Stephen
("Stevie") Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990),
born in Dallas, Texas, was an American
blues guitarist. His broad appeal made him one of America's most influential
electric blues guitarists. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Stevie
Ray Vaughan #7 in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He
was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan.
Even though
Vaughan initially wanted to
play the drums as his primary instrument, he was given a guitar when he was
eight years of age. Vaughan's brother Jimmie
Vaughan, gave him his first guitar lessons. Vaughan later quoted in
Guitar Player Magazine that " My brother Jimmie actually was one of
the biggest influences on my playing. He really was the reason why I
started to play, watching him and seeing what could be done." After
his brother showed him a few basic chords, Vaughan taught himself to
play. He learned entirely by ear and never learned how to read sheet music.
By the time he was 13 years old he was playing in clubs where he met many
of his blues idols. A few years later he dropped out of KimballHigh
School and moved to Austin to pursue music. Vaughan's talent caught the
attention of guitarist Johnny Winter, and blues-club owner Clifford Antone.
Vaughan and
Double Trouble recorded In Step in February of 1989, which was their
fourth studio album since 1985 and is praised by some as the band's best
work since Texas Flood. The album won a Grammy Award for Best
Contemporary Blues Album.
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. He was also strongly influenced by Lonnie
Mack. Stevie Ray Vaughan, who had idolized Mack since childhood, produced
Mack's widely-acclaimed and commercially successful come-back album
"Strike Like Lightning" in 1984. Vaughan is recognized for
his distinctive guitar sound, which was partly based on using heavy guitar
strings (anything from thirteen-gauge to 16-gauge) that he tuned down one
half-step. 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 amps
On August
25 and 26, 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble played shows at Alpine Valley
Music Theatre in Wisconsin. At the end of the
show, Eric Clapton introduced Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughan, along
with Stevie Ray Vaughan. All of the musicians played a 15-minute rendition
of "Sweet Home Chicago". After the song ended, all the guitarists
hugged and went backstage.
Double
Trouble drummer, Chris Layton, recalls his last conversation with Vaughan backstage. He then
remembers when Vaughan said he had to call his
girlfriend, Janna Lapidus, back in Chicago. He headed out the
door to the helicopters.
The
musicians expected a long bus ride back to Chicago. Vaughan was informed that
three seats were open on one of the helicopters returning to Chicago with Clapton's crew, enough
for Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jimmie Vaughan's wife Connie. It turned
out there was only one seat left, which Stevie Ray Vaughan requested from
his brother, who 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 two members of Clapton's crew 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. The main cause of the
crash was believed to be pilot error.The next morning Stevie Ray Vaughan's
brother Jimmie and good friend Eric Clapton were called to identify the
bodies..
