Remembering Stevie Ray Vaughan today.....

[Illoman]

Hard to believe it's been 19 years already....

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Third Stone from the Sun


Mike

[mike c]

Another of my heroes (at least musically; guy had some demons!)... 19 years, wow!


Mike C.

[Illoman]

Another of my heroes (at least musically; guy had some demons!)... 19 years, wow!


Mike C.

He did manage to excise those demons thank God!!!

Mike

[michblk]

I love his music and wish he was still around to make more.

BK

[Bifocals]

Such a shame that he died so soon after getting 'clean & sober' & while beginning a different direction musically with "Tick Tock" from the FAMILY STYLE album.

I had the pleasure of seeing him live with Double Trouble five times & even during the 'bad days' you couldn't tell from the way he'd play a song like it was the first time instead of the thousandth. Can still close my eyes & see SRV smiling while blistering the strings on his Strat.

Often wondered if he had lived would SRV be playing clubs & smaller venues like Jeff Beck, Robin Trower & other 'guitar gods' or if his music evolving would have given him enough of a varied catalog of songs that he'd be doing stadium/arena gigs like Eric Clapton paying 'homage' to various stages of his career? Either way I wish he was still alive & performing somewhere tonight (hopefully near Cincinnati).

[Gasport]

Caught his last show at Madison Square Garden while touring w/Jeff Beck. He was totally clean and sober at this point and tore the place up. So did Beck, for that matter...they jammed together for the encore. Unbelievable! I think he was a real stylist and would still be packing the major arenas had he survived. He was only just getting started...

[Illoman]

I was lucky enough to see him in 1985. One of the many highlights was for his first encore he sat on the edge of the stage, playing Lenny, bathed in a blue spotlight.  Just an amazing guitarist...

Mike

[Inkfink]

Besides being a huge fan, I was impressed by the way he went out of his way to give credit and promote those guitarists who influenced him. He opened my eyes and my ears to some fantastic blues guitar greats!

[Elizabeth]

My husband (then boyfriend) and I went to Alpine Valley Saturday night, my brother went Sunday.

The show was brilliant, amazing and glorious... watching it felt rather like watching history, with those guitar legends together on stage in one place like that.  (It was kind of mind blowing how they got everyone organized to pull that show off!) You really felt THEY were probably having more fun up on stage than the audience was-- the energy was palpable.

And that night really was also a glorious, glorious testimony to his ongoing sobriety.  Artists sometimes worry they won't be as good or creative without the drugs and booze, but that night he was living proof how wrong that thinking is.  Stevie Ray lit the stage up-- and blew everyone else away.  Incredible talent, and a God-given gift... no longer muddied or confused, but absolutely sharper and more brilliant and searing than ever.

That night it was evident he was at a point in his career where he was truly in charge; he was master of the guitar, it did his bidding-- and you knew that everyone on stage was as impressed as we were in the audience.

(Then came Monday morning... damn.)

Tightrope is probably one of my personal favorites, for the message.  Look at Little Sister is a sentimental favorite-- my brother used to blast that one out of his room to me (and it was he who introduced me to Stevie Ray's music).  When I'm cleaning house, I like to get out If the House is A-Rockin'.

The music does not die.

(But anyone else wonder... what did we miss?)

[Illoman]

Elizabeth, thanks for posting one of the most touching (to me) posts I've ever read on here. SRV has always had a special place in my heart. What he went through, how he recovered, and how he truly tried to help others beat their addictions after his victory made him a very special person. No one emoted through his guitar like Stevie did. His emotions just flowed out into the air. He had made his peace with God during his sobriety so I have no doubt we'll see him again some day!!

Mike

[Illoman]

Okay, I just came across a song Stevie Ray Vaughan performed on the radio show Rockline in 1989, but never put on an album. here it is for anyone who's interested:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=0192232869ecb2bb380534058806c13c55b4292245b54e1e

The other song in this folder Hangnails and Boogers is from a recording session where they were just having fun!!

Enjoy, it's awesome blues!!!!

Mike