1926 Odie Payne*
1934 Joe Weaver*
1954 Martin Pyrker*
1971 Lillian „Lil“ Hardin Armstrong+
1975 Hop Wilson+
1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan+
Mike Milligan*
Tim Chapple*
Happy Birthday
Martin Pyrker *27.08.1954
Martin Pyrker (* 27. August 1954 in Wien) ist ein österreichischer Boogie Woogie- und Bluespianist.
Seine Liebe zum Klavier und damit zum Blues entdeckte Pyrker mit siebzehn Jahren, als er bereits vier Jahre Schlagzeugunterricht nahm. Eine Sendung im Radio (Living Blues von Hans Maitner) und die Begegnung mit Größen wie Vince Weber, Hans-Georg Möller und Axel Zwingenberger brachten ihn zu Boogie-Woogie und Pianoblues.
In den 70er Jahren gab er zahlreiche Konzerte. Eines davon wurde auf LP verewigt (Boogie Woogie Session Live in Vienna '76 mit Axel Zwingenberger, Hans-Georg Möller und Vince Weber) und wurde zum Ausgangspunkt einer Renaissance von Boogie und Blues in Deutschland und Österreich. [1]
Auch mit legendären Bluespianisten spielte er oft zusammen, so z.B. Blind John Davis, Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim und Champion Jack Dupree.[1] Neben etwa 100 Eigenkompositionen zählen natürlich auch die Standards des Pianoblues und des Boogie Woogies zu seinem Repertoire.
Neben etwa 1500 Konzerten veröffentlichte er viele Tonträger. Seit 1999 begleitet ihn auch seine Tochter Sabine bei Konzertauftritten am Schlagzeug.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Pyrker
born on August 27th,1954 in Vienna, discovered his love for the piano and thereby for the blues in 1971, when he was 17 years young and already playing the drums for 4 years.
A blues program on the radio, an acquaintance with the pianists Vince Weber, Hans-Georg Möller and Axel Zwingenberger from Hamburg, who caused at that time the boogie woogie fever in Germany, and the meeting with the Viennese “blues guru” Hans Maitner, protagonist of the legendary radio program “Living Blues” fascinated Martin Pyrker of a kind of music that has meanwhile become 100 years old: the classical piano-blues and boogie-woogie.
Pyrker’s legendary concerts in the 1970s with Zwingenberger, Weber and Möller and, originated from this, the first piano-boogie woogie record in Austria (“Boogie Woogie Session 76” / EMI) were the beginning of a growing enthusiasm for this kind of music in Austria and Germany and influenced further generations of young pianists.
Solo and together with many other well-known artists at home and abroad, Martin gave a lot of concerts in jazz clubs, blues bars and at blues and boogie festivals, where he also shared the piano with long gone legends of the blues: Blind John Davis, Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slims, Champion Jack Dupree, just to mention a few of them.
Since the legendary boogie woogie festival of Cologne (WDR 1974) and Vienna (concert hall 1976) the renaissance of boogie woogie could not be stopped anymore, unnumerous tours through Europe and USA followed (as "Stars of Boogie Woogie" and others).
More than 1500 performances and concerts at home and abroad have left their mark on Pyrkers career since then.
Also a lot of records were produced, out from a repertoire of more than 100 own compositions and the most important blues and boogie woogie standards, solo and together with international stars of the blues, recorded in Vienna, Wels, Paris and Fort Worth.
Since 1999 he is accompanied frequently by his daughter Sabine on the drums, who attained in the meanwhile absolute professional experience and motivates her father anew at each of their performances in a refreshing way.
Martin Pyrker today is the most known authentic blues and boogie pianist in Austria and his CDs are well known in USA too, the origin country of this kind of music.
A blues program on the radio, an acquaintance with the pianists Vince Weber, Hans-Georg Möller and Axel Zwingenberger from Hamburg, who caused at that time the boogie woogie fever in Germany, and the meeting with the Viennese “blues guru” Hans Maitner, protagonist of the legendary radio program “Living Blues” fascinated Martin Pyrker of a kind of music that has meanwhile become 100 years old: the classical piano-blues and boogie-woogie.
Pyrker’s legendary concerts in the 1970s with Zwingenberger, Weber and Möller and, originated from this, the first piano-boogie woogie record in Austria (“Boogie Woogie Session 76” / EMI) were the beginning of a growing enthusiasm for this kind of music in Austria and Germany and influenced further generations of young pianists.
Solo and together with many other well-known artists at home and abroad, Martin gave a lot of concerts in jazz clubs, blues bars and at blues and boogie festivals, where he also shared the piano with long gone legends of the blues: Blind John Davis, Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slims, Champion Jack Dupree, just to mention a few of them.
Since the legendary boogie woogie festival of Cologne (WDR 1974) and Vienna (concert hall 1976) the renaissance of boogie woogie could not be stopped anymore, unnumerous tours through Europe and USA followed (as "Stars of Boogie Woogie" and others).
More than 1500 performances and concerts at home and abroad have left their mark on Pyrkers career since then.
Also a lot of records were produced, out from a repertoire of more than 100 own compositions and the most important blues and boogie woogie standards, solo and together with international stars of the blues, recorded in Vienna, Wels, Paris and Fort Worth.
Since 1999 he is accompanied frequently by his daughter Sabine on the drums, who attained in the meanwhile absolute professional experience and motivates her father anew at each of their performances in a refreshing way.
Martin Pyrker today is the most known authentic blues and boogie pianist in Austria and his CDs are well known in USA too, the origin country of this kind of music.
Mike Milligan *27.08.
Houston native Mike Milligan is one of Austin best blues attractions. His music, fully intense and emotional, is a usually up tempo and witty version of the blues that brings in fresh energy and excitement. Mike is responsible for keeping it alive in 6th Street where he has been playing regularly for years as front man and leader of the Altar Boyz. An experienced musician who has played and toured all over the nation and in different parts of Europe, Mike grew up with soul music and rock ‘n’ roll -hence his energetic approach to music- but gradually got trapped in the blues ultimately undertaking its redefinition.
Musically passionate and forceful, Mike Milligan is surprisingly a rather quiet guy. Almost shy, generous and friendly, Mike prefers to be talkative on stage where he is comfortable among his peers trying to get people involved. Not a typical blues singer, Mike has an original sound of his own; an increasingly convincing feeling that perfectly matches his tireless harp blowing. Overall, his mighty presence, easy going semblance and impressive live performances withstand, in their own way, comparisons with the deepest blues.
I once asked Mike about what the “Texas Blues with Louisiana Attitude” motto meant and, after a couple of insistent, hopeful tries, Mike said: “It’s the music, man!” Well, that to me reveals his appealing personality. This desirable homely simplicity does come through his music and stage persona. He is into music to enjoy, and to work his heart out thus the Blues is safe with Mike Milligan on his side. Hopefully you’ll come up to him (I did on Monday nights) and, after a couple of times, he’ll crack a friendly smile at you.
Odie Payne *27.08.1926
Odie Payne (* 27. August 1926 in Chicago, Illinois; † 1. März 1989 ebd.) war ein US-amerikanischer Schlagzeuger. Seine Musik war der Chicago Blues. Im Laufe seiner Karriere hat er mit vielen bekannten Bluesmusikern zusammengespielt, darunter Sonny Boy Williamson II., Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Little Johnny Jones, Tampa Red, Elmore James, Otis Rush, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Minnie, Magic Sam, Chuck Berry, Buddy Guy und viele mehr.
Schon als Kind war Payne begeistert von der Musik, ohne sich auf eine besondere Spielrichtung festzulegen. Sein Musikstudium wurde durch den Krieg unterbrochen, als er zum Militärdienst eingezogen wurde. Nach dem Krieg beendete er sein Schlagzeugstudium mit Auszeichnung.[1]
1949 trommelte er für den Pianisten Johnny Jones, als er Tampa Red kennenlernte und zu dessen Band wechselte. 1952 gingen Payne und Jones zu Elmore Jamesʼ Band The Broomdusters. Payne blieb drei Jahre bei James, begleitete ihn jedoch bis 1959 bei Aufnahmen. Zu hören ist er auf 31 Singles von Elmore James.[1]
In der zweiten Hälfte der 1950er Jahre wurde Payne ein begehrter Sessionmusiker. Sein innovativer Stil beeinflusste zahlreiche Schlagzeuger.[1]
Odie Payne (August 27, 1926 – March 1, 1989)[2] was an American Chicago blues drummer. Over his long career Payne worked with a range of musicians including Sonny Boy Williamson II, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Little Johnny Jones, Tampa Red, Otis Rush, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Minnie, Magic Sam, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Guy.[2]
Biography
He was born Odie Payne Jr. in Chicago, Illinois.[1] Payne was interested in music from an early age, and did not restrict himself to a narrow musical genre. He studied music in high school and later drafted into the Army, but upon his discharge, Payne graduated from the Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion. By 1949 Payne was playing along with the pianist Little Johnny Jones, before meeting Tampa Red and enlisting into his band. The association lasted for around three years before, in 1952, Payne and Jones joined Elmore James's band, the Broomdusters.[1]
Payne played with the Broomdusters for another three years, although his recording association with them lasted through to 1959. In total he recorded thirty one singles with them, including "The Sky Is Crying". By this time Payne had become a favored session musician appearing through that decade on the Cobra label, with Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy. His playing also can be heard on various Chess records, including the Chuck Berry hit singles "Nadine", "You Never Can Tell", "Promised Land" and 1964's "No Particular Place to Go."[1] All appeared on the Berry's 1982 compilation album, The Great Twenty-Eight.
Noted for his usage of the cowbell, bass drum pedal, and extended cymbal and drum rolls, Payne's double shuffle drumming technique was much copied and utilised by both Fred Below and Sam Lay.[1] The technique called for Payne to use both his hands to effect the shuffle effect.[3]
Payne appears to have a songwriting credit to his name for the song "Say Man," which was recorded by both Bo Diddley and Willie Mabon; although Payne's name certainly did not appear on every version published.[4][5]
Odie Payne died in Chicago in March 1989, at the age of 62.
Biography
He was born Odie Payne Jr. in Chicago, Illinois.[1] Payne was interested in music from an early age, and did not restrict himself to a narrow musical genre. He studied music in high school and later drafted into the Army, but upon his discharge, Payne graduated from the Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion. By 1949 Payne was playing along with the pianist Little Johnny Jones, before meeting Tampa Red and enlisting into his band. The association lasted for around three years before, in 1952, Payne and Jones joined Elmore James's band, the Broomdusters.[1]
Payne played with the Broomdusters for another three years, although his recording association with them lasted through to 1959. In total he recorded thirty one singles with them, including "The Sky Is Crying". By this time Payne had become a favored session musician appearing through that decade on the Cobra label, with Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy. His playing also can be heard on various Chess records, including the Chuck Berry hit singles "Nadine", "You Never Can Tell", "Promised Land" and 1964's "No Particular Place to Go."[1] All appeared on the Berry's 1982 compilation album, The Great Twenty-Eight.
Noted for his usage of the cowbell, bass drum pedal, and extended cymbal and drum rolls, Payne's double shuffle drumming technique was much copied and utilised by both Fred Below and Sam Lay.[1] The technique called for Payne to use both his hands to effect the shuffle effect.[3]
Payne appears to have a songwriting credit to his name for the song "Say Man," which was recorded by both Bo Diddley and Willie Mabon; although Payne's name certainly did not appear on every version published.[4][5]
Odie Payne died in Chicago in March 1989, at the age of 62.
The Sky Is Crying - Hound Dog Taylor, Little Walter, Dillard Crume, Odie Payne
Joe Weaver *27.08.1934
Joe
Weaver (August 27, 1934 – July 5, 2006) was an American Detroit blues,
electric blues and R&B pianist, singer and bandleader. His best
known recording was "Baby I Love You So" (1955), and he was a founding
member of both The Blue Note Orchestra and The Motor City Rhythm &
Blues Pioneers. Over his lengthy but staggered career, Weaver worked
with various musicians including The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, John Lee
Hooker, Nathaniel Mayer, The Miracles, Martha Reeves, Nolan Strong &
The Diablos, Andre Williams, Nancy Wilson, and Stevie Wonder. In
addition, Weaver was a session musician in the early days of Motown
Records and played in the house band at Fortune Records.[2] He was a key
component in the 1950s Detroit R&B scene.[3]
Biography
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Weaver learned to play the piano from age nine. While at Northwestern High School he teamed up with fellow student Johnnie Bassett to form Joe Weaver and the Blue Notes.[1] They played jump blues and jazz numbers in the early 1950s, and won numerous talent contests, including several at the Warfield Theater in Hastings Street.[3] This led to becoming the house band there, backing both Little Willie John and John Lee Hooker.[1] In 1953, Joe Von Battle owner of JVB Records recorded their instrumental "1540 Special", which ended up being released by De Luxe Records. Weaver and his band later became session musicians for Fortune Records.[1][4] During this time they provided accompaniment to Nolan Strong & The Diablos and Andre Williams.[3] Their debut album A Fortune of Blues (1954) was accredited to Joe Weaver & His Blue Note Orchestra, and Baby I Love You So was issued the following year. Neither release was a commercial success, but they brought Weaver to the attention of Berry Gordy Jr.[1] They played on early Tamla recordings, most notably The Miracles million-selling "Shop Around".[3] Their tenure there was short-lived, although Blue Note Orchestra members James Jamerson, Eddie Willis, and Benny Benjamin, all later worked as part of Motown's in-house backing musicians, The Funk Brothers.[1]
Weaver himself though did not earn the recognition afforded to some of his progeny, and quit the music industry in the mid-1960s to look after his young daughters.[1] He worked on the production line at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit for almost thirty years.[3] He retired from Ford in 1999, but again teamed with Bassett to re-create the Blue Note Orchestra. The assemble recorded Baby I Love You So (2000) which was released by the Dutch label, Black Magic.[1] This is not to be confused with his 1955 single and album releases of the same title.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Weaver Biography
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Weaver learned to play the piano from age nine. While at Northwestern High School he teamed up with fellow student Johnnie Bassett to form Joe Weaver and the Blue Notes.[1] They played jump blues and jazz numbers in the early 1950s, and won numerous talent contests, including several at the Warfield Theater in Hastings Street.[3] This led to becoming the house band there, backing both Little Willie John and John Lee Hooker.[1] In 1953, Joe Von Battle owner of JVB Records recorded their instrumental "1540 Special", which ended up being released by De Luxe Records. Weaver and his band later became session musicians for Fortune Records.[1][4] During this time they provided accompaniment to Nolan Strong & The Diablos and Andre Williams.[3] Their debut album A Fortune of Blues (1954) was accredited to Joe Weaver & His Blue Note Orchestra, and Baby I Love You So was issued the following year. Neither release was a commercial success, but they brought Weaver to the attention of Berry Gordy Jr.[1] They played on early Tamla recordings, most notably The Miracles million-selling "Shop Around".[3] Their tenure there was short-lived, although Blue Note Orchestra members James Jamerson, Eddie Willis, and Benny Benjamin, all later worked as part of Motown's in-house backing musicians, The Funk Brothers.[1]
Weaver himself though did not earn the recognition afforded to some of his progeny, and quit the music industry in the mid-1960s to look after his young daughters.[1] He worked on the production line at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit for almost thirty years.[3] He retired from Ford in 1999, but again teamed with Bassett to re-create the Blue Note Orchestra. The assemble recorded Baby I Love You So (2000) which was released by the Dutch label, Black Magic.[1] This is not to be confused with his 1955 single and album releases of the same title.
Joe Weaver Solf Pillow
Tim Chapple *27.08.
ßäScott Jeffery – Lead Vocal, Archie Fugill Guitar / Vocal, Al Dente Drums, Tim Chapple – Bass
https://www.facebook.com/moversblues/
Tim Chapple has worked with many bands during his career, including Blacktop Deluxe, Devils Creek, Handbrake Turn, The SGT Project, Union Jane, Zambula, The Any Excuse Soul-stars, Bride’s Mother, The Vendettas, The Rage, The Oven Ready Angels and more. He has worked in Europe and across the UK, and performed on radio and TV.
Tim Chapple – Bass - Tim Chapple has worked with many bands during his career, including Blacktop Deluxe, Devils Creek, Handbrake Turn, The SGT Project, Union Jane, Zambula, The Any Excuse Soul-stars, Bride's Mother, The Vendettas, The Rage, The Oven Ready Angels and more. He has worked in Europe and across the UK, and performed on radio and TV.
Hope you enjoy the tracks and look forward to hearing from you.
Hope you enjoy the tracks and look forward to hearing from you.
http://blues.gr/profiles/blogs/interview-with-british-blues-rock-trio-of-blacktop-deluxe-tim
The Movers Blues Band (UK) - "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix / SRV Live Cover) - British Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld1N2KSG2lE
The Movers - Wait On Time - British Blues
Devils Creek - th3rds (full album) - British Blues Rock Hard Rock
Devils Creek formed in 2006 - Terry Brown (drums), Guy Rosewall
(gtr/vox), Tim Chapple (bass). This line-up gigged heavily and recorded
one album "Bullfrog Blues" in 2007, produced by Phil Innes.
R.I.P.
Hop Wilson +27.08.1975
Hardin "Hop" Wilson[1] (April 27, 1927 – August 27, 1975) was an American Texas blues steel guitar player.[2] Wilson gained the nickname "Hop" as a devolution of "Harp" due to his constant playing of a harmonica as a child.[3] His low sounding playing gave several of his tracks, even "Merry Christmas Darling", a morose, disillusioned feel.
Wilson was born in Grapeland, Texas, United States,[4] in 1927, learning to play guitar and harmonica at an early age.[3] Acquiring his first steel guitar sometime between the age of 12 and 18,[3][5] Wilson performed at various Houston clubs.[4] After serving in the United States Army, Wilson decided to pursue a musical career.[3]
Music career
Wilson began his career performing with Ivory Lee Semien in the 1950s, recording tracks in 1957 for Goldband Records in Lake Charles, Louisiana.[3] In 1960, Wilson signed with Ivory Records in Houston.[5] Wilson led recording sessions, but despised touring, and only played locally until his death in Houston in 1975.
Influence
While Wilson's recording career has been characterized as "slight",[4] he did have an influence on a variety of musicians, including Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones, who stated in 1994 "There's another guitar player called Hop Wilson. I got songs that I wrote like "Black Limousine" from him, those kinds of licks".
Stevie Ray Vaughan +27.08.1990
Stevie Ray Vaughan (auch bekannt unter dem Kürzel SRV) (* 3. Oktober 1954 in Dallas, Texas; † 27. August 1990 in East Troy, Wisconsin) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues- und Bluesrock-Musiker, der in einer Reihe mit Gitarren-Heroen wie Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter und Eric Clapton genannt wird. Obwohl für einen Künstler aus dem Bluesgenre kommerziell ungewöhnlich erfolgreich – sowohl an der Konzertkasse als auch im Verkauf von Tonträgern –, hat er seine tief im Blues verwurzelte Musik doch nie verwässert. Er war maßgeblich daran beteiligt, dass in den 1980er Jahren (und weit darüber hinaus) das Interesse für den Blues wieder geweckt worden ist.
1972 brach Vaughan die Schule ab und übersiedelte nach Austin, Texas, wo sein Bruder bereits seit 1969 lebte.[1] In Austin war neben der Country- auch eine Bluesszene entstanden, in der beide Vaughan-Brüder aktiv waren, Stevie u. a. in den lokalen Bands Crackerjack, Nightcrawlers und Cobras.[2] 1977 gründete Vaughan mit W.C. Clark und Sängerin Lou Ann Barton die Band Triple Threat Revue, aus der 1979 die Nachfolgeband Double Trouble hervorging.[3] 1982 spielte Double Trouble (nun in der Besetzung Tommy Shannon – b, Chris Layton – dr) bei einer privaten Party der Rolling Stones im Club Danceteria in New York.[4] 1982 wurde Vaughan eingeladen, auf dem Jazz-Festival in Montreux zu spielen, wodurch er letztlich seinen ersten Durchbruch erreichte. Jerry Wexler war für diesen Schritt verantwortlich, der die Band in einem Club in Austin, Texas gehört hatte.[5] David Bowie hörte ihn in Montreux erstmals und engagierte ihn für sein 1983er Album Let’s Dance sowie für die Tournee Serious Moonlight. Jedoch verließ Vaughan die Tourband schon während der Proben für die Tour, wohl um sich eigenen Projekten zu widmen.
Jackson Browne hatte Stevie ebenfalls in Montreux gehört und ihm angeboten, bei Gelegenheit sein Aufnahmestudio kostenlos nutzen zu dürfen. Dort nahmen Vaughan und Double Trouble im November 1982 in wenigen Tagen ihr erstes Album Texas Flood auf. John Hammond, der maßgeblich an der Entdeckung u. a. von Charlie Christian, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin und Bob Dylan beteiligt gewesen war, hörte Live-Aufnahmen der Band und verschaffte ihr den ersten Plattenvertrag bei Epic.[6] Das Album Texas Flood verkaufte sich gut. Das zweite Album Couldn’t Stand the Weather (1984) war sogar noch erfolgreicher.[7] 1985 kam Keyboardspieler Reese Wynans zum Lineup der Band hinzu, mit dem das dritte Album aufgenommen wurde, Soul To Soul. Vaughans Drogen- und Alkoholkonsum wurde mit seinem zunehmendem Erfolg immer exzessiver. 1986 musste eine Tournee nach einem Zusammenbruch Vaughans in Deutschland vorzeitig abgebrochen werden. Im selben Jahr erschien dennoch das Doppel-Live-Album Live Alive. Dem Entzug folgte das fünfte Album In Step, das Vaughans Aussagen zufolge das erste Album war, das ohne den Einfluss von Drogen zustande kam. Für In Step erhielt Vaughan einen Grammy. Mit „In Step“ sind die Stufen (engl. Steps) gemeint, die nötig sind, um die Sucht zu überwinden. Die Veröffentlichung des Albums Family Style mit seinem Bruder Jimmie Vaughan erlebte er nicht mehr. Das Album The Sky Is Crying wurde von Jimmie Vaughan aus Aufnahmen verschiedener Perioden zusammengestellt.
Stil
Sein Stil war geprägt durch Einflüsse schwarzer Bluesmusiker, besonders durch Albert King,[8] aber auch durch zwei weitere „Kings“: Durch B. B. King und den ebenfalls wie Vaughan aus Texas stammenden Freddie King. Außerdem nennt Vaughan den Texaner Albert Collins sowie Otis Rush und Buddy Guy als Quellen seiner Inspiration.[9] Zu seinen frühesten Einflüssen zählen der weiße Rockgitarrist Lonnie Mack, der in den 1960er Jahren einige Instrumentalhits wie z. B. Memphis oder Wham! in den amerikanischen Hitparaden platzieren konnte und dessen Titel Chicken Pickin’ Vaughan zu seinen eigenen Scuttle-Buttin’ inspirierte, ebenso wie Stevies älterer Bruder Jimmie Vaughan.[10] Er zählte auch Jazzgitarristen wie Kenny Burrell und Wes Montgomery zu seinen Einflüssen.[11] Doch neben Albert King war wohl Jimi Hendrix sein wichtigstes Vorbild, den Stevie Ray Vaughan selbst als seinen größten Einfluss bezeichnete.[12]
Vaughan arbeitete fast ausschließlich mit traditionellem Rock’n’Roll-Instrumentarium der 1950er und frühen 1960er Jahre, erweitert um die „psychedelischen“ (analogen) Effekte der Hendrix-Ära. Sein unverwechselbarer, zugleich klarer und „fetter“ Ton war geprägt von übersteuerten alten Fender-Röhrenverstärkern und Gitarren mit Single Coil Tonabnehmern. Im Zusammenhang mit den dicken Gitarrensaiten, die er aufzog und die er – wie vor ihm Jimi Hendrix – tiefer stimmte,[13] ermöglichte ihm dies ein extrem dynamisches, ausdrucksstarkes Spiel, das bei allen Graden der Verzerrung immer noch „akustische“ Qualitäten hatte. Er spielte mit seiner (bis auf reine Solopassagen) eher wenig verzerrten Gitarre einen hart angeschlagenen Mix aus Solo und Rhythmus, kombinierte durchgeschlagene Akkorde mit komplexen, technisch anspruchsvollen Läufen, wechselte manchmal taktweise zwischen beiden hin und her. Charakteristisch für sein Solospiel sind an B.B. King und vor allem an Albert King orientierte starke bendings (aus der ursprünglichen Stimmung gezogene Saiten), die mit teils minimalen, fein abgestuften Tonhöhenverschiebungen Effekte erzielen. Aus einem Vokabular an Bluesphrasierungen schuf er viele Variationen, die ihm die Anerkennung und Bewunderung zahlreicher, gerade auch afroamerikanischer, Bluesgrößen ein, auf deren Urteil und Anerkennung er besonders viel Wert legte. Er selbst nannte seine Musik lieber Rhythm&Blues als Bluesrock, war stets um einen „schwarzen“ Sound und Musikstil bemüht und bekannte sich stets auch ausdrücklich zu seinen afroamerikanischen Vorbildern.[14]
Zu einer Zeit, in der digitale Synthesizer und Drummachines in, längere Gitarrensoli dagegen out waren, bedeutete Vaughans Musikstil eine Rückkehr zum Ursprung, zum Blues. Damit wurde Vaughan zum Initiator des Blues-Revivals der 1980er Jahre.[15] Ganze Generationen von Gitarristen haben sich in seiner Folge wieder bluesorientierten Spielweisen und Sounds zugewendet (u. a. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, John Mayer).
Equipment
Wie sein Stil widersprach auch Vaughans Equipment dem in den frühen 1980er Jahren üblichen Trend: Seine Standardgitarre war eine abgenutzte Fender Stratocaster, genannt Number One. Stevie sah die Gitarre 1973 in Ray Hennig’s Heart Of Texas Music Shop in Austin, Texas. Nach eigener Aussage wusste er, noch ehe er sie Probe gespielt hatte, dass er sie gegen seine 1963er Stratocaster eintauschen wollte, die er 1969 gekauft hatte.[16] „Number One“ hatte zuvor Christopher Cross gehört.[17] Abgesehen von der starken Abnutzung des Finish, die durch Vaughans speziellen Einsatz seiner Hauptgitarre während seiner Liveshows immer extremer geworden ist, zeichnete sich die Gitarre aus durch ein kräftiges Halsprofil[18] und ein eher dunkles Timbre. Das Griffbrett aus gewölbt aufgeleimtem Palisander (veneer) war nachträglich mit den höchsten verfügbaren Jumbo-Frets ausgestattet worden.[19] Die Gitarre hatte in Vaughans Setup eine sehr hohe Saitenlage, um bei jedem Ton freies Ausklingen der Saiten zu ermöglichen.[20] Laut Fender Custom Shop ist der Hals von 1962 und der Body von 1963. Die Pickups tragen auf der Rückseite ein handgeschriebenes Datum von 1959.[21] Deshalb bezeichnete Stevie seine „Number-One“-Gitarre in Interviews auch regelmäßig als eine 1959er Fender Stratocaster. Weitere Modifikationen bestanden in der Installation eines Fünfwegschalters für die Pickupwahl (anstelle des ursprünglichen Dreiwegschalters), eines schwarzen Schlagbretts anstelle des weißen, vergoldeter Hardware anstelle der verchromten / vernickelten, sowie eines Linkshändervibratos, das Vaughan einbaute, obwohl er rechtshändig spielte.[22] Rene Martinez, Vaughans Gitarrentechniker ab 1985, baute außerdem eine zuschaltbare Luftspule (dummy coil) ein, die dazu diente, das für Single Coil Tonabnehmer typische Einstreubrummen zu unterdrücken.[23] „Number One“ war nach etlichen Reparaturen sowie einem Unfall infolge eines herabstürzenden Bühnenteils kurz vor Vaughans Tod im Juli 1990 auf seine Bitte noch einmal von Rene Martinez mit einem neuen Hals versehen worden.[24] Die Gitarre befindet sich jetzt (wieder mit dem ursprünglichen Hals) im Besitz seines Bruders, Jimmy Vaughan. Seit 1992 wird von der Firma Fender eine an „Number One“ angelehnte Signature-Stratocaster produziert (s. Abbildung), deren Prototyp Stevie Ray Vaughan selbst 1990 noch gespielt hat. Dieses Gitarrenmodell gehört zu den gut verkauften Fender-Modellen innerhalb der Signature-Reihe.[25]
Stevie spielte in der Frühzeit von Double Trouble meist zwei Fender Vibroverbs mit jeweils einem 15-Zoll-Lautsprecher sowie einen Marshall 4140 Club and Country 2×12 Verstärker mit 100 Watt für unverzerrte Sounds.[26] Später benutzte er zusätzlich zu den Vibroverbs zwei Fender Super Reverbs mit jeweils vier 10-Zoll-Lautsprechern. In seinem Bühnensetup lief ein Vibroverb über ein Fender Vibratone (Lautsprecher mit rotierender Trommel nach Art eines Leslie Cabinets). Für das Album Texas Flood nutzte Vaughan allerdings vornehmlich den Dumble-Amp von Jackson Browne, in dessen Studio diese LP aufgenommen wurde. Von da an gehörten neben den Super Reverbs und Vibroverbs auch ein bis zwei Dumble Verstärker sowie ein Marshall Major 200W Verstärker (jeweils mit einer Dumble 4x12 Box) zu seinem Live-Equipment.[27] Kurz vor seinem Tod stand er laut der Zeitschrift Guitar Player mit Michael Soldano in Verbindung, um einen Soldano SLO-100 Amp in sein Setup aufzunehmen.
Vor den Verstärkern benutzte er in der Regel die folgenden Bodeneffekte: ein Wahwahpedal (meist ein Vox Wah aus den 1960ern), ein oder zwei Ibanez Tubescreamer (jeweils das aktuelle Modell: TS 808, später TS 9, zuletzt TS 10 classic.[28]) Später kamen regelmäßig noch ein Fuzz Face (von Dallas Arbiter) und ein Octavia (von Roger Mayer oder Tycobrahe) hinzu.[29] Zeitweise setzte er auch ein Univox Uni-Vibe mit angeschlossenem Expression Pedal ein.[30]
Tod
Am 27. August 1990 kam Stevie Ray Vaughan um 0:40 Uhr bei einem Hubschrauberabsturz mit einer Bell 206 auf dem Weg nach Chicago ums Leben. Nach einem gemeinsamen Konzert mit Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy und Eric Clapton im Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, bestieg er kurz entschlossen den Hubschrauber, in dem noch ein Platz frei war. Dieser stürzte kurz nach dem Start in hügeligem Gelände ab, wobei Nebel eine Rolle spielte. Neben Vaughan starben bei diesem Unglück auch der Pilot und drei Crewmitglieder von Clapton.[31] Vier Jahre zuvor am gleichen Tag war sein Vater gestorben.[32]
Vaughan wurde 2000 in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Ray_Vaughan
Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990), known as Stevie Ray Vaughan, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. In spite of a short-lived mainstream career spanning seven years, he is widely considered one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of blues music, and one of the most important figures in the revival of blues in the 1980s. AllMusic describes him as "a rocking powerhouse of a guitarist who gave blues a burst of momentum in the '80s, with influence still felt long after his tragic death."[2]
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Vaughan began playing guitar at the age of seven, inspired by his older brother Jimmie. In 1971 he dropped out of high school, and moved to Austin the following year. He played gigs with numerous bands, earning a spot in Marc Benno's band, the Nightcrawlers, and later with Denny Freeman in the Cobras, with whom he continued to work through late 1977. He then formed his own group, Triple Threat Revue, before renaming the band Double Trouble after hiring drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon. He gained fame after his performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982, and in 1983 his debut studio album, Texas Flood, charted at number 38. The ten-song album was a commercially successful release that sold over half a million copies. After achieving sobriety in late 1986, he headlined concert tours with Jeff Beck in 1989 and Joe Cocker in 1990 before his death in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990, at the age of 35.
Vaughan was inspired musically by American and British blues rock. He favored clean amplifiers with high volume and contributed to the popularity of vintage musical equipment. He often combined several different amplifiers together and used minimal effects pedals. Chris Gill of Guitar World commented: "Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar tone was as dry as a San Antonio summer and as sparkling clean as a Dallas debutante, the product of the natural sound of amps with ample clean headroom. However, Vaughan occasionally used pedals to augment his sound, mainly to boost the signal, although he occasionally employed a rotating speaker cabinet and wah pedals for added textural flair."[3]
Vaughan received several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1983, readers of Guitar Player voted him as Best New Talent and Best Electric Blues Guitar Player. In 1984, the Blues Foundation named him Entertainer of the Year and Blues Instrumentalist of the Year, and in 1987, Performance Magazine honored him with Rhythm and Blues Act of the Year. Earning six Grammy Awards and ten Austin Music Awards, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014. Rolling Stone ranked Vaughan as the twelfth greatest guitarist of all time.[4] Also, on December 16, 2014, he was named as one of eight artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of the 2015 class.[5]
Family and early life
Vaughan's ancestry has been traced as far back as the nineteenth century, to his great-grandfather Robert Hodgen LaRue. Robert had a daughter named Laura Belle LaRue, Vaughan's paternal grandmother.[nb 1] She married a man from Arkansas named Thomas Lee Vaughan. They moved onto a region of land in Rockwall County and made their living off of sharecropping.[7] On September 6, 1921, Thomas and Laura had a son they named Jimmie Lee Vaughan; people called him Jim.[8]
Jim, who dropped out of school at the age of sixteen, enlisted to serve with the United States Navy on the outbreak of World War II. After returning from service, Jimmie Lee met Martha Cook (1928–2009) while working as an attendant at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Dallas; they married on January 13, 1950.[9] Stephen Ray Vaughan was born on October 3, 1954, in Dallas, Texas; he was three-and-a-half years younger than his brother Jimmie (born 1951). Big Jim secured a job as an asbestos worker, an occupation that involved rigorous, manual effort. The family frequently moved, living in other states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma before ultimately moving to the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. A shy and insecure boy, Vaughan was deeply affected by his childhood experiences. His father struggled with alcohol abuse, and often terrorized his family and friends with his bad temper. In later years, Vaughan recalled that he had been a victim of Big Jim's violence.[10]
First instruments
In the early 1960s, Vaughan's admiration for his brother Jimmie resulted in him trying different instruments such as the drums and saxophone.[11][nb 2] In 1961, for his seventh birthday, Vaughan received his first guitar, a toy with only three strings.[nb 3] Learning by ear, he diligently committed himself, following along to songs by the Nightcaps, particularly "Wine, Wine, Wine" and "Thunderbird".[14][nb 4] He listened to blues artists such as Albert King, Otis Rush, and Muddy Waters, and rock guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as jazz guitarists including Kenny Burrell.[16] In 1963, he acquired his first electric guitar, a Gibson ES-125T, as a hand-me-down from Jimmie.[17]
Soon after he acquired the electric guitar, Vaughan joined his first band, the Chantones, in 1965.[1] Their first gig was at a talent contest held in Dallas' Hill Theatre, but after realizing that they could not perform a Jimmy Reed song in its entirety, Vaughan left the band and joined the Brooklyn Underground, playing professionally at local bars and clubs.[1] He received Jimmie's Fender Broadcaster, which he later traded for an Epiphone Riviera.[18] When Jimmie left home at age sixteen, Vaughan's apparent obsession with the instrument caused a lack of support from his parents.[19] Miserable at home, he took a job at a local hamburger stand, where he washed dishes and dumped trash for seventy cents an hour. After falling into a barrel of grease, he had enough so he quit and devoted his life to a music career.[20]
Music career
Early years
In May 1969, after leaving the Brooklyn Underground, Vaughan joined a band called the Southern Distributor.[21] He had learned The Yardbirds' "Jeff's Boogie" and played the song at the audition. Mike Steinbach, the group's drummer, commented: "The kid was fourteen. We auditioned him on 'Jeff's Boogie,' really fast instrumental guitar, and he played it note for note."[22] Although they played pop rock covers, Vaughan conveyed his interest in the addition of blues songs to the group's repertoire; he was told that he wouldn't earn a living playing blues music and the band parted ways.[23] Later that year, bassist Tommy Shannon walked into a Dallas club and heard Vaughan playing guitar. Fascinated by the skillful playing, which he described as "incredible even then", Shannon borrowed a bass guitar and the two jammed.[24][nb 5] Within a few years, they began performing together in a band called Krackerjack.[25]
In February 1970, Vaughan joined a band called Liberation, which was a nine-piece group with a horn section. Having spent the past month briefly playing bass with Jimmie in Texas Storm, he had originally auditioned as bassist. Impressed by Vaughan's guitar playing, Scott Phares, the group's original guitarist, modestly became the bassist.[26] In mid-1970, they performed at the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas, where ZZ Top asked to perform. During Liberation's break, Vaughan jammed with ZZ Top on the Nightcaps song "Thunderbird". Phares later described the performance: "They tore the house down. It was awesome. It was one of those magical evenings. Stevie fit in like a glove on a hand."[27]
Attending Justin F. Kimball High School during the early 1970s, Vaughan's late-night gigs contributed to his neglect in his studies, including music theory; he would often sleep during class.[28] His musical career pursuit was disapproved by many of the school's administrators, but he was also encouraged by many people to strive for a career in art, including his art teacher.[29][nb 6] In his sophomore year, he attended an evening class for experimental art at Southern Methodist University, but bailed when it conflicted with rehearsal.[29] Vaughan later spoke of his dislike of the school and stated that he had to receive a daily note from the principal about his grooming.[30]
First recordings
In September 1970, Vaughan made his first studio recordings with the band Cast of Thousands, which included future actor Stephen Tobolowsky. They recorded two songs, "Red, White and Blue" and "I Heard a Voice Last Night", for a compilation album, A New Hi, that featured various teenage bands from Dallas.[31] In late January 1971, feeling confined by playing pop hits with Liberation, Vaughan formed his own band, Blackbird. After growing tired of the Dallas music scene, he dropped out of school and moved with the band to Austin, Texas, which had more liberal and tolerant audiences. There, Vaughan initially took residence at the Rolling Hills Country Club, a venue that would later become the Soap Creek Saloon. Blackbird played at several clubs in Austin and opened shows for bands such as Sugarloaf, Wishbone Ash, and Zephyr, but could not maintain a consistent lineup.[32] By the end of the year, Stevie had left Blackbird and joined a rock band, Krackerjack on December 13, 1972; he performed with them for less than three months.[33]
In March 1973, Vaughan joined Marc Benno's band, the Nightcrawlers, after meeting Benno at a jam session years before.[34] The band featured vocalist Doyle Bramhall, who met Vaughan when he was twelve years old.[35] The next month, Vaughan and the Nightcrawlers recorded an album at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood for A&M Records. While the album was rejected by A&M, it included Vaughan's first songwriting efforts, "Dirty Pool" and "Crawlin'".[36] Soon afterward, he and the Nightcrawlers traveled back to Austin without Benno.[37] In mid-1973, they signed a contract with Bill Ham, manager for ZZ Top, and played various gigs across the South, though many of them were disastrous.[38] Ham left the band stranded in Mississippi without any way to make it back home and demanded reimbursement from Vaughan for equipment expenses; Ham was never reimbursed.[39][nb 7]
In 1975, Vaughan joined a six-piece band called Paul Ray and the Cobras that included guitarist Denny Freeman and saxophonist Joe Sublett.[40] For the next two-and-a-half years, he earned a living performing weekly at a popular venue in town, the Soap Creek Saloon, and ultimately the newly opened Antone's, widely known as Austin's "home of the blues".[41][nb 8] In late 1976, Vaughan recorded a single with them, "Other Days" as the A-side and "Texas Clover" as the B-side. Playing guitar on both tracks, the single was released on February 7, 1977.[43] In March, readers of the Austin Sun voted them as Band of the Year.[44] In addition to playing with the Cobras, Vaughan jammed with many of his influences at Antone's, including Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Albert King.[45]
Vaughan toured with the Cobras during much of 1977, but near the end of September, after they decided to strive for a mainstream musical direction, he left the band and formed Triple Threat Revue, which included singer Lou Ann Barton, bassist W. C. Clark, and drummer Fredde Pharaoh.[46] In January 1978, they recorded four songs in Austin, including Vaughan's composition "I'm Cryin'". The thirty minute audio recording marks the only known studio recording of the band.[47]
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
A black and white photograph of three men, one is wearing a wide-brimmed black hat.
Double Trouble in 1983
In mid-May 1978, Clark left to form his own group and Vaughan renamed the band Double Trouble, taken from the title of an Otis Rush song.[48] Following the recruitment of bassist Jackie Newhouse, Pharaoh quit in July, and was briefly replaced by Jack Moore, who had moved to Texas from Boston; he performed with the band for about two months.[49] Vaughan then began looking for a drummer and soon after, he met Chris Layton through Sublett, who was his roommate. Layton, who had recently parted ways with Greezy Wheels, was taught by Vaughan to play a shuffle rhythm. When Vaughan offered Layton the position, he agreed.[50] In early July, Vaughan befriended Lenora Bailey, known as "Lenny", who became his girlfriend, and ultimately his wife, a marriage that lasted for six and a half years.[51][nb 9]
In early October 1978, Vaughan and Double Trouble earned a frequent residency performing at one of Austin's most popular nightspots, the Rome Inn.[53] During a performance, Edi Johnson, an accountant at Manor Downs, noticed Vaughan.[53] She remembered: "I'm not an authority on music—it's whatever turned me on—but this did."[54] She recommended him to Manor Downs owner Frances Carr and general manager Chesley Millikin, who was interested in managing artists, and saw Vaughan's musical potential. After Barton quit Double Trouble in mid-November 1979, Millikin signed Vaughan to a management contract.[55] Vaughan also hired Robert "Cutter" Brandenburg as road manager, whom he had met in 1969.[56] Addressing him as Stevie Ray, Brandenburg convinced Vaughan to use his middle name on stage.[57]
In October 1980, bassist Tommy Shannon attended a Double Trouble performance at Rockefeller's in Houston. Shannon, who was playing with Alan Haynes at the time, participated in a jam session with Vaughan and Layton halfway through their set. Shannon later commented: "I went down there that night, and I'll never forget this: it was like, when I walked in the door and I heard them playing, it was like a revelation—'That's where I want to be; that's where I belong, right there.' During the break, I went up to Stevie and told him that. I didn't try to sneak around and hide it from the bass player [Jackie Newhouse]—I didn't know if he was listening or not. I just really wanted to be in that band. I sat in that night and it sounded great."[58] Almost three months later, when Vaughan offered Shannon the position, he readily accepted.[59]
Montreux Jazz Festival
Although popular in Texas at the time, Double Trouble failed to gain national attention. The group's luck progressed when record producer Jerry Wexler recommended them to Claude Nobs, organizer of the Montreux Jazz Festival. He insisted that the festival's blues night would be great with Vaughan, whom he called "a jewel, one of those rarities who comes along once in a lifetime", and Nobs agreed to book Double Trouble on July 17.[60]
Vaughan opened with a medley arrangement of Freddie King's song "Hide Away" and his own fast instrumental composition, "Rude Mood". Double Trouble went on to perform renditions of Larry Davis' "Texas Flood", Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig", and Albert Collins' "Collins Shuffle", as well as three original compositions: "Pride and Joy", "Love Struck Baby", and "Dirty Pool". The set ended with boos from the audience.[61] People 's James McBride wrote:
"He seemed to come out of nowhere, a Zorro-type figure in a riverboat gambler's hat, roaring into the '82 Montreux festival with a '59 Stratocaster at his hip and two flame-throwing sidekicks he called Double Trouble. He had no album, no record contract, no name, but he reduced the stage to a pile of smoking cinders and, afterward, everyone wanted to know who he was."[62][nb 10]
According to road manager Don Opperman: "The way I remember it, the 'ooos' and the 'boos' were mixed together, but Stevie was pretty disappointed. Stevie [had] just handed me his guitar and walked off stage, and I'm like, 'Are you coming back?' There was a doorway back there; the audience couldn't see the guys, but I could. He went back to the dressing room with his head in his hands. I went back there finally, and that was the end of the show."[61] According to Vaughan: "It wasn't the whole crowd [that booed]. It was just a few people sitting right up front. The room there was built for acoustic jazz. When five or six people boo, wow. It sounds like the whole world hates you. They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!"[65] The performance was filmed and later released on DVD in September 2004.
On the following night, Double Trouble was booked in the lounge of the Montreux Casino, with Jackson Browne in attendance. Browne jammed with Double Trouble until the early morning hours and offered them free use of his personal recording studio in downtown Los Angeles. In late November, the band accepted his offer and recorded ten songs in two days.[66] While they were in the studio, Vaughan received a telephone call from musician David Bowie, who met him after the Montreux performance, and he invited him to participate in a recording session for his next studio album, Let's Dance.[67] In January 1983, Vaughan recorded guitar on six of the album's eight songs, including the title track and "China Girl".[68] The album was released on April 14, 1983 and sold over three times as many copies as Bowie's previous album.[69]
National success
In mid-March 1983, Gregg Geller, vice president of A&R at Epic Records, signed Double Trouble to the label at the recommendation of record producer John Hammond.[70] Soon afterward, Epic financed a music video for "Love Struck Baby", which was filmed at the Cherry Tavern in New York City. Vaughan recalled: "We changed the name of the place in the video. Four years ago I got married in a club where we used to play all the time called the Rome Inn. When they closed it down, the owner gave me the sign, so in the video we put that up behind me on the stage."[71]
With the success of Let's Dance, Bowie requested Vaughan as the featured instrumentalist for the upcoming Serious Moonlight Tour, realizing that he was an essential aspect of the album's groundbreaking success.[72] In late April, Vaughan began rehearsals for the tour in Las Colinas, Texas.[73] When contract renegotiations for his performance fee failed, Vaughan abandoned the tour days before its opening date, and he was replaced by Earl Slick.[74] Vaughan commented: "I couldn't gear everything on something I didn't really care a whole lot about. It was kind of risky, but I really didn't need all the headaches."[75] Although contributing factors were widely disputed, Vaughan soon gained major publicity for quitting the tour.[76]
On May 9, the band performed at The Bottom Line in New York City, where they opened for Bryan Adams, with Hammond, Mick Jagger, John McEnroe, Rick Nielsen, Billy Gibbons, and Johnny Winter in attendance.[77] Brandenburg described the performance as "ungodly": "I think Stevie played every lick as loud and as hard and with as much intensity as I've ever heard him."[78] The successful performance earned Vaughan a positive review published in the New York Post, asserting that Double Trouble outperformed Adams.[79] "Fortunately, Bryan Adams, the Canadian rocker who is opening arena dates for Journey, doesn't headline too often", wrote Martin Porter, who claimed that after the band's performance, the stage had been "rendered to cinders by the most explosively original showmanship to grace the New York stage in some time."[78]
Texas Flood
After acquiring the recordings from Browne's studio, Double Trouble began assembling the material for a full-length LP. The album, Texas Flood, opens with the track "Love Struck Baby", which was written for Lenny on their "love-struck day".[51] He composed "Pride and Joy" and "I'm Cryin'" for one of his former girlfriends, Dee Davis-Oakley as they are both musically similar, but their lyrics are opposite perspectives of their prior relationship.[47] Along with covers of Howlin' Wolf, The Isley Brothers, and Buddy Guy, the album included Vaughan's cover of Larry Davis' "Texas Flood", a song which he became strongly associated with.[80] "Lenny" served as a tribute to his wife, which he composed at the end of their bed.[81]
Texas Flood featured cover art by illustrator Brad Holland, who is known for his artwork for Playboy and The New York Times.[82] Originally envisioned with Vaughan sitting on a horse depicting a promotable resemblance, Holland painted an image of him leaning against a wall with a guitar, using a photograph as a reference.[83] Released on June 13, 1983, Texas Flood peaked at number 38 and ultimately sold half a million copies.[82] While Rolling Stone editor Kurt Loder asserted that Vaughan did not possess a distinctive voice, according to AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the release was a "monumental impact".[84] Billboard described it as "a guitar boogie lovers delight".[85] Agent Alex Hodges commented: "No one knew how big that record would be, because guitar players weren't necessarily in vogue, except for some that were so established they were undeniable ... he was one of the few artists that was recouped on every record in a short period of time."[86]
On June 16, Vaughan gave a performance at Tango nightclub in Dallas, which celebrated the album's release. Assorted VIPs attended the performance, including Ted Nugent, Sammy Hagar, and members of The Kinks and Uriah Heep.[87] Jack Chase, vice president of marketing for Epic, recalled: "The coming-out party at Tango was very important; it was absolutely huge. All the radio station personalities, DJs, program directors, all the retail record store owners and the important managers, press, all the executives from New York came down—about seven hundred people. We attacked in Dallas first with Q102-FM and [DJ] Redbeard. We had the Tango party—it was hot. It was the ticket."[87] The Dallas Morning News reviewed the performance, starting with the rhetorical question, "What if Stevie Ray Vaughan had an album release party and everybody came? It happened Thursday night at Tango ... The adrenalin must have been gushing through the musicians' veins as they performed with rare finesse and skill."[87]
Following a brief tour in Europe, Hodges arranged an engagement for Double Trouble as The Moody Blues' opening act during a two-month tour of North America.[nb 11] Hodges stated that many people disliked the idea of Double Trouble opening for The Moody Blues, but asserted that a common thread that both bands shared was "album-oriented rock".[88] Shannon described the tour as "glorious": "Our record hadn't become that successful yet, but we were playing in front of coliseums full of people. We just went out and played, and it fit like a glove. The sound rang through those big coliseums like a monster. People were going crazy, and they had no idea who we were!"[88] After appearing on the television series Austin City Limits, the band played a sold-out concert at New York City's Beacon Theatre. Variety wrote that their ninety-minute set at the Beacon "left no doubt that this young Texas musician is indeed the 'guitar hero of the present era.'"[89]
Couldn't Stand the Weather
On January 6, 1984, Double Trouble began recording their second studio album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, at the Power Station, with John Hammond as executive producer and engineer Richard Mullen.[90] Layton later recalled working with Hammond: "He was kind of like a nice hand on your shoulder, as opposed to someone that jumped in and said, 'Let's redo this, let's do that more.' He didn't get involved in that way at all. He was a feedback person."[90] As the sessions began, Vaughan's cover of Bob Geddins' "Tin Pan Alley" was recorded while audio levels were being checked. Layton remembers the performance: "... we did probably the quietest version we ever did up 'til that point. We ended it and [Hammond] said, 'That's the best that song will ever sound,' and we went, 'We haven't even got sounds, have we?' He goes, 'That doesn't matter. That's the best you'll ever do that song.' We tried it again five, six, seven times—I can't even remember. But it never quite sounded like it did that first time."[91]
During recording sessions, Vaughan began experimenting with other combinations of musicians, including Fran Christina and Stan Harrison, who played drums and saxophone respectively on the jazz instrumental, "Stang's Swang".[92] Jimmie Vaughan played rhythm guitar on his cover of Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Do" and the title track, the latter of which Vaughan carries a worldly message in his lyrics.[93] According to musicologist Andy Aledort, Vaughan's guitar playing throughout the song is marked by steady rhythmic strumming patterns and improvised lead lines, with a distinctive R&B and soul single-note riff, doubled in octaves by guitar and bass.[94]
Couldn't Stand the Weather was released on May 15, 1984, and two weeks later it had rapidly outpaced the sales of Texas Flood.[95][nb 12] It peaked at number 31 and spent 38 weeks on the charts.[93] The album includes Vaughan's cover of Jimi Hendrix's song, "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", which provoked inevitable comparisons to Hendrix.[96] According to Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Couldn't Stand the Weather "confirmed that the acclaimed debut was no fluke, while matching, if not bettering, the sales of its predecessor, thereby cementing Vaughan's status as a giant of modern blues."[97] According to authors Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford, the album "was a major turning point in Stevie Ray Vaughan's development" and Vaughan's singing improved.[92]
Carnegie Hall
On October 4, 1984, Vaughan headlined a performance at Carnegie Hall that included many guest musicians.[98] For the second half of the concert, he added Jimmie as rhythm guitarist, drummer George Rains, keyboardist Dr. John, Roomful of Blues horn section, and featured vocalist Angela Strehli.[99][nb 13] The ensemble rehearsed for less than two weeks before the performance, and despite the solid dynamics of Double Trouble for the first half of the performance, according to Patoski and Crawford, the big band concept never entirely took form.[101][nb 14] Before arriving at the engagement, the venue sold out, which made Vaughan extremely excited and nervous as he did not calm down until halfway through the third song.[105] A benefit for the T.J. Martell Foundation's work in leukemia and cancer research, he was an important draw for the event.[106] As his scheduled time slot drew closer, he indicated that he preferred traveling to the venue by limousine to avoid being swarmed by fans on the street; the band took the stage around 8:00 p.m.[107] The audience of 2,200 people, which included Vaughan's wife, family and friends, transformed the venue into what Stephen Holden of The New York Times described as "a whistling, stomping roadhouse".[108]
Introduced by Hammond as "one of the greatest guitar players of all time", Vaughan opened with "Scuttle Buttin'", wearing a custom-made mariachi suit he described as a "Mexican tuxedo".[109][nb 15] Double Trouble went on to perform renditions of The Isley Brothers' "Testify", The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "Tin Pan Alley", Elmore James' "The Sky Is Crying", and W. C. Clark's "Cold Shot", along with four original compositions including "Love Struck Baby", "Honey Bee", "Couldn't Stand the Weather", and "Rude Mood". During the second half of the performance, Vaughan performed covers by Larry Davis, Buddy Guy, Guitar Slim, Albert King, Jackie Wilson, and Albert Collins. The set ended with Vaughan performing solo renditions of "Lenny" and "Rude Mood".[111]
The Dallas Times-Herald wrote that Carnegie Hall "was full of stomping feet and swaying bodies, kids in blue jeans hanging off the balconies, dancing bodies that clogged the aisles."[112][nb 16] The New York Times asserted that, despite the venue's "muddy" acoustics, their performance was "filled with verve", and Vaughan's playing was "handsomely displayed".[108] Jimmie Vaughan later commented: "I was worried the crowd might be a little stiff. Turned out they're just like any other beer joint."[105] Vaughan commented: "We won't be limited to just the trio, although that doesn't mean we'll stop doing the trio. I'm planning on doing that too. I ain't gonna stay in one place. If I do, I'm stupid."[105] The performance was recorded and later released as an official live LP. The album was released on July 29, 1997 by Epic Records; it was ultimately certified gold.[113]
Immediately after the concert, Vaughan attended a private party at a downtown club in New York, which was sponsored by MTV, where he was greeted by an hour's worth of supporters.[114] On the following day, Double Trouble made an appearance at a record store in Greenwich Village, where they signed autographs for fans.[115][nb 17] In late October 1984, the band toured Australia and New Zealand, which included one of their first appearances on Australian television—on Hey Hey It's Saturday—where they performed "Texas Flood", and an interview on Sounds.[116] On November 5 and 9, they played sold-out concerts at the Sydney Opera House.[117] Upon returning to the US, Double Trouble went on a brief tour in California. Soon afterward, Vaughan and Lenny went to the island of Saint Croix, on the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, where they had spent some time vacationing in December.[118] The next month, Double Trouble flew to Japan, where they appeared for five performances, including at Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka.[119]
Soul to Soul
In March 1985, recording for Double Trouble's third studio album, Soul to Soul, began at the Dallas Sound Lab.[120] As the sessions progressed, Vaughan became increasingly frustrated with his own lack of inspiration.[121] He was also allowed a relaxed pace of recording the album, which contributed to a lack of focus due to excesses in alcohol and other drugs.[122] Roadie Byron Barr later recalled: "The routine was to go to the studio, do dope, and play ping-pong."[123] Vaughan, who found it increasingly difficult to be able to play rhythm guitar parts and sing at the same time, wanted to add another dimension to the band, so he hired keyboardist Reese Wynans to record on the album; he joined the band soon thereafter.[124]
During the album's production, Vaughan appeared at the Houston Astrodome on April 10, 1985, where he performed a slide guitar rendition of the US national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner"; his performance was met with booing.[125] Upon leaving the stage, Vaughan acquired an autograph from Mickey Mantle, who was a former player for the New York Yankees.[126] Astrodome publicist Molly Glentzer wrote in the Houston Press: "As Vaughan shuffled back behind home plate, he was only lucid enough to know that he wanted Mickey Mantle's autograph. Mantle obliged. 'I never signed a guitar before.' Nobody asked Vaughan for his autograph. I was sure he'd be dead before he hit 30."[125] Critics associated his performance with Jimi Hendrix's rendition at Woodstock in 1969, yet Vaughan disliked this comparison: "I heard they even wrote about it in one of the music magazines and they tried to put the two versions side by side. I hate that stuff. His version was great."[127]
Released on September 30, 1985, Soul to Soul peaked at number 34 and remained on the Billboard 200 through mid-1986, eventually certified gold.[128][nb 18] Critic Jimmy Guterman of Rolling Stone wrote: "There's some life left in their blues rock pastiche; it's also possible that they've run out of gas."[130] According to Patoski and Crawford, sales of the album "did not match Couldn't Stand the Weather, suggesting Stevie Ray and Double Trouble were plateauing".[130] Vaughan commented: "As far as what's on there song-wise, I like the album a lot. It meant a lot to us what we went through to get this record. There were a lot of odds and we still stayed strong. We grew a lot with the people in the band and immediate friends around us; we learned a lot and grew a lot closer. That has a lot to do with why it's called [Soul to Soul]."[131]
Live Alive
After touring for nine and a half months, Epic requested a fourth album from Double Trouble as part of their contractual obligation.[132] Vaughan decided that they would record the LP, Live Alive, during three live appearances in Austin and Dallas.[133] On July 17 and 18, the band performed sold-out concerts at the Austin Opera House, and July 19 at the Dallas Starfest.[134] They used recordings of these concerts to assemble the LP, which was produced by Vaughan.[135] Shannon was backstage before the Austin concert and predicted to new manager Alex Hodges that both Vaughan and himself were "headed for a brick wall".[136] Guitarist Denny Freeman attended the Austin performances; he called the shows a "musical mess, because they would go into these chaotic jams with no control. I didn't know what exactly was going on, but I was concerned."[136] Both Layton and Shannon remarked that their work schedule and drugs were causing the band to lose focus.[137] According to Wynans: "Things were getting illogical and crazy."[136]
The Live Alive album was released on November 17, 1986, and the only official live Double Trouble LP made commercially available during Vaughan's lifetime, though it never appeared on the Billboard 200 chart.[138] Though many critics claimed that most of the album was overdubbed, engineer Gary Olazabal, who mixed the album, asserted that most of the material was recorded poorly.[139] Vaughan later admitted that it was not one of his better efforts; he recalled: "I wasn't in very good shape when we recorded Live Alive. At the time, I didn't realize how bad a shape I was in. There were more fix-it jobs done on the album than I would have liked. Some of the work sounds like [it was] the work of half-dead people. There were some great notes that came out, but I just wasn't in control; nobody was."[140]
Drugs and alcohol
In 1960, when Vaughan was six years old, he began stealing his father's drinks. Drawn in by its effects, he started making his own drinks and this resulted in alcohol dependency. He explained: "That's when I first started stealing daddy's drinks. Or when my parents were gone, I'd find the bottle and make myself one. I thought it was cool...thought the kids down the street would think it was cool. That's where it began, and I had been depending on it ever since."[141] According to the authors Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford: "In the ensuing twenty-five years, he had worked his way through the Physicians' Desk Reference before finding his poisons of preference—alcohol and cocaine."[142]
Stevie and I reached this point where we had to have the drugs and alcohol all the time. If the phone would ring in the morning and wake us up, we couldn't answer the phone before we had some alcohol.[143]
—Tommy Shannon
While Vaughan asserted that he first experienced the effects of cocaine when a doctor prescribed him with a liquid solution of the stimulant as a nasal spray, according to Patoski and Crawford, the earliest that Vaughan is known to have ingested the drug is in 1975, while performing with the Cobras.[144] Before that, Vaughan had briefly used other drugs such as cannabis, methamphetamine, and Quaaludes, the brand name for methaqualone.[145] After 1975, he regularly drank whiskey and used cocaine, particularly mixing the two substances together.[142] According to Hopkins, by the time of Double Trouble's European tour in September 1986, "his lifestyle of substance abuse had reached a peak, probably better characterized as the bottom of a deep chasm."[146]
Drug charge and trial
On December 5, 1979, while Vaughan was in a dressing room before a performance in Houston, an off-duty police officer arrested him after witnessing his usage of cocaine near an open window.[147] He was formally charged with cocaine possession and subsequently released on $1,000 bail.[148] Double Trouble was the opening act for Muddy Waters, who observed Vaughan's substance abuse: "Stevie could perhaps be the greatest guitar player that ever lived, but he won't live to get 40 years old if he doesn't leave that white powder alone."[149] The following year, he was required to return on January 16 and February 29 for court appearances.[150]
During the final court date, which took place on April 17, 1980, Vaughan was sentenced with two years of probation and was prohibited from leaving Texas.[151] Along with a stipulation of entering treatment for drug abuse, he was required to "avoid persons or places of known disreputable or harmful character"; he refused to comply with both of these orders.[152] After a lawyer was hired, his probation officer had the sentence revised to allow him to work outside of the state.[151] The incident later caused him to refuse maid service while staying in hotels during concert tours.[153]
Substance abuse and rehabilitation
At the height of Vaughan's substance abuse, he drank a quart of whiskey and used a quarter ounce of cocaine each day.[154] Personal assistant Tim Duckworth explained: "I would make sure he would eat breakfast instead of waking up drinking every morning, which was probably the worst thing he was doing."[155] According to Vaughan: "It got to the point where if I'd try to say "Hi" to somebody, I would just fall apart crying. It was like solid doom."[136]
In September 1986, Double Trouble traveled to Denmark for a one-month tour of Europe.[156] During the late night hours of September 28, Vaughan became ill after a performance in Ludwigshafen, Germany, suffering from near-death dehydration, for which he received medical treatment.[154] The incident resulted in his check-in to The London Clinic under the care of Dr. Victor Bloom, who warned him that he was a month away from death.[157] After staying in London for more than a week, he returned to the United States and entered Peachford Hospital in Atlanta, where he spent four weeks in rehabilitation; Shannon checked into rehab in Austin.[158]
Live Alive tour
In November 1986, following his departure from rehab, Vaughan moved back into his mother's Glenfield Avenue house in Dallas, which is where he had spent much of his childhood.[159] During this time, Double Trouble began rehearsals for the Live Alive tour. Although Vaughan was nervous about performing after achieving sobriety, he received positive reassurance.[160] Wynans later recalled: "Stevie was real worried about playing after he'd gotten sober...he didn't know if he had anything left to offer. Once we got back out on the road, he was very inspired and motivated."[161] The tour began on November 23 at Towson State University, which was Vaughan's first performance with Double Trouble after rehab.[160] On December 31, 1986, they played a concert at Atlanta's Fox Theatre, which featured encore performances with Lonnie Mack.[162][nb 19]
As the tour progressed, Vaughan was longing to work on material for his next LP, but in January 1987, he filed for a divorce from Lenny, which restricted him of any projects until the proceedings were finalized.[163] This prevented him from writing and recording songs for almost two years, but Double Trouble wrote the song "Crossfire" with Bill Carter and Ruth Ellsworth. Layton recalled: "Basically, we wrote the music, and they had to write the lyrics. We had just gotten together; Stevie was unable to be there at that time. He was in Dallas doing some things, and we just got together and started writing some songs. That was the first one we wrote."[164] On August 6, 1987, Double Trouble appeared at the Austin Aqua Festival, where they played to one of the largest audiences of their career.[165] According to biographer Craig Hopkins, as many as 20,000 people attended the concert.[165] Following a month-long tour as the opening act for Robert Plant in May 1988, which included a concert at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, the band was booked for a European leg, which included 22 performances, and ended in Oulu, Finland on July 17. This would be Vaughan's last concert appearance in Europe.[166]
In Step
After Vaughan's divorce proceedings became final, recording for Double Trouble's fourth and final studio album, In Step, began at Kiva Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, working with producer Jim Gaines and co-songwriter Doyle Bramhall.[167] Initially, he had doubts about his musical and creative abilities after achieving sobriety, but he gained confidence as the sessions progressed. Shannon later recalled: "In Step was, for him, a big growing experience. In my opinion, it's our best studio album, and I think he felt that way, too."[161] Bramhall, who had also entered rehab, wrote songs with Vaughan about addiction and redemption.[168] According to Vaughan, the album was titled In Step because "I'm finally in step with life, in step with myself, in step with my music."[169] The album's liner notes include the quote "Thank God the elevator's broken," a reference to the twelve-step program proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).[170]
After the In Step recording sessions moved to Los Angeles, Vaughan added horn players Joe Sublett and Darrell Leonard, who played saxophone and trumpet respectively on both "Crossfire" and "Love Me Darlin'".[171] Shortly before the album's production was complete, Vaughan and Double Trouble appeared at a presidential inaugural party in Washington, D.C. for George H. W. Bush.[172] In Step was released on June 13, 1989, and eight months later, it was certified gold.[173] The album was Vaughan's most commercially successful release and his first one to win a Grammy Award.[174] It peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200, spending 47 weeks on the chart.[175] In Step included the song, "Crossfire", which was written by Double Trouble, Bill Carter, and Ruth Ellsworth; it became his only number one hit.[161] The album also included one of his first recordings to feature the use of a Fuzz Face on Vaughan's cover of the Howlin' Wolf song, "Love Me Darlin'".[176]
In July 1989, Neil Perry, a writer for Sounds magazine, "The album closes with the brow-soothing swoon of 'Riviera Paradise,' a slow, lengthy guitar and piano workout that proves just why Vaughan is to the guitar what Nureyev is to ballet."[177] According to music journalist Robert Christgau, Vaughan was "writing blues for AA...he escapes the blues undamaged for the first time in his career."[178] In October 1989, the Boca Raton News described Vaughan's guitar solos as "determined, clear-headed and downright stinging" and his lyrics as "tension-filled allegories".[179]
Personal life
Vaughan and Lenora "Lenny" Bailey met in 1973 after one of Vaughan's performances with the Nightcrawlers at La Cucaracha, a nightclub in east Austin.[180][181] Although moved by Vaughan's musical prowess, she was attracted to his charmingly modest personality.[182] Double Trouble's song "Love Struck Baby", he said, was written about her, after claiming July 5 as their "love struck day".[183] The couple were married on December 23, 1979, between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin, using pieces of wire for rings. Drummer, Chris Layton, described the ceremony as "spontaneous",[184] saying, "It wasn't like there was invitations sent out or a certain group of people attended—it was just whoever was there was hanging around." Layton also said their marriage was "pretty excitable and passionate".[185] The song "Pride and Joy" is also about her, as well as the instrumental "Lenny", after she thought "Pride and Joy" referred to a former girlfriend of Vaughan's.
Upon return to their home in Austin from touring, Vaughan found the house padlocked, electricity shut off, and Lenny nowhere to be found. Biographers Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford wrote that she "squandered his road earnings on dope while running around with other men that one acquaintance glibly described as 'police characters.'"[183] After she declined to visit Vaughan in treatment for substance abuse, he filed for divorce three months later. The case was settled out of court, with Lenny receiving alimony, plus $50,000 in cash and twenty-five percent of net royalties (excluding albums after Live Alive).[186] Vaughan's manager attributes the demise of their marriage to "jealousy" and "unfaithfulness", and as a result, they were both brokenhearted.[187]
On March 12, 1986, Double Trouble arrived in New Zealand for a performance at the Wellington Town Hall, where Vaughan was sitting outside his hotel room. Janna Lapidus, who was born in Russia, ran into Vaughan on the street and immediately struck up a friendship. In October 1986, while Vaughan was in the London Clinic for substance abuse, Lapidus visited him;[188] they both decided to be together after seeing an older couple in front of them during a walk in Hyde Park.[189]
During Vaughan's last two years before his death, he referred to Janna Lapidus as his fiancée. They often made public appearances together including a commercial for Europa, a New Zealand-owned oil company.[190] Lapidus also appeared in the video for 'The House is Rockin'. They first lived at Vaughan's childhood home in Dallas,[191] then moved to a house on Travis Street on May 3, 1987.[192] Lapidus found modeling work in New York City, and they relocated to a Manhattan apartment at Park Avenue and 24th Street in May 1990, splitting their time between Dallas and New York City.[193]
Death
On August 27, 1990, Vaughan had just performed with Eric Clapton at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. All of the musicians boarded four helicopters bound for Chicago, which were waiting on a nearby golf course. According to a witness, there was haze and fog with patches of low clouds. Despite the conditions, the pilots were instructed to fly over a 1000-foot ski hill. Vaughan, along with three members of Eric Clapton's entourage (agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel Browne, and assistant tour manager Colin Smythe), boarded the third of the four helicopters—a Bell 206B Jet Ranger—flying to Meigs Field. At about 12:50 am (CDT),[194] the helicopter departed from an elevation of about 850 feet, veered to the left and crashed into the hill, approximately fifty feet from the summit.[195] All on board, including the pilot, Jeff Brown, were killed instantly.[196] In Clapton: The Autobiography, Clapton explains that, contrary to rumors, his seat was not given to Vaughan but as indicated above, three members of Clapton's entourage were on board with Vaughan at the time of the crash.[197]
At 4:30 am, Civil Air Patrol was notified of the accident, eventually locating the crash site almost three hours later.[194] Both Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan were asked to identify the bodies; a Coptic cross necklace, worn by Vaughan, was given to Jimmie Vaughan. The Walworth County coroner conducted an autopsy and found that Vaughan suffered from multiple internal and skull injuries.[198] The cause of death was officially stated as "exsanguination due to transverse laceration of the aorta"[196] and multiple depressed skull fractures.[195] According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a veteran pilot for Alpine Valley suspected that Brown attempted to fly around the ski hill, but misjudged the location.[199] Clapton issued a statement the next day, saying that the victims "were my companions, my associates and my friends. This is a tragic loss of some very special people. I will miss all of them very much."[200]
Vaughan's memorial was held on August 30, 1990, at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, where he was buried next to his father,[201] and was preceded by a private chapel service for close friends and family. Reverend Barry Bailey of the United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, who was Vaughan's AA sponsor, opened the service with personal thoughts: "We're here to thank God for this man's life. He was a genius, a superstar, a musician's musician. He captured the hearts of thousands and thousands of people. I am thankful for the impact of this man's influence on thousands of people in getting his own life together in the name of God." Kim Wilson, Jeff Healey, David Bowie, Charlie Sexton, ZZ Top, Colin James, and Buddy Guy attended the event. Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt sang "Amazing Grace" at the event.[202] Nile Rodgers gave a eulogy,[203] while a member of the Nightcrawlers read chapters five and eleven from The Big Book, the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous.[204] In 1995, the Vaughan family received an undisclosed settlement for wrongful death.[205]
Musical style
Vaughan's music took root in blues, rock, and jazz. He was influenced by the work of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Guitar Slim, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. According to nightclub owner Clifford Antone, who opened Antone's in 1975, Vaughan jammed with Albert King at Antone's in July 1977 and almost "scared him to death", saying that "it was the best I've ever saw Albert or the best I ever saw Stevie".[206] He was also influenced by jazz guitarists like Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and George Benson.[207] While Albert King had a substantial influence on Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix was Vaughan's greatest inspiration. Vaughan declared: "I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist–he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar–he played music."[208]
Vaughan owed his guitar technique in large part to Lonnie Mack, who Vaughan observed in live performance as "ahead of his time".[208] In 1987, Vaughan listed Mack first among the guitarists he listened to, both as a youngster and as an adult.[209] Mack recalled his first meeting with Vaughan in 1978: "We was in Texas looking for pickers, and we went out to see the Thunderbirds. Jimmie was saying, 'Man, you gotta hear my little brother. He plays all your [songs].' He was playing a little place called the Rome Inn, and we went over there and checked him out. As it would be, when I walked in the door, he was playing 'Wham!' And I said, 'Dadgum.' He was playing it right. I'd been playing it wrong for a long time and needed to go back and listen to my original record. That was in '78, I believe."[210] Vaughan owed part of his enduring style—especially his use of tremolo picking and vibrato—to Mack. He acknowledged that Mack taught him to "play guitar from the heart".[211] Vaughan's relationship with another Texas blues legend, Johnny Winter, was a little more complex. Although they met several times, and often played sessions with the same musicians or even performed the same material, as in the case of Boot Hill, Vaughan always refrained from acknowledging Winter in any form. In his biography, "Raisin' Cain", Winter says that he was unnerved after reading Vaughan stating in an interview that he never met or knew Johnny Winter. "We even played together over at Tommy Shannon's house one time." Vaughan settled the issue in 1988 on the occasion of a Blues Festival in Europe where both he and Winter were on the bill, explaining that he has been misquoted and that "Every musician in Texas knows Johnny and has learned something from him". [212] Asked to compare their playing styles in an interview in 2010, Winter admitted that "mine's a little bit rawer, I think." [213]
Equipment
Guitars
Vaughan owned and used a variety of guitars during his career. His guitar of choice, and the instrument that he became most associated with, was the Fender Stratocaster, his favorite being a 1963 body, with a 1962 neck, and pickups dated from 1959. This is why Vaughan usually referred to his Stratocaster as a, "1959 Strat." Vaughan also referred to this instrument as his "first wife," or, "Number One."[214] Another favourite guitar, was a slightly later Strat he named 'Lenny' after his wife, Lenora. While at a local pawn shop in 1980, Vaughan had noticed this particular guitar, a 1965 stratocaster that had been refinished in red, with the original sunburst finish peeking through. It also had a 1910 Mandolin inlay just below the bridge. The pawn shop was asking $300 for it, which was way more than Vaughan had at the time. Lenny saw how badly he wanted this guitar, so she got six of their friends to chip in $50 each, and bought it for him. The guitar was presented to him on his birthday in 1980, and that night, after bringing "Lenny" (the guitar, and wife) home with him, he wrote the song, "Lenny." He started using a borrowed Stratocaster during high school and used Stratocasters predominantly in his live performances and recordings, although he did play other guitars, including custom guitars.
One of the custom guitars—nicknamed "Main"—was built by James Hamilton of Hamiltone Guitars in Buffalo, New York. It was a gift from Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Gibbons had commissioned Hamilton to build the guitar in 1979. There were some delays, including having to re-do the mother of pearl inlay of Vaughan's name on the fretboard when he changed his stage name from Stevie Vaughan to Stevie Ray Vaughan. The guitar was presented to him by Jim Hamilton on April 29, 1984. Jim Hamilton recalls that Stevie Ray Vaughan was so happy with the guitar that he played it that night at Springfest on the University of Buffalo campus. It remained one of the main guitars he used on stage and in studio. Vaughan made some alterations to the guitar, including replacing the bronze color Gibson knobs with white Fender knobs, as he preferred the ribbing on the Fender knobs. The pickups had to be changed after the guitar was used in the "Couldn't Stand the Weather" video, in which Stevie and "Main" were drenched with water, and the pickups were ruined. The guitar was also used in the "Cold Shot" video.
Vaughan bought many Stratocasters and gave some away as gifts. A sunburst Diplomat Strat-style guitar was purchased by Vaughan and given to his girlfriend Janna Lapidus to learn to play on.[215] Vaughan used heavy strings starting with .013's, tuned a half-step below standard tuning. He played with so much tension that it was not uncommon for him to separate his fingernail from the quick movement along the strings. The owner of an Austin club recalled Vaughan coming into the office between sets to borrow some super glue, which he used to keep fingernail split from widening while he continued to play. The super glue was suggested by Rene Martinez, who was Stevie's guitar technician. Martinez eventually convinced Stevie to change to slightly lighter strings. He preferred a guitar neck with an asymmetrical profile (thicker at the top) which was more comfortable for his thumb-over style of playing. Heavy use of the vibrato bar necessitated frequent replacements; Vaughan often had his roadie, Byron Barr, obtain custom stainless steel bars made by Barr's father.[216] Vaughan was also photographed playing a National Duolian, Epiphone Riviera, Gibson Flying V, as well as several other models.[217] Vaughan used a Gibson Johnny Smith to record "Stang's Swang", and a Guild 12-string acoustic for his performance on MTV Unplugged in January 1990.[215] On June 24, 2004, one of Vaughan's Stratocasters, the aforementioned "Lenny" strat, was sold at an auction to benefit Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua; the instrument was bought by Guitar Center for $623,500.[218]
Amplifiers and effects
Vaughan was a catalyst in the revival of vintage amplifiers and effects during the 1980s. His loud volume and use of heavy strings required powerful and robust amplifiers. Vaughan used two black-face Fender Super Reverbs, which were crucial in shaping his clear overdriven sound. He would often blend other amps with the Super Reverbs, including black-face Fender Vibroverbs,[215] and brands such as Dumble, and Marshall, which he used for his clean sound.[219] While his mainstay effects were the Ibanez Tube Screamer and a Vox wah-wah pedal,[220] Vaughan experimented with a range of effects. He used a Fender Vibratone,[215] designed as a Leslie speaker for electric guitars, and provided a warbling chorus effect, which can be heard on the track "Cold Shot". He used a vintage Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face that can be heard on In Step, as well as an Octavia.[220] The Guitar Geek website provides a detailed illustration of Vaughan's 1985 equipment set up based on interviews with his guitar tech and effects builder, Cesar Diaz.[221]
Legacy
Vaughan throughout his career revived blues rock and paved the way for many other artists. Vaughan's work continues to influence numerous blues, rock and alternative artists, including John Mayer,[222] Kenny Wayne Shepherd,[223] Mike McCready,[224] Albert Cummings,[225] Los Lonely Boys and Chris Duarte, [226] among others. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Vaughan as "the leading light in American blues" and developed "a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre".[227] In 1983, Variety magazine called Vaughan the "guitar hero of the present era".[228]
"Blue Monday" was my way of paying tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan. I’m not really a lyricist, but I figured I could try to express my gratitude to him through my guitar. To this day I can’t even figure out why Stevie meant so much to me. He was just a guitarist, but his playing destroyed me. He was probably my favourite. You don’t really hear him in my playing, but I could listen to him night and day. I wasn’t trying to show off my blues chops. It was just a simple memorial to someone I admired very much. I don’t care if people think it’s the worst thing they’ve ever heard. It was my tribute to a great man."
—Vito Bratta[229]
In the months that followed his death, Vaughan sold over 5.5 million albums in the United States.[230] On September 25, 1990, Epic released Family Style, with several promotional singles and videos.[231] In November 1990, CMV Enterprises released Pride and Joy, a collection of eight Double Trouble music videos.[232] Sony signed a deal with the Vaughan estate to obtain control of his back catalog, as well as permission to release albums with previously unreleased material and new collections of released work.[233] On October 29, 1991, The Sky Is Crying was released as Vaughan's first posthumous album with Double Trouble, and featured studio recordings from 1984–1985.[234] Other compilations, live albums, and films have also been released since his death.
On October 3, 1991, former Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed "Stevie Ray Vaughan Commemoration Day", during which a memorial concert was held at the Texas Theatre.[234] In 1993, a memorial statue of Vaughan was unveiled on Auditorium Shores and is the first public monument of a musician in Austin.[235] In September 1994, a Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Run for Recovery was held in Dallas; the event was a benefit for the Ethel Daniels Foundation, established to help those in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction who cannot afford treatment.[236] In 2005, Martha Vaughan established the Stevie Ray Vaughan Scholarship, awarded by W.E. Greiner Middle School to students who intend to attend college and pursue the arts as a profession.[237]
Awards and honors
Vaughan won five W. C. Handy Awards[238] and was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000.[239] In 1985, he was named an honorary admiral in the Texas Navy.[240] Vaughan had a single number-one hit on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for the song "Crossfire".[241] His album sales in the US stand at over 15 million units. Family Style, released shortly after his death, won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album and became his best-selling, non-Double Trouble studio album with over a million shipments in the US.[230] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him seventh among the "100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time".[242] He also became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, but didn't appear on a nominations roster until 2014.[243][244] He was inducted in the RRHOF alongside Double Trouble in 2015.[245][246] Guitar World Magazine ranked him as no. 8 in its list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Ray_Vaughan Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Vaughan began playing guitar at the age of seven, inspired by his older brother Jimmie. In 1971 he dropped out of high school, and moved to Austin the following year. He played gigs with numerous bands, earning a spot in Marc Benno's band, the Nightcrawlers, and later with Denny Freeman in the Cobras, with whom he continued to work through late 1977. He then formed his own group, Triple Threat Revue, before renaming the band Double Trouble after hiring drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon. He gained fame after his performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982, and in 1983 his debut studio album, Texas Flood, charted at number 38. The ten-song album was a commercially successful release that sold over half a million copies. After achieving sobriety in late 1986, he headlined concert tours with Jeff Beck in 1989 and Joe Cocker in 1990 before his death in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990, at the age of 35.
Vaughan was inspired musically by American and British blues rock. He favored clean amplifiers with high volume and contributed to the popularity of vintage musical equipment. He often combined several different amplifiers together and used minimal effects pedals. Chris Gill of Guitar World commented: "Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar tone was as dry as a San Antonio summer and as sparkling clean as a Dallas debutante, the product of the natural sound of amps with ample clean headroom. However, Vaughan occasionally used pedals to augment his sound, mainly to boost the signal, although he occasionally employed a rotating speaker cabinet and wah pedals for added textural flair."[3]
Vaughan received several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1983, readers of Guitar Player voted him as Best New Talent and Best Electric Blues Guitar Player. In 1984, the Blues Foundation named him Entertainer of the Year and Blues Instrumentalist of the Year, and in 1987, Performance Magazine honored him with Rhythm and Blues Act of the Year. Earning six Grammy Awards and ten Austin Music Awards, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014. Rolling Stone ranked Vaughan as the twelfth greatest guitarist of all time.[4] Also, on December 16, 2014, he was named as one of eight artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of the 2015 class.[5]
Family and early life
Vaughan's ancestry has been traced as far back as the nineteenth century, to his great-grandfather Robert Hodgen LaRue. Robert had a daughter named Laura Belle LaRue, Vaughan's paternal grandmother.[nb 1] She married a man from Arkansas named Thomas Lee Vaughan. They moved onto a region of land in Rockwall County and made their living off of sharecropping.[7] On September 6, 1921, Thomas and Laura had a son they named Jimmie Lee Vaughan; people called him Jim.[8]
Jim, who dropped out of school at the age of sixteen, enlisted to serve with the United States Navy on the outbreak of World War II. After returning from service, Jimmie Lee met Martha Cook (1928–2009) while working as an attendant at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Dallas; they married on January 13, 1950.[9] Stephen Ray Vaughan was born on October 3, 1954, in Dallas, Texas; he was three-and-a-half years younger than his brother Jimmie (born 1951). Big Jim secured a job as an asbestos worker, an occupation that involved rigorous, manual effort. The family frequently moved, living in other states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma before ultimately moving to the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. A shy and insecure boy, Vaughan was deeply affected by his childhood experiences. His father struggled with alcohol abuse, and often terrorized his family and friends with his bad temper. In later years, Vaughan recalled that he had been a victim of Big Jim's violence.[10]
First instruments
In the early 1960s, Vaughan's admiration for his brother Jimmie resulted in him trying different instruments such as the drums and saxophone.[11][nb 2] In 1961, for his seventh birthday, Vaughan received his first guitar, a toy with only three strings.[nb 3] Learning by ear, he diligently committed himself, following along to songs by the Nightcaps, particularly "Wine, Wine, Wine" and "Thunderbird".[14][nb 4] He listened to blues artists such as Albert King, Otis Rush, and Muddy Waters, and rock guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as jazz guitarists including Kenny Burrell.[16] In 1963, he acquired his first electric guitar, a Gibson ES-125T, as a hand-me-down from Jimmie.[17]
Soon after he acquired the electric guitar, Vaughan joined his first band, the Chantones, in 1965.[1] Their first gig was at a talent contest held in Dallas' Hill Theatre, but after realizing that they could not perform a Jimmy Reed song in its entirety, Vaughan left the band and joined the Brooklyn Underground, playing professionally at local bars and clubs.[1] He received Jimmie's Fender Broadcaster, which he later traded for an Epiphone Riviera.[18] When Jimmie left home at age sixteen, Vaughan's apparent obsession with the instrument caused a lack of support from his parents.[19] Miserable at home, he took a job at a local hamburger stand, where he washed dishes and dumped trash for seventy cents an hour. After falling into a barrel of grease, he had enough so he quit and devoted his life to a music career.[20]
Music career
Early years
In May 1969, after leaving the Brooklyn Underground, Vaughan joined a band called the Southern Distributor.[21] He had learned The Yardbirds' "Jeff's Boogie" and played the song at the audition. Mike Steinbach, the group's drummer, commented: "The kid was fourteen. We auditioned him on 'Jeff's Boogie,' really fast instrumental guitar, and he played it note for note."[22] Although they played pop rock covers, Vaughan conveyed his interest in the addition of blues songs to the group's repertoire; he was told that he wouldn't earn a living playing blues music and the band parted ways.[23] Later that year, bassist Tommy Shannon walked into a Dallas club and heard Vaughan playing guitar. Fascinated by the skillful playing, which he described as "incredible even then", Shannon borrowed a bass guitar and the two jammed.[24][nb 5] Within a few years, they began performing together in a band called Krackerjack.[25]
In February 1970, Vaughan joined a band called Liberation, which was a nine-piece group with a horn section. Having spent the past month briefly playing bass with Jimmie in Texas Storm, he had originally auditioned as bassist. Impressed by Vaughan's guitar playing, Scott Phares, the group's original guitarist, modestly became the bassist.[26] In mid-1970, they performed at the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas, where ZZ Top asked to perform. During Liberation's break, Vaughan jammed with ZZ Top on the Nightcaps song "Thunderbird". Phares later described the performance: "They tore the house down. It was awesome. It was one of those magical evenings. Stevie fit in like a glove on a hand."[27]
Attending Justin F. Kimball High School during the early 1970s, Vaughan's late-night gigs contributed to his neglect in his studies, including music theory; he would often sleep during class.[28] His musical career pursuit was disapproved by many of the school's administrators, but he was also encouraged by many people to strive for a career in art, including his art teacher.[29][nb 6] In his sophomore year, he attended an evening class for experimental art at Southern Methodist University, but bailed when it conflicted with rehearsal.[29] Vaughan later spoke of his dislike of the school and stated that he had to receive a daily note from the principal about his grooming.[30]
First recordings
In September 1970, Vaughan made his first studio recordings with the band Cast of Thousands, which included future actor Stephen Tobolowsky. They recorded two songs, "Red, White and Blue" and "I Heard a Voice Last Night", for a compilation album, A New Hi, that featured various teenage bands from Dallas.[31] In late January 1971, feeling confined by playing pop hits with Liberation, Vaughan formed his own band, Blackbird. After growing tired of the Dallas music scene, he dropped out of school and moved with the band to Austin, Texas, which had more liberal and tolerant audiences. There, Vaughan initially took residence at the Rolling Hills Country Club, a venue that would later become the Soap Creek Saloon. Blackbird played at several clubs in Austin and opened shows for bands such as Sugarloaf, Wishbone Ash, and Zephyr, but could not maintain a consistent lineup.[32] By the end of the year, Stevie had left Blackbird and joined a rock band, Krackerjack on December 13, 1972; he performed with them for less than three months.[33]
In March 1973, Vaughan joined Marc Benno's band, the Nightcrawlers, after meeting Benno at a jam session years before.[34] The band featured vocalist Doyle Bramhall, who met Vaughan when he was twelve years old.[35] The next month, Vaughan and the Nightcrawlers recorded an album at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood for A&M Records. While the album was rejected by A&M, it included Vaughan's first songwriting efforts, "Dirty Pool" and "Crawlin'".[36] Soon afterward, he and the Nightcrawlers traveled back to Austin without Benno.[37] In mid-1973, they signed a contract with Bill Ham, manager for ZZ Top, and played various gigs across the South, though many of them were disastrous.[38] Ham left the band stranded in Mississippi without any way to make it back home and demanded reimbursement from Vaughan for equipment expenses; Ham was never reimbursed.[39][nb 7]
In 1975, Vaughan joined a six-piece band called Paul Ray and the Cobras that included guitarist Denny Freeman and saxophonist Joe Sublett.[40] For the next two-and-a-half years, he earned a living performing weekly at a popular venue in town, the Soap Creek Saloon, and ultimately the newly opened Antone's, widely known as Austin's "home of the blues".[41][nb 8] In late 1976, Vaughan recorded a single with them, "Other Days" as the A-side and "Texas Clover" as the B-side. Playing guitar on both tracks, the single was released on February 7, 1977.[43] In March, readers of the Austin Sun voted them as Band of the Year.[44] In addition to playing with the Cobras, Vaughan jammed with many of his influences at Antone's, including Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Albert King.[45]
Vaughan toured with the Cobras during much of 1977, but near the end of September, after they decided to strive for a mainstream musical direction, he left the band and formed Triple Threat Revue, which included singer Lou Ann Barton, bassist W. C. Clark, and drummer Fredde Pharaoh.[46] In January 1978, they recorded four songs in Austin, including Vaughan's composition "I'm Cryin'". The thirty minute audio recording marks the only known studio recording of the band.[47]
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
A black and white photograph of three men, one is wearing a wide-brimmed black hat.
Double Trouble in 1983
In mid-May 1978, Clark left to form his own group and Vaughan renamed the band Double Trouble, taken from the title of an Otis Rush song.[48] Following the recruitment of bassist Jackie Newhouse, Pharaoh quit in July, and was briefly replaced by Jack Moore, who had moved to Texas from Boston; he performed with the band for about two months.[49] Vaughan then began looking for a drummer and soon after, he met Chris Layton through Sublett, who was his roommate. Layton, who had recently parted ways with Greezy Wheels, was taught by Vaughan to play a shuffle rhythm. When Vaughan offered Layton the position, he agreed.[50] In early July, Vaughan befriended Lenora Bailey, known as "Lenny", who became his girlfriend, and ultimately his wife, a marriage that lasted for six and a half years.[51][nb 9]
In early October 1978, Vaughan and Double Trouble earned a frequent residency performing at one of Austin's most popular nightspots, the Rome Inn.[53] During a performance, Edi Johnson, an accountant at Manor Downs, noticed Vaughan.[53] She remembered: "I'm not an authority on music—it's whatever turned me on—but this did."[54] She recommended him to Manor Downs owner Frances Carr and general manager Chesley Millikin, who was interested in managing artists, and saw Vaughan's musical potential. After Barton quit Double Trouble in mid-November 1979, Millikin signed Vaughan to a management contract.[55] Vaughan also hired Robert "Cutter" Brandenburg as road manager, whom he had met in 1969.[56] Addressing him as Stevie Ray, Brandenburg convinced Vaughan to use his middle name on stage.[57]
In October 1980, bassist Tommy Shannon attended a Double Trouble performance at Rockefeller's in Houston. Shannon, who was playing with Alan Haynes at the time, participated in a jam session with Vaughan and Layton halfway through their set. Shannon later commented: "I went down there that night, and I'll never forget this: it was like, when I walked in the door and I heard them playing, it was like a revelation—'That's where I want to be; that's where I belong, right there.' During the break, I went up to Stevie and told him that. I didn't try to sneak around and hide it from the bass player [Jackie Newhouse]—I didn't know if he was listening or not. I just really wanted to be in that band. I sat in that night and it sounded great."[58] Almost three months later, when Vaughan offered Shannon the position, he readily accepted.[59]
Montreux Jazz Festival
Although popular in Texas at the time, Double Trouble failed to gain national attention. The group's luck progressed when record producer Jerry Wexler recommended them to Claude Nobs, organizer of the Montreux Jazz Festival. He insisted that the festival's blues night would be great with Vaughan, whom he called "a jewel, one of those rarities who comes along once in a lifetime", and Nobs agreed to book Double Trouble on July 17.[60]
Vaughan opened with a medley arrangement of Freddie King's song "Hide Away" and his own fast instrumental composition, "Rude Mood". Double Trouble went on to perform renditions of Larry Davis' "Texas Flood", Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig", and Albert Collins' "Collins Shuffle", as well as three original compositions: "Pride and Joy", "Love Struck Baby", and "Dirty Pool". The set ended with boos from the audience.[61] People 's James McBride wrote:
"He seemed to come out of nowhere, a Zorro-type figure in a riverboat gambler's hat, roaring into the '82 Montreux festival with a '59 Stratocaster at his hip and two flame-throwing sidekicks he called Double Trouble. He had no album, no record contract, no name, but he reduced the stage to a pile of smoking cinders and, afterward, everyone wanted to know who he was."[62][nb 10]
According to road manager Don Opperman: "The way I remember it, the 'ooos' and the 'boos' were mixed together, but Stevie was pretty disappointed. Stevie [had] just handed me his guitar and walked off stage, and I'm like, 'Are you coming back?' There was a doorway back there; the audience couldn't see the guys, but I could. He went back to the dressing room with his head in his hands. I went back there finally, and that was the end of the show."[61] According to Vaughan: "It wasn't the whole crowd [that booed]. It was just a few people sitting right up front. The room there was built for acoustic jazz. When five or six people boo, wow. It sounds like the whole world hates you. They thought we were too loud, but shoot, I had four army blankets folded over my amp, and the volume level was on 2. I'm used to playin' on 10!"[65] The performance was filmed and later released on DVD in September 2004.
On the following night, Double Trouble was booked in the lounge of the Montreux Casino, with Jackson Browne in attendance. Browne jammed with Double Trouble until the early morning hours and offered them free use of his personal recording studio in downtown Los Angeles. In late November, the band accepted his offer and recorded ten songs in two days.[66] While they were in the studio, Vaughan received a telephone call from musician David Bowie, who met him after the Montreux performance, and he invited him to participate in a recording session for his next studio album, Let's Dance.[67] In January 1983, Vaughan recorded guitar on six of the album's eight songs, including the title track and "China Girl".[68] The album was released on April 14, 1983 and sold over three times as many copies as Bowie's previous album.[69]
National success
In mid-March 1983, Gregg Geller, vice president of A&R at Epic Records, signed Double Trouble to the label at the recommendation of record producer John Hammond.[70] Soon afterward, Epic financed a music video for "Love Struck Baby", which was filmed at the Cherry Tavern in New York City. Vaughan recalled: "We changed the name of the place in the video. Four years ago I got married in a club where we used to play all the time called the Rome Inn. When they closed it down, the owner gave me the sign, so in the video we put that up behind me on the stage."[71]
With the success of Let's Dance, Bowie requested Vaughan as the featured instrumentalist for the upcoming Serious Moonlight Tour, realizing that he was an essential aspect of the album's groundbreaking success.[72] In late April, Vaughan began rehearsals for the tour in Las Colinas, Texas.[73] When contract renegotiations for his performance fee failed, Vaughan abandoned the tour days before its opening date, and he was replaced by Earl Slick.[74] Vaughan commented: "I couldn't gear everything on something I didn't really care a whole lot about. It was kind of risky, but I really didn't need all the headaches."[75] Although contributing factors were widely disputed, Vaughan soon gained major publicity for quitting the tour.[76]
On May 9, the band performed at The Bottom Line in New York City, where they opened for Bryan Adams, with Hammond, Mick Jagger, John McEnroe, Rick Nielsen, Billy Gibbons, and Johnny Winter in attendance.[77] Brandenburg described the performance as "ungodly": "I think Stevie played every lick as loud and as hard and with as much intensity as I've ever heard him."[78] The successful performance earned Vaughan a positive review published in the New York Post, asserting that Double Trouble outperformed Adams.[79] "Fortunately, Bryan Adams, the Canadian rocker who is opening arena dates for Journey, doesn't headline too often", wrote Martin Porter, who claimed that after the band's performance, the stage had been "rendered to cinders by the most explosively original showmanship to grace the New York stage in some time."[78]
Texas Flood
After acquiring the recordings from Browne's studio, Double Trouble began assembling the material for a full-length LP. The album, Texas Flood, opens with the track "Love Struck Baby", which was written for Lenny on their "love-struck day".[51] He composed "Pride and Joy" and "I'm Cryin'" for one of his former girlfriends, Dee Davis-Oakley as they are both musically similar, but their lyrics are opposite perspectives of their prior relationship.[47] Along with covers of Howlin' Wolf, The Isley Brothers, and Buddy Guy, the album included Vaughan's cover of Larry Davis' "Texas Flood", a song which he became strongly associated with.[80] "Lenny" served as a tribute to his wife, which he composed at the end of their bed.[81]
Texas Flood featured cover art by illustrator Brad Holland, who is known for his artwork for Playboy and The New York Times.[82] Originally envisioned with Vaughan sitting on a horse depicting a promotable resemblance, Holland painted an image of him leaning against a wall with a guitar, using a photograph as a reference.[83] Released on June 13, 1983, Texas Flood peaked at number 38 and ultimately sold half a million copies.[82] While Rolling Stone editor Kurt Loder asserted that Vaughan did not possess a distinctive voice, according to AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the release was a "monumental impact".[84] Billboard described it as "a guitar boogie lovers delight".[85] Agent Alex Hodges commented: "No one knew how big that record would be, because guitar players weren't necessarily in vogue, except for some that were so established they were undeniable ... he was one of the few artists that was recouped on every record in a short period of time."[86]
On June 16, Vaughan gave a performance at Tango nightclub in Dallas, which celebrated the album's release. Assorted VIPs attended the performance, including Ted Nugent, Sammy Hagar, and members of The Kinks and Uriah Heep.[87] Jack Chase, vice president of marketing for Epic, recalled: "The coming-out party at Tango was very important; it was absolutely huge. All the radio station personalities, DJs, program directors, all the retail record store owners and the important managers, press, all the executives from New York came down—about seven hundred people. We attacked in Dallas first with Q102-FM and [DJ] Redbeard. We had the Tango party—it was hot. It was the ticket."[87] The Dallas Morning News reviewed the performance, starting with the rhetorical question, "What if Stevie Ray Vaughan had an album release party and everybody came? It happened Thursday night at Tango ... The adrenalin must have been gushing through the musicians' veins as they performed with rare finesse and skill."[87]
Following a brief tour in Europe, Hodges arranged an engagement for Double Trouble as The Moody Blues' opening act during a two-month tour of North America.[nb 11] Hodges stated that many people disliked the idea of Double Trouble opening for The Moody Blues, but asserted that a common thread that both bands shared was "album-oriented rock".[88] Shannon described the tour as "glorious": "Our record hadn't become that successful yet, but we were playing in front of coliseums full of people. We just went out and played, and it fit like a glove. The sound rang through those big coliseums like a monster. People were going crazy, and they had no idea who we were!"[88] After appearing on the television series Austin City Limits, the band played a sold-out concert at New York City's Beacon Theatre. Variety wrote that their ninety-minute set at the Beacon "left no doubt that this young Texas musician is indeed the 'guitar hero of the present era.'"[89]
Couldn't Stand the Weather
On January 6, 1984, Double Trouble began recording their second studio album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, at the Power Station, with John Hammond as executive producer and engineer Richard Mullen.[90] Layton later recalled working with Hammond: "He was kind of like a nice hand on your shoulder, as opposed to someone that jumped in and said, 'Let's redo this, let's do that more.' He didn't get involved in that way at all. He was a feedback person."[90] As the sessions began, Vaughan's cover of Bob Geddins' "Tin Pan Alley" was recorded while audio levels were being checked. Layton remembers the performance: "... we did probably the quietest version we ever did up 'til that point. We ended it and [Hammond] said, 'That's the best that song will ever sound,' and we went, 'We haven't even got sounds, have we?' He goes, 'That doesn't matter. That's the best you'll ever do that song.' We tried it again five, six, seven times—I can't even remember. But it never quite sounded like it did that first time."[91]
During recording sessions, Vaughan began experimenting with other combinations of musicians, including Fran Christina and Stan Harrison, who played drums and saxophone respectively on the jazz instrumental, "Stang's Swang".[92] Jimmie Vaughan played rhythm guitar on his cover of Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Do" and the title track, the latter of which Vaughan carries a worldly message in his lyrics.[93] According to musicologist Andy Aledort, Vaughan's guitar playing throughout the song is marked by steady rhythmic strumming patterns and improvised lead lines, with a distinctive R&B and soul single-note riff, doubled in octaves by guitar and bass.[94]
Couldn't Stand the Weather was released on May 15, 1984, and two weeks later it had rapidly outpaced the sales of Texas Flood.[95][nb 12] It peaked at number 31 and spent 38 weeks on the charts.[93] The album includes Vaughan's cover of Jimi Hendrix's song, "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", which provoked inevitable comparisons to Hendrix.[96] According to Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Couldn't Stand the Weather "confirmed that the acclaimed debut was no fluke, while matching, if not bettering, the sales of its predecessor, thereby cementing Vaughan's status as a giant of modern blues."[97] According to authors Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford, the album "was a major turning point in Stevie Ray Vaughan's development" and Vaughan's singing improved.[92]
Carnegie Hall
On October 4, 1984, Vaughan headlined a performance at Carnegie Hall that included many guest musicians.[98] For the second half of the concert, he added Jimmie as rhythm guitarist, drummer George Rains, keyboardist Dr. John, Roomful of Blues horn section, and featured vocalist Angela Strehli.[99][nb 13] The ensemble rehearsed for less than two weeks before the performance, and despite the solid dynamics of Double Trouble for the first half of the performance, according to Patoski and Crawford, the big band concept never entirely took form.[101][nb 14] Before arriving at the engagement, the venue sold out, which made Vaughan extremely excited and nervous as he did not calm down until halfway through the third song.[105] A benefit for the T.J. Martell Foundation's work in leukemia and cancer research, he was an important draw for the event.[106] As his scheduled time slot drew closer, he indicated that he preferred traveling to the venue by limousine to avoid being swarmed by fans on the street; the band took the stage around 8:00 p.m.[107] The audience of 2,200 people, which included Vaughan's wife, family and friends, transformed the venue into what Stephen Holden of The New York Times described as "a whistling, stomping roadhouse".[108]
Introduced by Hammond as "one of the greatest guitar players of all time", Vaughan opened with "Scuttle Buttin'", wearing a custom-made mariachi suit he described as a "Mexican tuxedo".[109][nb 15] Double Trouble went on to perform renditions of The Isley Brothers' "Testify", The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "Tin Pan Alley", Elmore James' "The Sky Is Crying", and W. C. Clark's "Cold Shot", along with four original compositions including "Love Struck Baby", "Honey Bee", "Couldn't Stand the Weather", and "Rude Mood". During the second half of the performance, Vaughan performed covers by Larry Davis, Buddy Guy, Guitar Slim, Albert King, Jackie Wilson, and Albert Collins. The set ended with Vaughan performing solo renditions of "Lenny" and "Rude Mood".[111]
The Dallas Times-Herald wrote that Carnegie Hall "was full of stomping feet and swaying bodies, kids in blue jeans hanging off the balconies, dancing bodies that clogged the aisles."[112][nb 16] The New York Times asserted that, despite the venue's "muddy" acoustics, their performance was "filled with verve", and Vaughan's playing was "handsomely displayed".[108] Jimmie Vaughan later commented: "I was worried the crowd might be a little stiff. Turned out they're just like any other beer joint."[105] Vaughan commented: "We won't be limited to just the trio, although that doesn't mean we'll stop doing the trio. I'm planning on doing that too. I ain't gonna stay in one place. If I do, I'm stupid."[105] The performance was recorded and later released as an official live LP. The album was released on July 29, 1997 by Epic Records; it was ultimately certified gold.[113]
Immediately after the concert, Vaughan attended a private party at a downtown club in New York, which was sponsored by MTV, where he was greeted by an hour's worth of supporters.[114] On the following day, Double Trouble made an appearance at a record store in Greenwich Village, where they signed autographs for fans.[115][nb 17] In late October 1984, the band toured Australia and New Zealand, which included one of their first appearances on Australian television—on Hey Hey It's Saturday—where they performed "Texas Flood", and an interview on Sounds.[116] On November 5 and 9, they played sold-out concerts at the Sydney Opera House.[117] Upon returning to the US, Double Trouble went on a brief tour in California. Soon afterward, Vaughan and Lenny went to the island of Saint Croix, on the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, where they had spent some time vacationing in December.[118] The next month, Double Trouble flew to Japan, where they appeared for five performances, including at Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka.[119]
Soul to Soul
In March 1985, recording for Double Trouble's third studio album, Soul to Soul, began at the Dallas Sound Lab.[120] As the sessions progressed, Vaughan became increasingly frustrated with his own lack of inspiration.[121] He was also allowed a relaxed pace of recording the album, which contributed to a lack of focus due to excesses in alcohol and other drugs.[122] Roadie Byron Barr later recalled: "The routine was to go to the studio, do dope, and play ping-pong."[123] Vaughan, who found it increasingly difficult to be able to play rhythm guitar parts and sing at the same time, wanted to add another dimension to the band, so he hired keyboardist Reese Wynans to record on the album; he joined the band soon thereafter.[124]
During the album's production, Vaughan appeared at the Houston Astrodome on April 10, 1985, where he performed a slide guitar rendition of the US national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner"; his performance was met with booing.[125] Upon leaving the stage, Vaughan acquired an autograph from Mickey Mantle, who was a former player for the New York Yankees.[126] Astrodome publicist Molly Glentzer wrote in the Houston Press: "As Vaughan shuffled back behind home plate, he was only lucid enough to know that he wanted Mickey Mantle's autograph. Mantle obliged. 'I never signed a guitar before.' Nobody asked Vaughan for his autograph. I was sure he'd be dead before he hit 30."[125] Critics associated his performance with Jimi Hendrix's rendition at Woodstock in 1969, yet Vaughan disliked this comparison: "I heard they even wrote about it in one of the music magazines and they tried to put the two versions side by side. I hate that stuff. His version was great."[127]
Released on September 30, 1985, Soul to Soul peaked at number 34 and remained on the Billboard 200 through mid-1986, eventually certified gold.[128][nb 18] Critic Jimmy Guterman of Rolling Stone wrote: "There's some life left in their blues rock pastiche; it's also possible that they've run out of gas."[130] According to Patoski and Crawford, sales of the album "did not match Couldn't Stand the Weather, suggesting Stevie Ray and Double Trouble were plateauing".[130] Vaughan commented: "As far as what's on there song-wise, I like the album a lot. It meant a lot to us what we went through to get this record. There were a lot of odds and we still stayed strong. We grew a lot with the people in the band and immediate friends around us; we learned a lot and grew a lot closer. That has a lot to do with why it's called [Soul to Soul]."[131]
Live Alive
After touring for nine and a half months, Epic requested a fourth album from Double Trouble as part of their contractual obligation.[132] Vaughan decided that they would record the LP, Live Alive, during three live appearances in Austin and Dallas.[133] On July 17 and 18, the band performed sold-out concerts at the Austin Opera House, and July 19 at the Dallas Starfest.[134] They used recordings of these concerts to assemble the LP, which was produced by Vaughan.[135] Shannon was backstage before the Austin concert and predicted to new manager Alex Hodges that both Vaughan and himself were "headed for a brick wall".[136] Guitarist Denny Freeman attended the Austin performances; he called the shows a "musical mess, because they would go into these chaotic jams with no control. I didn't know what exactly was going on, but I was concerned."[136] Both Layton and Shannon remarked that their work schedule and drugs were causing the band to lose focus.[137] According to Wynans: "Things were getting illogical and crazy."[136]
The Live Alive album was released on November 17, 1986, and the only official live Double Trouble LP made commercially available during Vaughan's lifetime, though it never appeared on the Billboard 200 chart.[138] Though many critics claimed that most of the album was overdubbed, engineer Gary Olazabal, who mixed the album, asserted that most of the material was recorded poorly.[139] Vaughan later admitted that it was not one of his better efforts; he recalled: "I wasn't in very good shape when we recorded Live Alive. At the time, I didn't realize how bad a shape I was in. There were more fix-it jobs done on the album than I would have liked. Some of the work sounds like [it was] the work of half-dead people. There were some great notes that came out, but I just wasn't in control; nobody was."[140]
Drugs and alcohol
In 1960, when Vaughan was six years old, he began stealing his father's drinks. Drawn in by its effects, he started making his own drinks and this resulted in alcohol dependency. He explained: "That's when I first started stealing daddy's drinks. Or when my parents were gone, I'd find the bottle and make myself one. I thought it was cool...thought the kids down the street would think it was cool. That's where it began, and I had been depending on it ever since."[141] According to the authors Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford: "In the ensuing twenty-five years, he had worked his way through the Physicians' Desk Reference before finding his poisons of preference—alcohol and cocaine."[142]
Stevie and I reached this point where we had to have the drugs and alcohol all the time. If the phone would ring in the morning and wake us up, we couldn't answer the phone before we had some alcohol.[143]
—Tommy Shannon
While Vaughan asserted that he first experienced the effects of cocaine when a doctor prescribed him with a liquid solution of the stimulant as a nasal spray, according to Patoski and Crawford, the earliest that Vaughan is known to have ingested the drug is in 1975, while performing with the Cobras.[144] Before that, Vaughan had briefly used other drugs such as cannabis, methamphetamine, and Quaaludes, the brand name for methaqualone.[145] After 1975, he regularly drank whiskey and used cocaine, particularly mixing the two substances together.[142] According to Hopkins, by the time of Double Trouble's European tour in September 1986, "his lifestyle of substance abuse had reached a peak, probably better characterized as the bottom of a deep chasm."[146]
Drug charge and trial
On December 5, 1979, while Vaughan was in a dressing room before a performance in Houston, an off-duty police officer arrested him after witnessing his usage of cocaine near an open window.[147] He was formally charged with cocaine possession and subsequently released on $1,000 bail.[148] Double Trouble was the opening act for Muddy Waters, who observed Vaughan's substance abuse: "Stevie could perhaps be the greatest guitar player that ever lived, but he won't live to get 40 years old if he doesn't leave that white powder alone."[149] The following year, he was required to return on January 16 and February 29 for court appearances.[150]
During the final court date, which took place on April 17, 1980, Vaughan was sentenced with two years of probation and was prohibited from leaving Texas.[151] Along with a stipulation of entering treatment for drug abuse, he was required to "avoid persons or places of known disreputable or harmful character"; he refused to comply with both of these orders.[152] After a lawyer was hired, his probation officer had the sentence revised to allow him to work outside of the state.[151] The incident later caused him to refuse maid service while staying in hotels during concert tours.[153]
Substance abuse and rehabilitation
At the height of Vaughan's substance abuse, he drank a quart of whiskey and used a quarter ounce of cocaine each day.[154] Personal assistant Tim Duckworth explained: "I would make sure he would eat breakfast instead of waking up drinking every morning, which was probably the worst thing he was doing."[155] According to Vaughan: "It got to the point where if I'd try to say "Hi" to somebody, I would just fall apart crying. It was like solid doom."[136]
In September 1986, Double Trouble traveled to Denmark for a one-month tour of Europe.[156] During the late night hours of September 28, Vaughan became ill after a performance in Ludwigshafen, Germany, suffering from near-death dehydration, for which he received medical treatment.[154] The incident resulted in his check-in to The London Clinic under the care of Dr. Victor Bloom, who warned him that he was a month away from death.[157] After staying in London for more than a week, he returned to the United States and entered Peachford Hospital in Atlanta, where he spent four weeks in rehabilitation; Shannon checked into rehab in Austin.[158]
Live Alive tour
In November 1986, following his departure from rehab, Vaughan moved back into his mother's Glenfield Avenue house in Dallas, which is where he had spent much of his childhood.[159] During this time, Double Trouble began rehearsals for the Live Alive tour. Although Vaughan was nervous about performing after achieving sobriety, he received positive reassurance.[160] Wynans later recalled: "Stevie was real worried about playing after he'd gotten sober...he didn't know if he had anything left to offer. Once we got back out on the road, he was very inspired and motivated."[161] The tour began on November 23 at Towson State University, which was Vaughan's first performance with Double Trouble after rehab.[160] On December 31, 1986, they played a concert at Atlanta's Fox Theatre, which featured encore performances with Lonnie Mack.[162][nb 19]
As the tour progressed, Vaughan was longing to work on material for his next LP, but in January 1987, he filed for a divorce from Lenny, which restricted him of any projects until the proceedings were finalized.[163] This prevented him from writing and recording songs for almost two years, but Double Trouble wrote the song "Crossfire" with Bill Carter and Ruth Ellsworth. Layton recalled: "Basically, we wrote the music, and they had to write the lyrics. We had just gotten together; Stevie was unable to be there at that time. He was in Dallas doing some things, and we just got together and started writing some songs. That was the first one we wrote."[164] On August 6, 1987, Double Trouble appeared at the Austin Aqua Festival, where they played to one of the largest audiences of their career.[165] According to biographer Craig Hopkins, as many as 20,000 people attended the concert.[165] Following a month-long tour as the opening act for Robert Plant in May 1988, which included a concert at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, the band was booked for a European leg, which included 22 performances, and ended in Oulu, Finland on July 17. This would be Vaughan's last concert appearance in Europe.[166]
In Step
After Vaughan's divorce proceedings became final, recording for Double Trouble's fourth and final studio album, In Step, began at Kiva Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, working with producer Jim Gaines and co-songwriter Doyle Bramhall.[167] Initially, he had doubts about his musical and creative abilities after achieving sobriety, but he gained confidence as the sessions progressed. Shannon later recalled: "In Step was, for him, a big growing experience. In my opinion, it's our best studio album, and I think he felt that way, too."[161] Bramhall, who had also entered rehab, wrote songs with Vaughan about addiction and redemption.[168] According to Vaughan, the album was titled In Step because "I'm finally in step with life, in step with myself, in step with my music."[169] The album's liner notes include the quote "Thank God the elevator's broken," a reference to the twelve-step program proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).[170]
After the In Step recording sessions moved to Los Angeles, Vaughan added horn players Joe Sublett and Darrell Leonard, who played saxophone and trumpet respectively on both "Crossfire" and "Love Me Darlin'".[171] Shortly before the album's production was complete, Vaughan and Double Trouble appeared at a presidential inaugural party in Washington, D.C. for George H. W. Bush.[172] In Step was released on June 13, 1989, and eight months later, it was certified gold.[173] The album was Vaughan's most commercially successful release and his first one to win a Grammy Award.[174] It peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200, spending 47 weeks on the chart.[175] In Step included the song, "Crossfire", which was written by Double Trouble, Bill Carter, and Ruth Ellsworth; it became his only number one hit.[161] The album also included one of his first recordings to feature the use of a Fuzz Face on Vaughan's cover of the Howlin' Wolf song, "Love Me Darlin'".[176]
In July 1989, Neil Perry, a writer for Sounds magazine, "The album closes with the brow-soothing swoon of 'Riviera Paradise,' a slow, lengthy guitar and piano workout that proves just why Vaughan is to the guitar what Nureyev is to ballet."[177] According to music journalist Robert Christgau, Vaughan was "writing blues for AA...he escapes the blues undamaged for the first time in his career."[178] In October 1989, the Boca Raton News described Vaughan's guitar solos as "determined, clear-headed and downright stinging" and his lyrics as "tension-filled allegories".[179]
Personal life
Vaughan and Lenora "Lenny" Bailey met in 1973 after one of Vaughan's performances with the Nightcrawlers at La Cucaracha, a nightclub in east Austin.[180][181] Although moved by Vaughan's musical prowess, she was attracted to his charmingly modest personality.[182] Double Trouble's song "Love Struck Baby", he said, was written about her, after claiming July 5 as their "love struck day".[183] The couple were married on December 23, 1979, between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin, using pieces of wire for rings. Drummer, Chris Layton, described the ceremony as "spontaneous",[184] saying, "It wasn't like there was invitations sent out or a certain group of people attended—it was just whoever was there was hanging around." Layton also said their marriage was "pretty excitable and passionate".[185] The song "Pride and Joy" is also about her, as well as the instrumental "Lenny", after she thought "Pride and Joy" referred to a former girlfriend of Vaughan's.
Upon return to their home in Austin from touring, Vaughan found the house padlocked, electricity shut off, and Lenny nowhere to be found. Biographers Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford wrote that she "squandered his road earnings on dope while running around with other men that one acquaintance glibly described as 'police characters.'"[183] After she declined to visit Vaughan in treatment for substance abuse, he filed for divorce three months later. The case was settled out of court, with Lenny receiving alimony, plus $50,000 in cash and twenty-five percent of net royalties (excluding albums after Live Alive).[186] Vaughan's manager attributes the demise of their marriage to "jealousy" and "unfaithfulness", and as a result, they were both brokenhearted.[187]
On March 12, 1986, Double Trouble arrived in New Zealand for a performance at the Wellington Town Hall, where Vaughan was sitting outside his hotel room. Janna Lapidus, who was born in Russia, ran into Vaughan on the street and immediately struck up a friendship. In October 1986, while Vaughan was in the London Clinic for substance abuse, Lapidus visited him;[188] they both decided to be together after seeing an older couple in front of them during a walk in Hyde Park.[189]
During Vaughan's last two years before his death, he referred to Janna Lapidus as his fiancée. They often made public appearances together including a commercial for Europa, a New Zealand-owned oil company.[190] Lapidus also appeared in the video for 'The House is Rockin'. They first lived at Vaughan's childhood home in Dallas,[191] then moved to a house on Travis Street on May 3, 1987.[192] Lapidus found modeling work in New York City, and they relocated to a Manhattan apartment at Park Avenue and 24th Street in May 1990, splitting their time between Dallas and New York City.[193]
Death
On August 27, 1990, Vaughan had just performed with Eric Clapton at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. All of the musicians boarded four helicopters bound for Chicago, which were waiting on a nearby golf course. According to a witness, there was haze and fog with patches of low clouds. Despite the conditions, the pilots were instructed to fly over a 1000-foot ski hill. Vaughan, along with three members of Eric Clapton's entourage (agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel Browne, and assistant tour manager Colin Smythe), boarded the third of the four helicopters—a Bell 206B Jet Ranger—flying to Meigs Field. At about 12:50 am (CDT),[194] the helicopter departed from an elevation of about 850 feet, veered to the left and crashed into the hill, approximately fifty feet from the summit.[195] All on board, including the pilot, Jeff Brown, were killed instantly.[196] In Clapton: The Autobiography, Clapton explains that, contrary to rumors, his seat was not given to Vaughan but as indicated above, three members of Clapton's entourage were on board with Vaughan at the time of the crash.[197]
At 4:30 am, Civil Air Patrol was notified of the accident, eventually locating the crash site almost three hours later.[194] Both Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan were asked to identify the bodies; a Coptic cross necklace, worn by Vaughan, was given to Jimmie Vaughan. The Walworth County coroner conducted an autopsy and found that Vaughan suffered from multiple internal and skull injuries.[198] The cause of death was officially stated as "exsanguination due to transverse laceration of the aorta"[196] and multiple depressed skull fractures.[195] According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a veteran pilot for Alpine Valley suspected that Brown attempted to fly around the ski hill, but misjudged the location.[199] Clapton issued a statement the next day, saying that the victims "were my companions, my associates and my friends. This is a tragic loss of some very special people. I will miss all of them very much."[200]
Vaughan's memorial was held on August 30, 1990, at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, where he was buried next to his father,[201] and was preceded by a private chapel service for close friends and family. Reverend Barry Bailey of the United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, who was Vaughan's AA sponsor, opened the service with personal thoughts: "We're here to thank God for this man's life. He was a genius, a superstar, a musician's musician. He captured the hearts of thousands and thousands of people. I am thankful for the impact of this man's influence on thousands of people in getting his own life together in the name of God." Kim Wilson, Jeff Healey, David Bowie, Charlie Sexton, ZZ Top, Colin James, and Buddy Guy attended the event. Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt sang "Amazing Grace" at the event.[202] Nile Rodgers gave a eulogy,[203] while a member of the Nightcrawlers read chapters five and eleven from The Big Book, the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous.[204] In 1995, the Vaughan family received an undisclosed settlement for wrongful death.[205]
Musical style
Vaughan's music took root in blues, rock, and jazz. He was influenced by the work of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Guitar Slim, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. According to nightclub owner Clifford Antone, who opened Antone's in 1975, Vaughan jammed with Albert King at Antone's in July 1977 and almost "scared him to death", saying that "it was the best I've ever saw Albert or the best I ever saw Stevie".[206] He was also influenced by jazz guitarists like Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and George Benson.[207] While Albert King had a substantial influence on Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix was Vaughan's greatest inspiration. Vaughan declared: "I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist–he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar–he played music."[208]
Vaughan owed his guitar technique in large part to Lonnie Mack, who Vaughan observed in live performance as "ahead of his time".[208] In 1987, Vaughan listed Mack first among the guitarists he listened to, both as a youngster and as an adult.[209] Mack recalled his first meeting with Vaughan in 1978: "We was in Texas looking for pickers, and we went out to see the Thunderbirds. Jimmie was saying, 'Man, you gotta hear my little brother. He plays all your [songs].' He was playing a little place called the Rome Inn, and we went over there and checked him out. As it would be, when I walked in the door, he was playing 'Wham!' And I said, 'Dadgum.' He was playing it right. I'd been playing it wrong for a long time and needed to go back and listen to my original record. That was in '78, I believe."[210] Vaughan owed part of his enduring style—especially his use of tremolo picking and vibrato—to Mack. He acknowledged that Mack taught him to "play guitar from the heart".[211] Vaughan's relationship with another Texas blues legend, Johnny Winter, was a little more complex. Although they met several times, and often played sessions with the same musicians or even performed the same material, as in the case of Boot Hill, Vaughan always refrained from acknowledging Winter in any form. In his biography, "Raisin' Cain", Winter says that he was unnerved after reading Vaughan stating in an interview that he never met or knew Johnny Winter. "We even played together over at Tommy Shannon's house one time." Vaughan settled the issue in 1988 on the occasion of a Blues Festival in Europe where both he and Winter were on the bill, explaining that he has been misquoted and that "Every musician in Texas knows Johnny and has learned something from him". [212] Asked to compare their playing styles in an interview in 2010, Winter admitted that "mine's a little bit rawer, I think." [213]
Equipment
Guitars
Vaughan owned and used a variety of guitars during his career. His guitar of choice, and the instrument that he became most associated with, was the Fender Stratocaster, his favorite being a 1963 body, with a 1962 neck, and pickups dated from 1959. This is why Vaughan usually referred to his Stratocaster as a, "1959 Strat." Vaughan also referred to this instrument as his "first wife," or, "Number One."[214] Another favourite guitar, was a slightly later Strat he named 'Lenny' after his wife, Lenora. While at a local pawn shop in 1980, Vaughan had noticed this particular guitar, a 1965 stratocaster that had been refinished in red, with the original sunburst finish peeking through. It also had a 1910 Mandolin inlay just below the bridge. The pawn shop was asking $300 for it, which was way more than Vaughan had at the time. Lenny saw how badly he wanted this guitar, so she got six of their friends to chip in $50 each, and bought it for him. The guitar was presented to him on his birthday in 1980, and that night, after bringing "Lenny" (the guitar, and wife) home with him, he wrote the song, "Lenny." He started using a borrowed Stratocaster during high school and used Stratocasters predominantly in his live performances and recordings, although he did play other guitars, including custom guitars.
One of the custom guitars—nicknamed "Main"—was built by James Hamilton of Hamiltone Guitars in Buffalo, New York. It was a gift from Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Gibbons had commissioned Hamilton to build the guitar in 1979. There were some delays, including having to re-do the mother of pearl inlay of Vaughan's name on the fretboard when he changed his stage name from Stevie Vaughan to Stevie Ray Vaughan. The guitar was presented to him by Jim Hamilton on April 29, 1984. Jim Hamilton recalls that Stevie Ray Vaughan was so happy with the guitar that he played it that night at Springfest on the University of Buffalo campus. It remained one of the main guitars he used on stage and in studio. Vaughan made some alterations to the guitar, including replacing the bronze color Gibson knobs with white Fender knobs, as he preferred the ribbing on the Fender knobs. The pickups had to be changed after the guitar was used in the "Couldn't Stand the Weather" video, in which Stevie and "Main" were drenched with water, and the pickups were ruined. The guitar was also used in the "Cold Shot" video.
Vaughan bought many Stratocasters and gave some away as gifts. A sunburst Diplomat Strat-style guitar was purchased by Vaughan and given to his girlfriend Janna Lapidus to learn to play on.[215] Vaughan used heavy strings starting with .013's, tuned a half-step below standard tuning. He played with so much tension that it was not uncommon for him to separate his fingernail from the quick movement along the strings. The owner of an Austin club recalled Vaughan coming into the office between sets to borrow some super glue, which he used to keep fingernail split from widening while he continued to play. The super glue was suggested by Rene Martinez, who was Stevie's guitar technician. Martinez eventually convinced Stevie to change to slightly lighter strings. He preferred a guitar neck with an asymmetrical profile (thicker at the top) which was more comfortable for his thumb-over style of playing. Heavy use of the vibrato bar necessitated frequent replacements; Vaughan often had his roadie, Byron Barr, obtain custom stainless steel bars made by Barr's father.[216] Vaughan was also photographed playing a National Duolian, Epiphone Riviera, Gibson Flying V, as well as several other models.[217] Vaughan used a Gibson Johnny Smith to record "Stang's Swang", and a Guild 12-string acoustic for his performance on MTV Unplugged in January 1990.[215] On June 24, 2004, one of Vaughan's Stratocasters, the aforementioned "Lenny" strat, was sold at an auction to benefit Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua; the instrument was bought by Guitar Center for $623,500.[218]
Amplifiers and effects
Vaughan was a catalyst in the revival of vintage amplifiers and effects during the 1980s. His loud volume and use of heavy strings required powerful and robust amplifiers. Vaughan used two black-face Fender Super Reverbs, which were crucial in shaping his clear overdriven sound. He would often blend other amps with the Super Reverbs, including black-face Fender Vibroverbs,[215] and brands such as Dumble, and Marshall, which he used for his clean sound.[219] While his mainstay effects were the Ibanez Tube Screamer and a Vox wah-wah pedal,[220] Vaughan experimented with a range of effects. He used a Fender Vibratone,[215] designed as a Leslie speaker for electric guitars, and provided a warbling chorus effect, which can be heard on the track "Cold Shot". He used a vintage Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face that can be heard on In Step, as well as an Octavia.[220] The Guitar Geek website provides a detailed illustration of Vaughan's 1985 equipment set up based on interviews with his guitar tech and effects builder, Cesar Diaz.[221]
Legacy
Vaughan throughout his career revived blues rock and paved the way for many other artists. Vaughan's work continues to influence numerous blues, rock and alternative artists, including John Mayer,[222] Kenny Wayne Shepherd,[223] Mike McCready,[224] Albert Cummings,[225] Los Lonely Boys and Chris Duarte, [226] among others. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Vaughan as "the leading light in American blues" and developed "a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre".[227] In 1983, Variety magazine called Vaughan the "guitar hero of the present era".[228]
"Blue Monday" was my way of paying tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan. I’m not really a lyricist, but I figured I could try to express my gratitude to him through my guitar. To this day I can’t even figure out why Stevie meant so much to me. He was just a guitarist, but his playing destroyed me. He was probably my favourite. You don’t really hear him in my playing, but I could listen to him night and day. I wasn’t trying to show off my blues chops. It was just a simple memorial to someone I admired very much. I don’t care if people think it’s the worst thing they’ve ever heard. It was my tribute to a great man."
—Vito Bratta[229]
In the months that followed his death, Vaughan sold over 5.5 million albums in the United States.[230] On September 25, 1990, Epic released Family Style, with several promotional singles and videos.[231] In November 1990, CMV Enterprises released Pride and Joy, a collection of eight Double Trouble music videos.[232] Sony signed a deal with the Vaughan estate to obtain control of his back catalog, as well as permission to release albums with previously unreleased material and new collections of released work.[233] On October 29, 1991, The Sky Is Crying was released as Vaughan's first posthumous album with Double Trouble, and featured studio recordings from 1984–1985.[234] Other compilations, live albums, and films have also been released since his death.
On October 3, 1991, former Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed "Stevie Ray Vaughan Commemoration Day", during which a memorial concert was held at the Texas Theatre.[234] In 1993, a memorial statue of Vaughan was unveiled on Auditorium Shores and is the first public monument of a musician in Austin.[235] In September 1994, a Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Run for Recovery was held in Dallas; the event was a benefit for the Ethel Daniels Foundation, established to help those in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction who cannot afford treatment.[236] In 2005, Martha Vaughan established the Stevie Ray Vaughan Scholarship, awarded by W.E. Greiner Middle School to students who intend to attend college and pursue the arts as a profession.[237]
Awards and honors
Vaughan won five W. C. Handy Awards[238] and was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000.[239] In 1985, he was named an honorary admiral in the Texas Navy.[240] Vaughan had a single number-one hit on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for the song "Crossfire".[241] His album sales in the US stand at over 15 million units. Family Style, released shortly after his death, won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album and became his best-selling, non-Double Trouble studio album with over a million shipments in the US.[230] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him seventh among the "100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time".[242] He also became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, but didn't appear on a nominations roster until 2014.[243][244] He was inducted in the RRHOF alongside Double Trouble in 2015.[245][246] Guitar World Magazine ranked him as no. 8 in its list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists.
Eric Clapton & Stevie Ray Vaughan — Before You Accuse Me 1990
Lillian „Lil“ Hardin Armstrong +27.08.1971
Lillian „Lil“ Hardin Armstrong (* 3. Februar 1898 in Memphis, Tennessee; † 27. August 1971 in Chicago, Illinois) war eine US-amerikanische Jazz-Pianistin, -Sängerin und -Komponistin. Ihrem Biographen James L. Dickerson war sie als Komponistin und als Person hinter den Kulissen eine der wichtigsten Personen in der Entwicklung des frühen Jazz.
Leben und Wirken
Als Kind spielte die Halbwaise Orgel in der Kirche. Lillian Hardin studierte Musik an der für Förderung der afroamerikanischen Musiktradition bekannten Fisk University in Nashville. Anschließend führte sie in einem Musikaliengeschäft Klaviere und Noten vor. Dort kam es auch einmal zum Kräftemessen mit Jelly Roll Morton. In den späten 1910er Jahren setzte sie ihren Willen trotz familiären Vetos durch und arbeitete als Jazzmusikerin: Sie spielte ab 1918 bei Lawrence Duhé, wo sie mit Freddie Keppard auftrat, der schon 1916 als guter Interpret des damals neuen New Orleans Jazz bekannt gewesen sein soll, und dann bei Joe King Oliver.
In Oliverers Creole Jazz Band lernte sie Louis Armstrong kennen, den sie 1924 heiratete. Hardin schrieb Songs für dessen Hot-Five-Ensemble und spielte 1925 bis 1927 Klavier bei dieser legendären Studio-Band, die auch unter dem Namen Lill’s Hot Shots Aufnahmen machte. Einer von Hardins bekannteren Titeln ist Struttin’ with Some Barbecue. Louis wurde damit bekannt, sie jedoch wurde kaum wahrgenommen. „Ich stand am Fuß der Leiter, hielt sie fest und sah ihn nach oben klettern“, resümierte sie später ihre Rolle. Die Ehe der Armstrongs war nicht lange glücklich und wurde 1938, nach sechs Jahren Trennung, geschieden. In den folgenden Jahren konnte sie trotz zahlreicher Aufnahmen und Rundfunkauftritte nicht immer an die frühen Erfolge anknüpfen. Ihre Band der frühen 30er-Jahre, die sie mit dem Taktstock leitete, wurde auf Plakaten als die der „Mrs. Louis Armstrong“, mit kleingedrucktem „Mrs.“ vermarktet, was zu Verwechslungen des Trompeters Jonah Jones mit Satchmo führte. Sie spielte auch wieder mit Freddie Keppard sowie mit Johnny Dodds. Teilweise war Lillian Hardin auch für andere Bands als Arrangeurin tätig, oder ergänzte sie im Studio oder auf Tournee. Später trat sie in Chicago oft als Solopianistin und Sängerin auf. Doch arbeitete sie auch in anderen Berufen: Sie unterrichtete Französisch und entwarf Kleider.
Neben Struttin' with Some Barbecue schrieb Hardin Songs wie Don't Jive Me, Two Deuces, Knee Drops, Doin' the Suzie-Q, Just for a Thrill (mit dem Ray Charles 1959 einen Hit hatte), Clip Joint oder Bad Boy (1978 ein Hit für Ringo Starr). Sie war nicht nur eine der ersten bedeutenden Pianistinnen, Komponistinnen und Bandleaderinnen in der Frühzeit des Jazz; sie war zudem der Motor hinter der Karriere des jungen Louis Armstrong. Ihre Lebenserinnerungen nahm sie auf Platte unter dem Titel Satchmo and me auf. Sie verstarb wenige Wochen nach Louis Armstrong, als sie 1971 ein Gedenkkonzert für ihn in Chicago gab.
Leben und Wirken
Als Kind spielte die Halbwaise Orgel in der Kirche. Lillian Hardin studierte Musik an der für Förderung der afroamerikanischen Musiktradition bekannten Fisk University in Nashville. Anschließend führte sie in einem Musikaliengeschäft Klaviere und Noten vor. Dort kam es auch einmal zum Kräftemessen mit Jelly Roll Morton. In den späten 1910er Jahren setzte sie ihren Willen trotz familiären Vetos durch und arbeitete als Jazzmusikerin: Sie spielte ab 1918 bei Lawrence Duhé, wo sie mit Freddie Keppard auftrat, der schon 1916 als guter Interpret des damals neuen New Orleans Jazz bekannt gewesen sein soll, und dann bei Joe King Oliver.
In Oliverers Creole Jazz Band lernte sie Louis Armstrong kennen, den sie 1924 heiratete. Hardin schrieb Songs für dessen Hot-Five-Ensemble und spielte 1925 bis 1927 Klavier bei dieser legendären Studio-Band, die auch unter dem Namen Lill’s Hot Shots Aufnahmen machte. Einer von Hardins bekannteren Titeln ist Struttin’ with Some Barbecue. Louis wurde damit bekannt, sie jedoch wurde kaum wahrgenommen. „Ich stand am Fuß der Leiter, hielt sie fest und sah ihn nach oben klettern“, resümierte sie später ihre Rolle. Die Ehe der Armstrongs war nicht lange glücklich und wurde 1938, nach sechs Jahren Trennung, geschieden. In den folgenden Jahren konnte sie trotz zahlreicher Aufnahmen und Rundfunkauftritte nicht immer an die frühen Erfolge anknüpfen. Ihre Band der frühen 30er-Jahre, die sie mit dem Taktstock leitete, wurde auf Plakaten als die der „Mrs. Louis Armstrong“, mit kleingedrucktem „Mrs.“ vermarktet, was zu Verwechslungen des Trompeters Jonah Jones mit Satchmo führte. Sie spielte auch wieder mit Freddie Keppard sowie mit Johnny Dodds. Teilweise war Lillian Hardin auch für andere Bands als Arrangeurin tätig, oder ergänzte sie im Studio oder auf Tournee. Später trat sie in Chicago oft als Solopianistin und Sängerin auf. Doch arbeitete sie auch in anderen Berufen: Sie unterrichtete Französisch und entwarf Kleider.
Neben Struttin' with Some Barbecue schrieb Hardin Songs wie Don't Jive Me, Two Deuces, Knee Drops, Doin' the Suzie-Q, Just for a Thrill (mit dem Ray Charles 1959 einen Hit hatte), Clip Joint oder Bad Boy (1978 ein Hit für Ringo Starr). Sie war nicht nur eine der ersten bedeutenden Pianistinnen, Komponistinnen und Bandleaderinnen in der Frühzeit des Jazz; sie war zudem der Motor hinter der Karriere des jungen Louis Armstrong. Ihre Lebenserinnerungen nahm sie auf Platte unter dem Titel Satchmo and me auf. Sie verstarb wenige Wochen nach Louis Armstrong, als sie 1971 ein Gedenkkonzert für ihn in Chicago gab.
Lil Hardin Armstrong (February 3, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader, and the second wife of Louis Armstrong, with whom she collaborated on many recordings in the 1920s.[1]
Hardin's compositions include "Struttin' With Some Barbecue", "Don't Jive Me", "Two Deuces", "Knee Drops", "Doin' the Suzie-Q", "Just For a Thrill" (which became a major hit when revived by Ray Charles in 1959), "Clip Joint", and "Bad Boy" (a minor hit for Ringo Starr in 1978), her composition "Oriental Swing" was sampled heavily to create Parov Stelar's 2012 retro-song "Booty Swing", which in turn gained notoriety when it was used in a 2013 Chevrolet commercial.[2][3] Armstrong was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
Background
She was born as Lillian Hardin in Memphis, Tennessee, where she grew up in a household with her grandmother, Priscilla Martin, a former slave from near Oxford, Mississippi.[4] During her early years, Hardin was taught hymns, spirituals, and Classics on the piano. She was drawn to popular music and later blues.
Early education and mentors
Hardin first received piano instruction from her third grade teacher, Miss Violet White, then her mother enrolled her in Mrs. Hook's School of Music. It was at Fisk University, a college for African Americans located in downtown Nashville, that Hardin was taught a more acceptable approach to the instrument. Hardin received a diploma from Fisk, returning to Memphis in 1917.[5] In August 1918, she moved to Chicago with her mother and stepfather. By then, she had become proficient in reading music, a skill that landed her a job as a sheet music demonstrator at Jones Music Store.[6]
The store had been paying Hardin $3 a week, but bandleader Lawrence Duhé offered $22.50. Knowing that her mother would not approve of her working in a cabaret, she made it known that her new job was playing for a dancing school. Three weeks later, the band moved on to a better booking at the De Luxe Café, where the entertainers included Florence Mills and Cora Green. From there, the band moved up to the jewel of Chicago's night life, the Dreamland. Here the principal entertainers were Alberta Hunter and Ollie Powers, and there was no finer night spot in Chicago. When King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band replaced Duhé's group at the Dreamland, Oliver asked Hardin to stay with him. She was with Oliver at the Dreamland in 1921, when an offer came for the orchestra to play a six-month engagement at San Francisco's Pergola Ballroom. At the end of that booking, Hardin returned to Chicago while the rest of the Oliver band went on to Los Angeles. She later studied at the New York College of Music where she earned a postdoctorate degree in 1929.[7]
Marriages and divorces
In Chicago, Hardin went back to work at the Dreamland, as pianist in an orchestra for Mae Brady, a violinist and vaudeville stalwart. While there, she fell for Jimmie Johnson, a young singer from Washington, D.C., whom she married on August 22, 1922. The marriage was short-lived, ending in divorce. In the meantime, the Oliver band returned from California and opened at the Royal Gardens, with Bertha Gonzales at the piano, but soon found itself back at the Dreamland, with Hardin at the piano.
His band was enjoying enormous success at the Dreamland when King Oliver sent for Louis Armstrong to join as second cornetist. Armstrong was beginning to make a name for himself in their hometown, New Orleans, and regarded Oliver ("Papa Joe") as his mentor. Some say[who?] that Oliver saw Louis as a threat to his jazz throne and decided that having him in his band was a good form of containment, although by all accounts both cornetists enjoyed working together. At first, Hardin was unimpressed with Louis, who arrived in Chicago wearing clothes and a hair style that she deemed to be "too country" for Chicago, but she worked to "take the country out of him" and a romance developed (to the surprise of other band members, some of whom had been trying to woo pretty Hardin for some time with no success). She already had divorce experience and helped Louis get a divorce from his first wife Daisy, from whom he had separated back in New Orleans. Hardin and Louis were married on February 4, 1924.
Hardin took Louis shopping and taught him how to dress more fashionably—she also got rid of his bangs, and began working on his career. Recognizing his extraordinary talent, she felt that he was wasting it in a secondary role. Louis was happy to be playing next to his idol, but Hardin eventually persuaded him to leave Oliver and go it on his own. Armstrong eventually resigned from Oliver's band and, in September 1924, accepted a job with Fletcher Henderson in New York City. Hardin stayed in Chicago, first with Oliver, then leading a band of her own. When Hardin's band got a job at the Dreamland Café in Chicago, the following year, she prepared for Louis' return to Chicago by having a huge banner made to advertise him as "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player".[6]
Louis was gaining an impressive reputation when Richard M. Jones convinced Okeh Records to make a series of sessions under his name: the classic Armstrong "Hot Five" recordings. With Hardin at the piano, Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, and Johnny St. Cyr on banjo, this stellar group rehearsed at Louis and Hardin's residence on Chicago's East 41st Street and held its first session on November 15, 1925. Few recordings are as celebrated as the ones made by the Hot Five (and, sometimes, with Earl Hines replacing Hardin, the "Hot Seven") between then and the end of 1928. Hardin had actually recorded five selections for Vocalion, leading the same group, in April and May 1926. She also recorded a session for Columbia Records as the New Orleans Wanderers.
In the late 1920s Hardin and Louis grew apart. Armstrong formed a new Hot Five, with Earl Hines on piano. Hardin reformed her own band with Freddie Keppard on cornet (whom Hardin considered second only to Louis). Louis and Hardin separated in 1931, when he had begun a liaison with Alpha Smith, who threatened to sue Armstrong for breach of promise, so he begged Hardin not to grant him a divorce.
Later years
In the 1930s, sometimes billing herself as "Mrs. Louis Armstrong", Hardin led an "All Girl Orchestra", then a mixed-sex Big Band which broadcast nationally over the NBC radio network. The same decade she recorded a series of sides for Decca Records as a swing vocalist, and appeared as piano accompanist for many other singers. She also recorded with Red Allen.
Solo work
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Hardin worked mostly as a soloist singing and playing piano. In the late 1940s, she decided to leave the music and become a tailor, so she took a course in tailoring. Her graduation project was to make a tuxedo for Louis. It was displayed prominently at a New York cocktail party she threw to announce her new field of endeavor. "They looked at Louis' tux and all the other things I had made and they were very impressed", she recalled, "but then someone asked me to play the piano. That's when I knew that I would never be able to leave the music business." Louis wore Hardin's tuxedo and she continued to tailor, but only as a sideline and then only for friends. Her shirts, which friends received regularly on birthdays, proudly bore a label with her mother's name, "Decie", and beneath that, "Hand made by Lil Armstrong."
Hardin eventually returned to Chicago and the house on East 41st Street. She also made a trip to Europe and had a brief love affair in France, but mostly she worked around Chicago, often with fellow Chicagoans. Collaborators included Red Saunders, Joe Williams, Oscar Brown, Jr., and Little Brother Montgomery.
In the 1950s, Hardin recorded a biographical narrative for Riverside's Bill Grauer, which was issued in LP form. She would again appear on that label in 1961, participating in its "Chicago: The Living Legends" project as accompanist for Alberta Hunter and leader of her own hastily assembled big band. The Riverside recordings led to her inclusion in a star-studded 1961 NBC network special, "Chicago and All That Jazz", and a follow-up album released through the Verve Records imprint. In 1962, Hardin began writing her autobiography, in collaboration with Chris Albertson, but she had second thoughts when she realized that such a book could not be written without including personal experiences that might discomfit Louis Armstrong, so the project was shelved until his death. She died before she was able to finish the book.[8]
Death
When Armstrong died, in 1971, Hardin was deeply shaken by the loss. She traveled to New York for the funeral and rode in the family car. Returning to Chicago, Hardin felt that work on her autobiography could now continue, but the following month, performing at a televised memorial concert for Louis, Lil Hardin Armstrong collapsed at the piano and died on the way to the hospital. In the aftermath of her funeral, her letters and the unfinished manuscript of her autobiography disappeared from her house.[9] In 2004, the Chicago Park District renamed a community park in her honor.
Hardin's compositions include "Struttin' With Some Barbecue", "Don't Jive Me", "Two Deuces", "Knee Drops", "Doin' the Suzie-Q", "Just For a Thrill" (which became a major hit when revived by Ray Charles in 1959), "Clip Joint", and "Bad Boy" (a minor hit for Ringo Starr in 1978), her composition "Oriental Swing" was sampled heavily to create Parov Stelar's 2012 retro-song "Booty Swing", which in turn gained notoriety when it was used in a 2013 Chevrolet commercial.[2][3] Armstrong was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
Background
She was born as Lillian Hardin in Memphis, Tennessee, where she grew up in a household with her grandmother, Priscilla Martin, a former slave from near Oxford, Mississippi.[4] During her early years, Hardin was taught hymns, spirituals, and Classics on the piano. She was drawn to popular music and later blues.
Early education and mentors
Hardin first received piano instruction from her third grade teacher, Miss Violet White, then her mother enrolled her in Mrs. Hook's School of Music. It was at Fisk University, a college for African Americans located in downtown Nashville, that Hardin was taught a more acceptable approach to the instrument. Hardin received a diploma from Fisk, returning to Memphis in 1917.[5] In August 1918, she moved to Chicago with her mother and stepfather. By then, she had become proficient in reading music, a skill that landed her a job as a sheet music demonstrator at Jones Music Store.[6]
The store had been paying Hardin $3 a week, but bandleader Lawrence Duhé offered $22.50. Knowing that her mother would not approve of her working in a cabaret, she made it known that her new job was playing for a dancing school. Three weeks later, the band moved on to a better booking at the De Luxe Café, where the entertainers included Florence Mills and Cora Green. From there, the band moved up to the jewel of Chicago's night life, the Dreamland. Here the principal entertainers were Alberta Hunter and Ollie Powers, and there was no finer night spot in Chicago. When King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band replaced Duhé's group at the Dreamland, Oliver asked Hardin to stay with him. She was with Oliver at the Dreamland in 1921, when an offer came for the orchestra to play a six-month engagement at San Francisco's Pergola Ballroom. At the end of that booking, Hardin returned to Chicago while the rest of the Oliver band went on to Los Angeles. She later studied at the New York College of Music where she earned a postdoctorate degree in 1929.[7]
Marriages and divorces
In Chicago, Hardin went back to work at the Dreamland, as pianist in an orchestra for Mae Brady, a violinist and vaudeville stalwart. While there, she fell for Jimmie Johnson, a young singer from Washington, D.C., whom she married on August 22, 1922. The marriage was short-lived, ending in divorce. In the meantime, the Oliver band returned from California and opened at the Royal Gardens, with Bertha Gonzales at the piano, but soon found itself back at the Dreamland, with Hardin at the piano.
His band was enjoying enormous success at the Dreamland when King Oliver sent for Louis Armstrong to join as second cornetist. Armstrong was beginning to make a name for himself in their hometown, New Orleans, and regarded Oliver ("Papa Joe") as his mentor. Some say[who?] that Oliver saw Louis as a threat to his jazz throne and decided that having him in his band was a good form of containment, although by all accounts both cornetists enjoyed working together. At first, Hardin was unimpressed with Louis, who arrived in Chicago wearing clothes and a hair style that she deemed to be "too country" for Chicago, but she worked to "take the country out of him" and a romance developed (to the surprise of other band members, some of whom had been trying to woo pretty Hardin for some time with no success). She already had divorce experience and helped Louis get a divorce from his first wife Daisy, from whom he had separated back in New Orleans. Hardin and Louis were married on February 4, 1924.
Hardin took Louis shopping and taught him how to dress more fashionably—she also got rid of his bangs, and began working on his career. Recognizing his extraordinary talent, she felt that he was wasting it in a secondary role. Louis was happy to be playing next to his idol, but Hardin eventually persuaded him to leave Oliver and go it on his own. Armstrong eventually resigned from Oliver's band and, in September 1924, accepted a job with Fletcher Henderson in New York City. Hardin stayed in Chicago, first with Oliver, then leading a band of her own. When Hardin's band got a job at the Dreamland Café in Chicago, the following year, she prepared for Louis' return to Chicago by having a huge banner made to advertise him as "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player".[6]
Louis was gaining an impressive reputation when Richard M. Jones convinced Okeh Records to make a series of sessions under his name: the classic Armstrong "Hot Five" recordings. With Hardin at the piano, Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, and Johnny St. Cyr on banjo, this stellar group rehearsed at Louis and Hardin's residence on Chicago's East 41st Street and held its first session on November 15, 1925. Few recordings are as celebrated as the ones made by the Hot Five (and, sometimes, with Earl Hines replacing Hardin, the "Hot Seven") between then and the end of 1928. Hardin had actually recorded five selections for Vocalion, leading the same group, in April and May 1926. She also recorded a session for Columbia Records as the New Orleans Wanderers.
In the late 1920s Hardin and Louis grew apart. Armstrong formed a new Hot Five, with Earl Hines on piano. Hardin reformed her own band with Freddie Keppard on cornet (whom Hardin considered second only to Louis). Louis and Hardin separated in 1931, when he had begun a liaison with Alpha Smith, who threatened to sue Armstrong for breach of promise, so he begged Hardin not to grant him a divorce.
Later years
In the 1930s, sometimes billing herself as "Mrs. Louis Armstrong", Hardin led an "All Girl Orchestra", then a mixed-sex Big Band which broadcast nationally over the NBC radio network. The same decade she recorded a series of sides for Decca Records as a swing vocalist, and appeared as piano accompanist for many other singers. She also recorded with Red Allen.
Solo work
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Hardin worked mostly as a soloist singing and playing piano. In the late 1940s, she decided to leave the music and become a tailor, so she took a course in tailoring. Her graduation project was to make a tuxedo for Louis. It was displayed prominently at a New York cocktail party she threw to announce her new field of endeavor. "They looked at Louis' tux and all the other things I had made and they were very impressed", she recalled, "but then someone asked me to play the piano. That's when I knew that I would never be able to leave the music business." Louis wore Hardin's tuxedo and she continued to tailor, but only as a sideline and then only for friends. Her shirts, which friends received regularly on birthdays, proudly bore a label with her mother's name, "Decie", and beneath that, "Hand made by Lil Armstrong."
Hardin eventually returned to Chicago and the house on East 41st Street. She also made a trip to Europe and had a brief love affair in France, but mostly she worked around Chicago, often with fellow Chicagoans. Collaborators included Red Saunders, Joe Williams, Oscar Brown, Jr., and Little Brother Montgomery.
In the 1950s, Hardin recorded a biographical narrative for Riverside's Bill Grauer, which was issued in LP form. She would again appear on that label in 1961, participating in its "Chicago: The Living Legends" project as accompanist for Alberta Hunter and leader of her own hastily assembled big band. The Riverside recordings led to her inclusion in a star-studded 1961 NBC network special, "Chicago and All That Jazz", and a follow-up album released through the Verve Records imprint. In 1962, Hardin began writing her autobiography, in collaboration with Chris Albertson, but she had second thoughts when she realized that such a book could not be written without including personal experiences that might discomfit Louis Armstrong, so the project was shelved until his death. She died before she was able to finish the book.[8]
Death
When Armstrong died, in 1971, Hardin was deeply shaken by the loss. She traveled to New York for the funeral and rode in the family car. Returning to Chicago, Hardin felt that work on her autobiography could now continue, but the following month, performing at a televised memorial concert for Louis, Lil Hardin Armstrong collapsed at the piano and died on the way to the hospital. In the aftermath of her funeral, her letters and the unfinished manuscript of her autobiography disappeared from her house.[9] In 2004, the Chicago Park District renamed a community park in her honor.
The Pearls - Lil Hardin 1959
The Pearls/Heebie Jeebies Hardin Lil 1959
Lil Hardin, an ultimate jazz lady. the way she plays, the way she sings. She was born in 1898, so in this 1962 sessions she was close to 65, but what a drive. Something I have been trying to tell every jazz painist, keep your feet off the pedals. Look how she is positioned far away from these pedals. The only way to swing like that.
Mae Barnes knows how to swing as well, and wonderful on the brushes combined with some spontanuous chat singing in balance with Lil.
One of my alltime favourite jazz clips.
Of course, to get Red Allen and Buster Bailey to back you up certainly helps.
Lil Hardin, an ultimate jazz lady. the way she plays, the way she sings. She was born in 1898, so in this 1962 sessions she was close to 65, but what a drive. Something I have been trying to tell every jazz painist, keep your feet off the pedals. Look how she is positioned far away from these pedals. The only way to swing like that.
Mae Barnes knows how to swing as well, and wonderful on the brushes combined with some spontanuous chat singing in balance with Lil.
One of my alltime favourite jazz clips.
Of course, to get Red Allen and Buster Bailey to back you up certainly helps.
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