A brief Howlin Wolf Bio
With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie
Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the '80s. Vaughan
drew equally from bluesmen like Albert King,
Otis Rush and Muddy
Waters and rock & roll players like Jimi
Hendrix and Lonnie Mack as well as the stray jazz guitarist
like Kenny Burrell 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. For
the next seven years, Stevie Ray was the leading light in
American blues consistently selling out concerts while his
albums regularly went gold. His tragic death in 1990 only
emphasized his influence
in blues and American rock & roll
Born and raised in Dallas, Vaughan began playing guitar
as a child, inspired by older brother Jimmie When he was
in junior high school, he began playing in a number of garage
bands, which occasionally landed gigs in local nightclubs.
By the time he was 17, he had dropped out of high school
to concentrate on playing music. Vaughan s first real band
was the Cobras, who played clubs and bars in Austin during
the mid-'70s. Following that group's demise, he formed Triple
Threat in 1975. Triple Threat also featured bassist Jackie
Newhouse drummer Chris Layton and vocalist Lou Ann Barton
After a few years of playing Texas bars and clubs, Barton
left the band in 1978. The group decided to continue performing
under the name Double Trouble which was inspired by the
Otis Rush song of the same name; Vaughan became the band's
lead singer.
For the next few years, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
played the Austin area, becoming one of the most popular
bands in Texas. In 1982, the band played the Montreux Festival
and their performance caught the attention of David Bowie
and Jackson Browne After Double Trouble s performance, Bowie
asked Vaughan to play on his forthcoming album, while Browne
offered the group free recording time at his Los Angeles
studio, Downtown both offers were accepted. Stevie Ray laid
down the lead guitar tracks for what became Bowie's Let's
Dance album in late 1982. Shortly afterward, John Hammond,
Sr. landed Vaughan and Double Trouble a record contract
with Epic and the band recorded its debut album in less
than a week at Downtown Studios.
Vaughan's debut album, Texas Flood was released in the summer
of 1983, a few months after Bowie s Let's Dance appeared.
On its own, Let's Dance earned Vaughan quite a bit of attention,
but Texas Flood was a blockbuster blues success; receiving
positive reviews in both blues and rock publications, reaching
number 38 on the charts, and crossing over to album rock
radio stations. Bowie offered Vaughan the lead guitarist
role for his 1983 stadium tour, but he turned him down,
preferring to play with Double Trouble Vaughan and Double
Trouble set off on a successful tour and quickly recorded
their second album, Couldn't Stand the Weather which was
released in May of 1984. The album was more successful than
its predecessor, reaching number 31 on the charts; by the
end of 1985, the album went gold. Double Trouble added keyboardist
Reese Wynans in 1985, before they recorded their third album,
Soul to Soul The record was released in August 1985 and
was also quite successful, reaching number 34 on the charts.
Although his professional career was soaring, Vaughan was
sinking deep into alcoholism and drug addiction. Despite
his declining health, Vaughan continued to push himself,
releasing the double live album Live Alive in October of
1986 and launching an extensive American tour in early 1987.
Following the tour, Vaughan checked into a rehabilitation
clinic. The guitarist's time in rehab was kept fairly quiet,
and for the next year Stevie Ray and Double Trouble were
fairly inactive. Vaughan performed a number of concerts
in 1988, including a headlining gig at the New Orleans Jazz
& Heritage Festival and wrote his fourth album. The
resulting record, In Step appeared in June of 1989 and became
his most successful album, peaking at number 33 on the charts,
earning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Recording,
and going gold just over six months after its release.
In the spring of 1990, Stevie Ray recorded an album with
his brother Jimmie which was scheduled for release in the
fall of the year. In the late summer of 1990, Vaughan and
Double Trouble set out on an American headlining tour. On
August 26, 1990, their East Troy, WI, gig concluded with
an encore jam featuring guitarists Eric Clapton, Buddy
Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Robert
Cray After the concert, Stevie Ray boarded a helicopter
bound for Chicago. Minutes after its 12:30 a.m. takeoff,
the helicopter crashed, killing Vaughan and the other four
passengers. He was only 35 years old.
Family Style, Stevie Ray's duet album with Jimmie appeared
in October and entered the charts at number seven. Family
Style began a series of posthumous releases that were as
popular as the albums Vaughan released during his lifetime.
The Sky Is Crying a collection of studio outtakes compiled
by Jimmie was released in October of 1991; it entered the
charts at number ten and went platinum three months after
its release. In the Beginning a recording of a Double Trouble
concert in 1980, was released in the fall of 1992 and the
compilation Greatest Hits was released in 1995. In 1999,
Vaughan s original albums were remastered and reissued,
with The Real Deal: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 also appearing
that year. 2000 saw the release of the four-disc box SRV
which concentrated heavily on outtakes, live performances,
and rarities. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
More
about Stevie Ray Vaughan Here
Stevie Ray Vaughan Quotes
"Music really is a way to reach out and hold on to
each other in a healthy way."
"I don't drink or get high because I have all these
problems;
I have these problems because I drink and get high.
I realize now that nothing's so bad that getting drunk or
getting high is gonna make it any better. Period."
"I think I've got something special to say with my
music. But I have to keep these things in perspective, because
they're gifts.
It's all a gift, and I have to keep giving it back or it
goes away. If I start believing that it's all my doing,
it's gonna be my undoing.
I'm committing myself to doing the most I can with the gifts
I have, so that they do as much good as possible."
"I can't see tomorrow any better than anyone else,
man.
I just hope that the music is taken seriously, y'know?."
"I was walking around trying to act cool, like I had
no fear at all.
But I was afraid, afraid that somebody would find out just
how scared I was.
Now I'm finally realizing that fear is the opposite of love."
"I loved Jimi a lot, he was so much more than just
a blues guitarist, he could do anything."
"Music has become really important now. It's helped
me to open up more and take a chance on loving people. Music
is a good reason to care.
It's just a vehicle though. It's a way to try and give somebody
something that you feel.
If trying the best I can isn't good enough, I'll just have
to try harder next time...it's all I can do.
If I do the best I can, then at least I did the best I could
in this life
The way I like to look at it is....if that's the last time
/I ever got to play, I'd better give it everything I've
got."
"Like my brother Jimmie says, I play like I'm breaking
out of jail."
