Stevie Ray Vaughan
Today we will tell you about the legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan.
(Rootsmusicmagazine.com)
Here are 36 facts (in fact 27 you will find out why exactly 36), about this perfect guitarist:
1. He was born on October 3, 1954, in Dallas Texas. As a child, his parents took him to blues artists' performances.
2. At an early age he began playing the saxophone and drums. At age 7 he started playing guitar after being influenced by his older brother Jimmie.
3. Vaughan could not read sheet music and learned to play mainly by ear.
4. His first guitar was a toy guitar he received in 1961. He later received a "Gibson Messenger" electric guitar from his older brother Jimmie.
5. At the age of 13 he had already started performing in clubs.
6. Stevie Ray Vaughan named Jimi Hendrix and Albert King as the most influential artists.
7. Beyond the great influences of blues guitarists on Vaughan, he was also influenced by jazz artists like Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, and George Benson who added jazz touches to his playing as well.
8. Before becoming a guitarist he played bass with his older brother Jimmy's band called the "Texas Storm".
9. In 1971 he left his studies and a year later he had already moved to Austin Texas in search of a musical career.
10. At the end of 1971 he formed the band "Blackbird" which was a local success and among others got to warm up "Wishbone Ash".
11. During the 1970s Vaughan continued to perform in pubs and clubs in Austin under various lineups and gained local success and recognition. During these performances, Stevie Ray Vaughan got to play alongside the heroes of his youth including Buddy Guy, Jimmy Rogers, and Albert King.
12. In 1977 he formed the band "Triple Threat Revue" which included singer Lou Ann Barton, bassist W. C. Clark and drummer Freddie Pharaoh" Walden. They recorded 4 songs in 1978, including the song "I'm Cryin'" written by Vaughan.
13. In 1978 Clark left the band and Stevie Ray Vaughan changed the band name to "Double Trouble", the name taken from a song by Otis Rush.
14. In December 1979 Vaughan was arrested for cocaine use and possession. At the time, the band "Double Trouble" served as the opening show for Muddy Waters who said of Vaughan that he could become the best guitarist who ever lived, but he would not be able to pass the age of 40 if he did not stop using cocaine.
15. Vaughan's big break came at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival, where David Bowie noticed him and later invited him to play on his next album.
16. Vaughan did contribute his skills to David Bowie's "Let's Dance" album, his best-selling album to date.
17. In 1982 the Rolling Stones hired "Double Trouble" to play at their private party in New York.
18. The first "Double Trouble" album was released in 1983 and was called "Texas Flood". It included the successful hit "Pride and Joy".
19. In 1984 Vaughan became the first white artist to be named W.C. Handy Blues Foundation Artist of the Year.
20. In 1985, he was named an honorary admiral in the Texas Navy.
21. He played drums in the "Soul to Soul" album version of the song "Empty Arms".
22. Stevie Ray Vaughan tends to play with the pick upside down, i.e. the thick and wide side up front.
23. Vaughan had a very powerful and unique style of playing, occasionally playing the roles of rhythm and solo simultaneously, as Hendrix did.
24. In 1988 Vaughan appeared in an advertisement for a television station in New Zealand.
25. In 1989, Vaughan played at the inauguration celebrations for President George H. W. Bush.
26. Vaughan always wanted to release an album with his brother Jimmy that was his inspiration for playing guitar. In 1990 he recorded with him 10 songs released after his death as part of the album "Family Style".
27. Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed on August 27, 1990, in a helicopter crash, 37 days before his 36th birthday.
28. On the evening of August 26, 1990, Vaughan played with Eric Clapton at "Alpine Valley Music Theatre". The helicopter carrying him after the concert crashed early on August 27. Vaughan, three members of Clapton’s entourage, and the pilot died.
29. Rumor has it that the night before the tragic accident Vaughan woke up from a nightmare after seeing himself present at his own funeral.
30. In 1991, Texas Governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3 "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day". In 1994, Austin erected a memorial statue in his honor.
31. Musician John Mayer noted that Vaughan is his guitar hero. He has his tattoo of Vaughan on his hand.
32. In 2003 Vaughan was ranked seventh on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
33. He also reached number 8 on "Guitar World" magazine's list of the greatest guitarists of all time.
34. In 2000 Stevie Ray Vaughan was inducted into the "Blues Hall of Fame".
35. In 2015, Vaughan and "Double Trouble" were inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". John Mayer delivered their induction speech.
36. Vaughan released four studio albums with "Double Trouble" during his lifetime. He also recorded "Family Style" with his brother Jimmie; it was released after his death in 1990. Live albums and other archival recordings continued to appear posthumously.
Comments