In Memoriam Stevie Ray Vaughan, died 27 August 1990

bigjon

In 1988 I'd been learning guitar on acoustic for about 6 months, I bought a copy of Guitarist mag, saw Stevie Ray Vaughan on the cover, listened out when Radio 1 had a Fender Strat documentary including him, heard Scuttle Buttin', and thought "THAT'S what I want to play".
   It was the biggest musical turning-point in my life, and to this day SRV is still the biggest identifiable influence in my soloing.

In August 1990 I was on my way to go travelling in Europe for a couple of weeks before university, was due to be in Paris when SRV was playing there, although I hadn't bought a ticket I intended to see if I could go. I mentioned this to the friend I was staying with in London on my way, she said, "Isn't he the one that has just died in a helicopter crash?" 

Here's a great version of Couldn't Stand The Weather - I consistently prefer the sound of this lipstick-pickup Strat to his main guitar. SRV plays the solo from the record at 2:40, there's a fantastically funky keys solo at 4:00, then SRV plays a bonus guitar solo at 5:15.

fandango

SRV has that knack, talent, skill of playing a solo, whilst looking like he’s playing rhythm. A born natural. 

Watching that fantastic performance of Couldn’t Stand the Weather highlights the fact I have yet another facet of guitar playing I need to work on.

What would I rather do? Listen to my rather stunted playing in an effort to improve? Or go straight to yootoob and watch a recording of SRV do it properly?

RIP Stevie.

axisus

Fabulous player, he was my favourite guitarist up to his death. I first heard him on the Friday Night Rock show 1983, Tommy Vance played his Live set from Reading. I still have a tape of it somewhere as I used to tape the show on and off. I remember TV saying "you won't believe this is just one guitar!". I bought Texas Flood ASAP, and I read in Sounds that he was guitarist for Bowies Let's dance album so I bought that as well. 

I couldn't play his music for a year after his death. 

maw4neu

My old workmate Vic suggested to me that I should borrow a VHS Tape he had  . .  Both Vic and I played guitar and Vic had been raving about this tape for weeks and weeks . . . . . I eventually got over to his place one teatime after work and he insisted that I should sit down and watch the first track on the video . . . The video was "Live at the El Mocambo" and the opening track is "Testify" . . . . I watched the video with my bottom jaw on the floor . . . Stevie was literally on fire . . . I didnt move from the settee and I ended up watching the full video, I just couldn't move. . . .  Even now when I watch the video on YouTube the hair on my neck stands up on end . . .   What a tremendous loss, what a talent he was  . . . . The music just seems to flow from Stevie's soul  . . . RIP Stevie . . .  

Chalky

I liked his quote about watching "Australian rules football with the sound turned down".  Seemed such an ordinary guy with a truly extraordinary talent.

joeyowen

Great player!

I would have been a few months old then, yet 28 years later I still play his music!  Incredible thought 

EricTheWeary

I’m sure I’ve told this story before but I used to work with a chap ( hi Mike!) who had been a professional sound engineer for many years and even though he’d given that up he was still a music obsessive and he’d seen and worked with this incredible range of live bands. He worked on one of Stevie’s European tours and said he was the best musician he had ever seen (although much of his job that tour was helping to keep the drug dealers away rather than stand behind the mixing desk). I was trying to make the case for Jimmie Vaughan but it turned out he’d worked with him in the Fabulous Thunderbirds and still much preferred Stevie. 

Maybe not someone I listen to often these days but SRV was someone who genuinely excelled. Pretty  much gave  rebirth to the blues and defined the start of an era. Wow, 1990. 

I don't know how many people will have seen this, one of his odder appearances: 

https://youtu.be/REZ55oM7HfI

richardhomer

Epic player. Lots of copiests have followed but none have his sheer natural ability. It sounds like the notes just flowed out of him, without any conscious thought. 

bigjon

Anniversary bump

Jalapeno

Huge loss

vasselmeyer

SRV was my absolute guitar hero in the 1980s. I picked up "Couldn't Stand the Weather" from a recommendation and the astonishing blur of notes that came out when I dropped the needle onto the first side when it kicked in with "Scuttle Buttin'" had me sold from that very moment.

I had tickets to see him at Manchester Apollo but he never made it

While he was famed for his high octane stuff, to me, his sublime touch on the slower tracks were what made it for me. Here's "Lenny" from El Mocambo...

Kebabkid

That was a sad day and a big loss to music and the guitar world. It was totally ironic that this happened when he was in a period of having conquered his addictions and was in a healthier place. Whilst I did think his playing became 'a bit safe' during this 'sober period', he was nonetheless brilliant.

I've read his book 'Caught in Crossfire' countless times and it gives you an insight into how great a musician and human-being he was. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

RIP SRV

octatonic

Here he is playing Scuttle Buttin' whilst smoking a pipe.



How casual does he look whilst ripping through that riff?