, just outside of East Troy, Wisconsin. The show also featured Robert Cray & 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, in Chicago, before heading out the door to the helicopters, which had been arranged for flight (through Omni Flights) by Skip Rickert, Double Trouble's tour manager.
The musicians had expected a long bus ride back to Chicago. However, 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; Vaughan 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.[3] The main cause of the crash was believed to be pilot error.[4] [5] Vaughan's was the only body found outside of the wreckage, suggesting he may have survived the initial crash.
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.[6]
[edit] Posthumous events and recognition
September 1990 saw the release of Family Style.
The 1991 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,[7] 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.[8]
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".[9]
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, 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, Tennessee.
In November 2007, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released a second tribute to Vaughan, an exact replica of his second beloved guitar: Lenny. This guitar was given to him by his wife Lennora ("Lenny") on his 26th birthday and Vaughan 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 Vaughan's name embroidered in the fabric lining, a number of brochures and memorabilia and a leather bound certificate of authenticity.
Also in November 2007, Sony BMG, Epic Records, and Legacy Records released the CD Stevie Ray Vaughan & Friends: Solos, Sessions & Encores.
Stevie Ray Vaughan will become eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.[10]
In 2008, residents voted to rename Dallas' Industrial Boulevard, with Vaughan's name being one of the finalists alongside Stanley Marcus, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Cesar Chavez. [1]
[edit] Musical influences and style
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This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (February 2008) |
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" [11] 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 Vaughan 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.
[edit] Guitars, amplifiers, effects, etc.
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This Section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (February 2008) |
- See also: SRV guitars
Vaughan is recognized for his distinctive guitar sound, which was partly based on using heavy gauge guitar strings that he tuned down a half-step. This created a thick, clanging tone which also remained clear and undistorted. 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.
Stevie used Fender Mediums played "upside-down", or with the round edge of the pick. Although he tried some Planet Waves Delrin 1.14mm picks, Dunlop 1.10mm picks, and Fender Heavies also played upside down. Around 1985-1987, his picks were customized "multi-colored" picks with his name on them. They were equivalent to Fender Mediums.
He also had a Mighty-Mite brass slide that he used for songs like "Give Me Back My Wig" and "Boot Hill".
Strings were always GHS Custom Nickel Rockers: .013", .015", .019", .028", .038", .058". Around 1989, Vaughan's guitar tech told him to move to a lighter gauge on the 1st string to save his fingers. He would then use a .011" for the 1st string.
As seen in many photos and videos, Stevie had gaffers tape put on the amp grille cloth in front of the speaker cone to eliminate the harsh upper frequencies coming from the center of the cone.
[edit] Early 1980s equipment
Vaughan was known to combine different tube amplifiers to make his sound. Starting with the very early years, in 1980, his primary amplifiers were just two Fender Vibroverbs that both had a JBL E130-8 15" speakers. In 1981, he would have 2 Marshall Club & Country Combo amps onstage: one 2x12" and a 4x10" that had Celestion G12-80 speakers in them. It is most likely that he set these amps with all the controls on "7", because during his Hendrix cover of "Manic Depression", he would run his hand under all the controls, putting the controls on 10.
He traded these in the spring of 1983 and used a Fender 4x10" Super Reverb for clean sounds instead of the Marshalls. Along with the Super Reverb, he had the two Fender Vibroverbs. Settings in this period on the Super Reverb were with the "Bright" switch off, Input 1 in the "Vibrato" channel, Volume on 4-6, Treble on 4 ½, Mid on 4, Bass on 3, and Reverb on 2 ½.
In late 1983, Vaughan ordered an 150-watt Dumble Steel String Singer made by Howard Dumble in California, along with a Dumble 4x12" speaker cabinet and used these with his two Fender Vibroverbs. He also briefly used a Dumble Overdrive Special, but didn't like the sound of it.
In 1984, Vaughan used the same two Fender Vibroverbs and the Dumble SSS and cabinet, along with a newly acquired "Leslie-style" Fender Vibratone cabinet. It consisted of a 10" speaker with a Styrofoam "drum", or rotor, with two slots in the sides. One of the Vibroverbs was used to drive the Fender Vibratone. Amp settings in the "Vibrato" channel on his Vibroverbs were set with Volume on 5 ½, Treble on 10, and Bass on 5 ½. On his Dumble SSS, he set the Treble and Middle on 6, Bass on 4, Hi and Low-Step Filters on 7, Reverb Send and Return on 6 ½, and Master on 8.
Vaughan upgraded to Electro-Voice EVM speakers in all of his amps around 1984, because of the high tolerance to speakers blowing up and clarity.
On his pedalboard, he used an Ibanez Tube Screamer with a Vox wah pedal. Stevie didn't use a pair of each on stage, but did this in the studio for the "Soul to Soul" recording sessions. He also had an MXR Loop Selector to bypass any effects.
[edit] Mid 1980s equipment
For Stevie's Japan Tour, Vaughan compiled a rig consisting of 2 Fender Vibroverbs, a Fender Vibratone stacked on top of its road case, a "silverface" Fender Twin Reverb with a Fender Super Reverb on top, and a "blackface" Twin Reverb in the back, set on top of its road case.
The pedalboard had the TS-9 Tube Screamer, the Vox wah-wah, and the MXR Loop Selector.
A photo of this rig can be found on John Mayer's official website blog: Japan rig 1985
In mid-1985, Vaughan had more of collection of amps by this time. His amps in this period included the two Fender Vibroverbs (one driving the Fender Vibratone), the Dumble SSS driving a Marshall 8x10" cabinet, and a Fender 4x10" Super Reverb stacked atop a Dumble 4x12" cabinet.
In 1986, he had the a two Vibroverbs (one driving the Vibratone), a Marshall 8x10" cabinet, and a newer "blackface" Dumble SSS.
His effects remained the same except for a briefly used Univox Univibe with the expression pedal in 1986.
[edit] Late 1980s equipment
Around early 1987, he would just use 2 Fender Vibroverbs and 2 Fender Super Reverbs stacked atop each other, with a Fender Vibratone on the very top. Later in the year, as shown in the photo to the right, he had a blackface Fender Twin Reverb to the very right, 2 Dumble Steel String Singers stacked atop a Fender Super Reverb, a Fender Vibratone on top of a Marshall 8x10" cabinet, and a silverface Fender Twin Reverb to the very left.
In 1988, amps included a 200-watt Marshall Major power head, a Dumble SSS head (each driving a Dumble 4x12" cabinet), and a Fender Vibratone. In this case, the Dumble was used to drive the Vibratone.
The effects were the same throughout this period. The Tube Screamer was upgraded to a TS-10 Classic, used with the Vox wah-wah, and the MXR Loop Selector.
In 1989, he changed his rig around a little, but basically the same sound. He had 2 Fender Super Reverbs, with a Dumble SSS and a Marshall Major atop each, and a Fender Vibroverb driving the Fender Vibratone.
He took a couple of Fender '59 Bassman Reissues on the road in 1990 and used these with a Vibroverb driving the Vibratone. On the '59 Bassman, he plugged a cable into "Normal" Input 1 with the Volume on 8, Treble 8, Middle 7, Bass 6, and Prescence on 8. He used the stock tubes and the EVMs in these as well.
He also added more "Hendrix" effects to his pedalboard, acquiring two Arbiter Fuzz Faces (one "Dallas-Arbiter" and the silver, England version) and a couple of Octavias: one Roger Mayer version, and a Tycobrahe Octavia. He kept the TS-9 Tube Screamer and Vox wah-wah.
[edit] 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)[12]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- 1983 Texas Flood
- 1984 Couldn't Stand the Weather
- 1985 Soul to Soul
- 1989 In Step
- 1990 Family Style (with brother Jimmie Vaughan as The Vaughan Brothers)
- 1991 The Sky Is Crying (posthumous compilation)
[edit] Live albums
- from 1980 In the Beginning
- from 1982 and 1985 Live at Montreux 1982 and 1985
- from 1983 In Session (with Albert King)
- from 1983 Live at the El Mocambo (video release)
- from 1983 and 1989 Live from Austin, Texas (video release)
- from 1984 Live at Carnegie Hall
- from 1984 Triple Trouble US tour (Archivio, 1991)
- from 1985 Live in Tokyo (video import release)
- from 1985 and 1986 Live Alive
- from 1987 The Forgotten Show Daytona Beach (Flashback World Productions, Flash 01.93.0196)
[edit] Compilations
- 1995 Greatest Hits
- 1999 The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2
- 2000 Blues at Sunrise
- 2000 SRV (box set, with early recordings, rarities, hits, and live material)
- 2002 The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
- 2003 Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues – Stevie Ray Vaughan
- 2006 The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 1
- 2007 Solos, Sessions and Encores
[edit] Contributions
- 1983 Let's Dance (David Bowie)
- 1984 Soulful Dress (Marcia Ball)
- 1986 Heartbeat (Don Johnson)
- 1987 Famous Blue Raincoat (Jennifer Warnes)
- 1990 Strike Like Lightning (Lonnie Mack)
[edit] References
- ^ Bluepower.com, Retrieved February 1, 2008
- ^ 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone Issue 931. Rolling Stone.
- ^ Obituary from People magazine
- ^ National Transport Safety Board Accident Brief
- ^ Celebrity Plane Crashes
- ^ Patoski, Joe Nick and Crawford, Bill (1993) Stevie Ray Vaughan, Caught in the Crossfire p. 265
- ^ Entitled "SRV", from the album Venus Isle
- ^ Stevie Ray Vaughan Remembrance Ride & Concert
- ^ http://www.stevieray.com/srv-strat.htm StevieRay.com - Fender]
- ^ Future Rock Hall entry for Stevie Ray Vaughan
- ^ Strike Like Lightning.
- ^ Awards - Tommy Shannon
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Open Directory Project
- Stevie Ray Vaughan at Sony Music
- Stevie Ray Vaughan Fan Club
- Official NTSB report about the crash in which Vaughan died.
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