1938 Eddie Cochran*
1951 Billy Branch*
1951 Keb’ Mo’ *
1955 Allen Woody*
1954 Stevie Ray Vaughan*
1956 Deborah Coleman*
1969 Skip James+
1969 Dirk Hagemann*
1976 Victoria Spivey+
2012 Kathryn Marie McDonald+
Carlos Dalelane*
Happy Birthday
Billy Branch *03.10.1951
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Als Beginn seiner professionellen Karriere gilt der Gewinn eines Mundharmonika-Wettbewerbes 1975, der dazu führte, dass Willie Dixon ihn in seine All Star Band aufnahm. Mit seiner Band Sons of Blues tourte er durch Europa und trat auf dem Berliner Jazz Festival auf. Der Bandname kam nicht von ungefähr, so spielten in der Band unter anderen Lurrie Bell, der Sohn von Carey Bell und Freddie Dixon, der Sohn Willie Dixons. 1984 konnte Branch sein erstes eigenes Album „Where's My Money“ aufnehmen. Als Studiomusiker hat er an mehr als fünfzig Alben mitgewirkt; unter anderem spielte er mit Muddy Waters, Big Walter Horton, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter und Albert King. Das Album Harp Attack!, das er mit seinen Mundharmonika-Kollegen Carey Bell, Junior Wells und James Cotton einspielte, erhielt den W.C Handy Award.
Billy Branch (born William Earl Branch, October 3, 1951, Great Lakes, Illinois, United States) is an American blues harmonica player and singer of Chicago blues and harmonica blues.
Career
Billy Branch is a three-time Grammy nominee, a retired two-term governor for the Chicago Grammy Chapter, an Emmy Award winner, and a winner of the Addy Award. In addition, Branch has received numerous humanitarian and music awards.
Branch was born in Great Lakes, Chicago, Illinois, although his family moved to Los Angeles when he was five years old. In 1969 he moved to Chicago where he attended and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago.[1]
Branch attended the first Chicago Blues Fest, produced by Willie Dixon, in 1969. Six years later, after graduating from the University of Illinois, he was touring with the band led by Willie Dixon called the Chicago Blues All-Stars. He soon took the place of the harmonica player Carey Bell, when Carey left the All Stars to form his own band.
In the 1970s, Branch founded his own group, The Sons of Blues, along with Lurrie Bell on guitar and Freddie Dixon on bass guitar.[1] They are the sons of Carey Bell and Willie Dixon respectively, and they recorded for Alligator Records and with a change in personnel for Red Beans Records.[1] The new band consisted of Carlos Johnson on guitar and J. W. Williams on vocals and bass guitar.[1] He has also recorded for Verve Records and Evidence Records.[2][3]
Since those early days, Branch has played on over 150 different recordings, including 12 under his own name. He has recorded with Willie Dixon, Johnny Winter, Lou Rawls, Koko Taylor, Eddy Clearwater, Honeyboy Edwards, Syl Johnson, Lurrie Bell, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Taj Mahal. In addition, he has received three Grammy nominations (losing one nomination to B.B. King and Eric Clapton). He served two consecutive terms on the Grammy Board of Governors, and currently is chairman of the Grammy Blues Committee. In addition, he has won multiple Blues Music Awards, an Emmy Award, an Addy Award, two Chicago Music Awards, and numerous humanitarian and achievement awards. The 2007 Chicago Blues Festival honored the 30th anniversary of Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues with a three-hour performance, plus they headlined the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival.
Branch annually appears at major festivals around the world including the Montreux Blues Festival, North Sea Blues Festival, Cognac Blues Festivals and Long Beach Blues Festival,[4] Chicago Blues Festival, San Francisco Blues Festival[5] and the North Sea Jazz Festival.[6]
The Sons of Blues' current line-up consists of Branch on harmonica and vocals, Moses Rutues Jr. on drums and vocals, Sumito Ariyoshi on keyboards and vocals, and Dan Carelli on guitar and vocals.
Keb’ Mo’ *03.10.1951
Obwohl er sich auf Robert Johnsons Musik beruft, bearbeitet er sie auf zeitgenössische Weise, indem er Elemente des Soul und Folk in seine Musik einfließen lässt. Bereits früh hatte Moore seine eigene Calypso-Band. In den 1970ern und 1980ern spielte er bei verschiedenen Blues-Bands, u. a. in der Begleitband von Papa John Creach. Ein 1980 aufgenommenes Soloalbum floppte. 1983 wurde er Gitarrist in Monk Higgins Band. Hier lernte er verschiedene Bluesmusiker kennen, die seinen Gitarrestil beeinflussten. Keb' Mo' selbst bezeichnet diese Zeit als die wichtigste in seiner musikalischen Entwicklung.
Erst 1994 erschien sein nächstes Soloalbum Keb' Mo', das den Beginn seiner Solokarriere unter diesem Namen markiert. Seitdem bekam er drei Grammys (Best Contemporary Blues Album) für Just Like You, Slow Down und Keep it Simple.
Bereits 1990 hatte Keb' Mo' eine Rolle als Blues-Musiker in einem Theaterstück. 1997 spielte er Robert Johnson in dem Film Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?, 2007 in Honeydripper.
Keb' Mo' (born Kevin Moore, October 3, 1951) is a three-time American Grammy Award-winning blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife Robbie Brooks Moore. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America". His post-modern blues style is influenced by many eras and genres, including folk, rock, jazz and pop. The moniker "Keb Mo" was coined by his original drummer, Quentin Dennard, and picked up by his record label as a "street talk" abbreviation of his given name.
Biography
Early life
From early on, his parents (from Louisiana and Texas) instilled him with a great appreciation for the blues and gospel music. By adolescence, he was already an accomplished guitarist.[2]
Career
Keb' Mo' started his musical career playing the steel drums and upright bass in a calypso band. He moved on to play in a variety of blues and backup bands throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He first started recording in the early 1970s with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach through an R&B group. Creach hired him when Moore was just twenty-one years old; Moore appeared on four of Creach's albums: Filthy!, Playing My Fiddle for You, I'm the Fiddle Man and Rock Father. Keb Mo's first gold record was received for a song, "Git Fiddler", which he co-wrote with Papa John on Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus.[3] Red Octopus hit number one on the Billboard 200 in 1975.[4]
Moore was also a staff writer for A&M Records, and arranged demos for Almo - Irving music. Keb' Mo's debut, Rainmaker, was released on Chocolate City Records, a subsidiary of Casablanca Records, in 1980. He was further immersed in the blues with his long stint in the Whodunit Band, headed by Bobby "Blue" Bland producer Monk Higgins. Moore jammed with Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner and emerged as an inheritor of a guarded tradition and as a genuine original.
In 1994, Keb' Mo' released his self-titled debut album, Keb' Mo', which featured two Robert Johnson covers, "Come On In My Kitchen" and "Kind Hearted Woman Blues".[5] In the Martin Scorsese miniseries The Blues, Keb' Mo' states that he was greatly influenced by Johnson. Keb' was the runner-up for Best New Blues Artist at The Long Beach Blues Festival when he was spotted by Steve LaVere who owns the publishing for the entire Robert Johnson song catalogue (1992–93).
Keb' Mo's self-titled album was released on Okeh Records, a vintage revival division of Sony Music.
In 1996, he released Just Like You, his second album, which featured twelve songs full of Delta rhythms. He won his first Grammy Award for this album, which featured guest appearances from Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.[6]
On June 10, 1997, Moore performed on the television program Sessions at West 54th. He joined musicians Laval Belle on drums, Reggie McBride playing bass, and Joellen Friedkin on keyboards to perform fourteen songs, some from each of his albums. Blues pianist Dr. John also made a guest appearance. This session (known as Sessions at West 54th: Recorded Live in New York) was shown on television, but was not released as a DVD until late 2000.
In 1998, Moore was involved in the multi-artist project "Begegnungen (Encounter)" by Germany's rock superstar Peter Maffay. They performed together a new version of Mo's "Am I wrong" on the album and some more songs in the 30 concerts at the arena tour later the same year, documented on the live album "Begenungen Live", released in early 1999. A further guest of Maffay at the Begegnungen album and tour was Sonny Landreth and many more artists from every continent.
Slow Down, his next album, was released in 1998 and featured twelve songs. It earned him a second Grammy Award. The album begins with the song "Muddy Water", a tribute to Muddy Waters. It also features a song entitled "Rainmaker", which had been released previously on his first album, eighteen years prior.
His fourth album, The Door, was released in 2000. The same year, Keb' Mo' released Big Wide Grin, a children's album featuring many songs from Moore's own childhood, along with some newer children's songs and some by Moore himself. In 2001, he appeared on Sesame Street with Kermit the Frog, Grover, Elmo, and other muppets performing the song "Everybody Be Yo'self". The album includes an original arrangement of "America the Beautiful," which he performed years later on the 2006 series finale of The West Wing, "Tomorrow," in which he appears as himself to perform the song at the inauguration of (fictional) President Matt Santos.
In 2003, Martin Scorsese collaborated with many blues musicians including Keb' Mo' to put together a series of films entitled The Blues. Following its release, several albums were released in accordance, some were compilations, some new collaborations, and Keb' Mo' released an album in the series featuring a handful of existing recordings from Keb' Mo' to The Door.
On February 10, 2004, he released Keep It Simple which earned him a third Grammy Award, again in the contemporary blues genre. Later that year, he released his sixth studio album, Peace... Back by Popular Demand.
Moore released Suitcase, on June 13, 2006. His touring band following the release included Reggie McBride on bass, Les Falconer III on drums, Jeff Paris on keyboards, and Clayton Gibb on guitar.
On October 20, 2009, Keb' Mo' released the live album, Live & Mo' . Keb' Mo' has appeared on stage (1990-1993) in several versions of the musical Spunk, a play by Zora Neale Hurston a legendary African American playwright from the Harlem Renaissance. His character, Guitar Man, learned while he was an understudy to "Chick Streetman", played all the actual music in the play while performing. The character of Guitar Man is the foundation for his current stage persona.
Keb' Mo' performing with Dan Aykroyd at the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival, April 12, 2013
At the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival, Keb' Mo' performed an acoustic set with Stefan Grossman and an electric set with Vince Gill, Albert Lee, James Burton, Earl Klugh and Sheryl Crow. He joined the finale with most of the day's performers. [7]
On August 2, 2011, Keb' Mo' released The Reflection.
Keb' Mo' performed at a White House event titled "In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues" on February 21, 2012.[8] On February 24, 2012, many of the same performers, including Keb' Mo, Gary Clark, Jr., Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, paid tribute to Hubert Sumlin at the "Howlin' For Hubert" memorial concert at the Apollo Theater in New York, NY.[9]
On the first night of the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival, Keb' Mo' performed a set with Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Blake Mills and Matt "Guitar" Murphy. Keb' Mo' later performed two songs with emcee Dan Aykroyd.[10] On the second night of the festival, Keb' Mo' performed with Taj Mahal. [11]
In 2015 his album, BLUESAmericana, won the 'Contemporary Blues Album' category at the Blues Music Awards.[12]
Film projects
In 1998, he portrayed Robert Johnson in a documentary film, Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?[13]
In 1997, Keb' Mo' portrayed the character Isaac, the Angel of Music, in the episode "Inherit the Wind" and again in 1999 in "Then Sings My Soul" of the television series Touched by an Angel. He performed "Hand It Over" from his 1996 release Just Like You in the 1997 episode and again in the 2002 episode "Remembering Me: Part 2". He also appeared as J. D. Winslow in the 2001 episode "Shallow Water", where he performed his song "God Trying to Get Your Attention" from his album Slow Down.
In January 2007, he performed at the Sundance Film Festival.[14]
He played the role of the mischievous spirit Possum in the 2007 John Sayles movie Honeydripper.
Keb' Mo' provided additional music for Mike and Molly.
Political activism
In 2004, he participated in the politically motivated Vote for Change tour alongside Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, with whom he originally recorded the title track from the album Just Like You.
Keb' Mo' is part of the No Nukes group which was against the expansion of nuclear power. In 2007, the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth".[15][16]
Equipment
Keb' Mo' uses several types of guitars, including electric guitars, acoustic guitars and resonator guitars. He has a preference for red guitars, as he says on his website: "I have a history with red guitars. My first electric was a red guitar." He mostly plays on a red custom Fender Stratocaster which has the particularity to feature two single-coil pickups, and one humbucker and was much modified from a regular Stratocaster model. On stage, he prefers a red Hamer guitar with Gibson P-100 pickups. Two of his electric guitars were lost in the 2010 Nashville flood: an Epiphone Sheraton and a Danelectro Selectomatic.[17]
He owns a variety of acoustic and resonator guitars, including a Gibson artist model, a guitar made for him by James Goodall, a National Style N, a National Resorocket, a Gibson ES-335-shaped resonator guitar with a P-90 pickup he bought in a Nashville club and got fixed.
Stevie Ray Vaughan *03.10.1954
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.
Leben1972 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 im Jahr 2000 in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) 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 back to his great-grandfather. Robert Hodgen LaRue. Robert LaRue had a daughter named Laura Belle, Vaughan's paternal grandmother.[nb 1] She married Thomas Lee Vaughan and moved to Rockwall County, Texas, where they lived by sharecropping.[7] On September 6, 1921, they had a son named Jimmie Lee Vaughan.[8]
Jim Vaughan dropped out of school at age sixteen, and enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. After his discharge, he married Martha Cook 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
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.
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.
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 back to his great-grandfather. Robert Hodgen LaRue. Robert LaRue had a daughter named Laura Belle, Vaughan's paternal grandmother.[nb 1] She married Thomas Lee Vaughan and moved to Rockwall County, Texas, where they lived by sharecropping.[7] On September 6, 1921, they had a son named Jimmie Lee Vaughan.[8]
Jim Vaughan dropped out of school at age sixteen, and enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. After his discharge, he married Martha Cook 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
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.
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.
Allen Woody *03.10.1955
Biography
Woody joined The Allman Brothers Band along with guitarist Warren Haynes upon the group's reunion in 1989. Woody and Haynes formed side project Gov't Mule in 1994 with former Dicky Betts drummer Matt Abts. Haynes and Woody decided to leave The Allman Brothers Band in 1997 to put a full-time effort into Gov't Mule.
Woody was found dead sitting up in a chair the morning of Saturday August 26, 2000 at the Marriott Courtyard Motel in Queens, New York. A preliminary autopsy performed was inconclusive and showed no immediate cause of death.[2] He is survived by his wife Jenny and daughter Savannah.
Woody's death helped Haynes in his decision to return to The Allman Brothers Band. Gov't Mule continued on after Woody's death with Andy Hess assuming bass duties after a three-year period that saw a rotating group of bass players including Mike Gordon, Dave Schools, Oteil Burbridge (Woody's replacement in the Allman Brothers Band), George Porter Jr. and Les Claypool.
Musical equipment
Woody was a respected bass guitarist[citation needed] - he had a large collection of bass guitars (around 450), featured in his own bass instruction video and was held in high esteem for his playing. The Epiphone Rumble Kat signature bass was similar to two specially built double-neck instruments that Gibson made him: a bass/guitar and a bass/mandolin. With the Allman Brothers, although Woody used many different basses, Gibson Thunderbirds were his preferred instruments, along with Alembic basses. With Gov't Mule, Allen usually played the Gibson EB series, particularly the hollow-bodied EB-2 and the solid-bodied EB-3. At times he played a Rickenbacker or Gibson Thunderbird. Ampeg SVT was his amp of choice most of the time. Epiphone posthumously released an Allen Woody Limited Edition Bass, a semi-hollow arch-top similar to the Rumble Kat.
The movie Rising Low, directed by fellow bass player Mike Gordon, is a documentary about bass players dedicated to the memory of Allen Woody and features bass players that he respected and knew in his lifetime.
Allen Woody - Woody's Jam - Gov't Mule
Deborah Coleman *03.10.1956
Deborah Coleman (* 3. Oktober 1956 in Portsmouth, Virginia) ist eine US- amerikanische Bluesgitarristin, Songwriterin und Sängerin.
Deborah Coleman wurde in Portsmouth geboren, verbrachte aber ihre Jugendzeit in San Diego, San Francisco, Bremerton und in der Gegend um Chicago, da ihr Vater bei der Army war und immer wieder versetzt wurde. Die Familie war sehr musikalisch, so spielte ihr Vater Klavier, zwei Brüder Gitarre und eine Schwester Gitarre und Keyboard.[1] Im Alter von acht Jahren begann sie mit dem Gitarre- Spielen und im Alter von fünfzehn Jahren spielte sie schon professionell Bass in Bands aus der Portsmouth-Gegend. nachdem sie Jimi Hendrix gehört hatte, wechselte sie zur Gitarre.[2] 1981 heiratete sie und bekam eine Tochter und ließ ihre Karriere ruhen, aber 1985 bildete sie eine Frauengruppe namens Moxxie, nach deren Auflösung gründete sie ihr eigenes Bluesrocktrio.
Als Einflüsse ihres Gitarrenspiels nennt sie Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Albert Collins und Larry Carlton und als Einflüsse ihres Gesangstils nennt sie Chrissie Hynde und Patti Smith, sowie die Aufnahmen von Bessie Smith, Janis Joplin, Memphis Minnie und Alberta Hunter.
Dem Blues war sie verfallen, als sie ein gemeinsames Konzert von Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters und John Lee Hooker hörte. Ihre Karriere begann 1993 als sie eine National Amateur Talent Search gewann. Sie erhielt dafür Studiozeit und etwas später unterschrieb sie einen Plattenvertrag mit New Moon Records, einem Label aus North Carolina. Nach ihrer Debütplatte widmete ihr Living Blues einen zweiseitigen Artikel als Bluestalent. 1998 kam sie zu einer Coverstory sowohl bei Living Blues als auch in der Blues Revue. Ihre Liveauftritte begeisterten Publikum und Kritiker gleichermaßen.2002 ging sie mit Charlie Musselwhite, Corey Harris und Elvin Bishop auf Tournee. Ihr 2002 Album "Soul Be It" ist eine Live- Cd, die ihre Fans schon lange erwartet hatten. Deborah Coleman spielte auf vielen großen und kleinen Bluesfestivals rund um den Globus, so z. B. North Atlantic Blues Festival , Waterfront Blues Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival , Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, Sarasota Blues Festival , dem San Francisco Blues Festival und anderen.
Deborah Coleman (born October 3, 1956, Portsmouth, Virginia) is an American blues guitarist, songwriter and singer. Coleman won the Orville Gibson Award for "Best Blues Guitarist, Female" in 2001,[1] and was nominated for a W.C. Handy Blues Music Award nine times.[2]
Biography
Coleman was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in a music-loving military family that lived in San Diego, San Francisco, Bremerton, Washington, and the Chicago area. With her father playing piano, two brothers on guitar, and a sister who plays guitar and keyboards, Deborah felt natural with an instrument in her hands, picking up guitar at age 8. She has played at the top music venues such as North Atlantic Blues Festival (2007), Waterfront Blues Festival (2002), the Monterey Jazz Festival (2001), Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival (2000), Sarasota Blues Festival (1999), the San Francisco Blues Festival (1999) and the Fountain Blues Festival (1998).her friend was becky cloe
Coleman's Blind Pig debut, I Can't Lose (1997), was an album of ballads and blues stories, and guitar playing and singing. Her version of Billie Holiday's "Fine and Mellow" got a lot of airplay on college and public radio stations around the U.S. Soul Be It (2002) included the opener "Brick", "My Heart Bleeds Blue", "Don't Lie to Me," and a jump blues track, "I Believe". These were followed by What About Love? (2004) and Stop the Game (2007).
Time Bomb (2007) featured three women blues musicians: Coleman, Sue Foley and Roxanne Potvin.
Biography
Coleman was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in a music-loving military family that lived in San Diego, San Francisco, Bremerton, Washington, and the Chicago area. With her father playing piano, two brothers on guitar, and a sister who plays guitar and keyboards, Deborah felt natural with an instrument in her hands, picking up guitar at age 8. She has played at the top music venues such as North Atlantic Blues Festival (2007), Waterfront Blues Festival (2002), the Monterey Jazz Festival (2001), Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival (2000), Sarasota Blues Festival (1999), the San Francisco Blues Festival (1999) and the Fountain Blues Festival (1998).her friend was becky cloe
Coleman's Blind Pig debut, I Can't Lose (1997), was an album of ballads and blues stories, and guitar playing and singing. Her version of Billie Holiday's "Fine and Mellow" got a lot of airplay on college and public radio stations around the U.S. Soul Be It (2002) included the opener "Brick", "My Heart Bleeds Blue", "Don't Lie to Me," and a jump blues track, "I Believe". These were followed by What About Love? (2004) and Stop the Game (2007).
Time Bomb (2007) featured three women blues musicians: Coleman, Sue Foley and Roxanne Potvin.
Eddie Cochran *03.10.1938
Eddie Cochran, (* 3. Oktober 1938 in Albert Lea, Minnesota als Ray Edward Cochrane; † 17. April 1960 in Bath) war ein US-amerikanischer Rock-’n’-Roll- und Rockabilly-Musiker.
Leben
Anfänge
Der Sänger und Gitarrist, der seit seinem zwölften Lebensjahr Gitarre spielte, begann seine Karriere 1954 als Teil der Cochran Brothers, war mit seinem Partner Hank Cochran aber nicht verwandt; vielmehr ließ er, um der zu dieser Zeit herrschenden Vorliebe für Hillbilly-Duos zu entsprechen, das „e“ im Nachnamen fallen. Ein Plattenvertrag mit der American Music Corporation führte 1955 zu ersten Single-Veröffentlichungen und Fernsehauftritten. Das Duo trennte sich 1956 und Cochran arbeitete fortan mit dem Komponisten Jerry Capehart zusammen.
Karriere
Erste Demoaufnahmen entstanden am 4. April 1956 in den Gold Star Studios von Hollywood, in denen später alle große Hits von Cochran produziert wurden. Nach Auftritten in den Filmen The Girl Can’t Help It (in dem er seinen berühmten Twenty Flight Rock präsentiert und der am 1. Dezember 1956 in die US-Kinos kam) und Untamed Youth (10. Mai 1957) hatte Eddie Cochran 1957 seinen ersten Chart-Erfolg mit dem Stück Sittin’ in the Balcony aus der Feder von John D. Loudermilk. Es folgte eine Australien-Tournee mit Gene Vincent und Little Richard. Seinen größten Hit hatte der Musiker 1958 mit Summertime Blues. Dieser Rock-Song über die Nöte eines US-Teenagers, der in den Sommerferien jobbt, das Auto seiner Eltern nicht benutzen darf und sich nach einem Urlaub sehnt, ist noch heute sehr bekannt, nicht nur weil er den „erotischsten aller Gitarren-Riffs“ (Crawdaddy) enthielt, sondern auch durch die zahlreichen Coverversionen anderer Bands, von denen besonders die von The Who, Blue Cheer und Stray Cats erwähnenswert sind. Es sind zwei Versionen der Eddie-Cochran-Fassung im Umlauf; eine mit richtigem und eine mit nachträglich geblendetem Ende.
Nach dem Tod von Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens und The Big Bopper 1959 nahm Cochran den Tribut-Song Three Stars auf, der allerdings erst nach seinem eigenen Tod veröffentlicht wurde.
Eddie Cochran verunglückte im April 1960 einen Tag nach dem Ende einer Tournee durch Großbritannien, die er zusammen mit seinem Freund Gene Vincent absolvierte, während einer Taxifahrt von Bristol nach London zwischen Bath und Chippenham (alte A4), als an dem Fahrzeug ein Reifen platzte und der Wagen gegen einen Laternenpfosten prallte. Er starb 16 Stunden nach dem Unfall an seinen Kopfverletzungen im St. Martins Hospital in Bath. Gene Vincent erlitt einen Schlüsselbeinbruch, mehrere Rippenbrüche und eine erneute Verletzung am Bein. Manager Pat Thomkins und der 19-jährige Taxifahrer blieben unverletzt. Cochrans Freundin Sharon Sheeley erlitt einen Beckenbruch. Der Polizeischüler Dave Dee nahm seinerzeit den Unfall auf. Am 25. April wurde der Musiker in Glendale (Kalifornien) beigesetzt. Der kurz zuvor aufgenommene Song mit dem tragisch-ironischen Titel Three Steps to Heaven wurde zu einem posthumen Nr.1-Hit in Großbritannien.
Seit Sid Vicious 1979 im Film The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle Something Else und C’mon Everybody sang, gilt Eddie Cochran auch als ein früher Vorläufer des Punkrock. Bemerkenswert ist, dass eine treue Fangemeinde von Eddie Cochran bis heute immer noch „neue“ Veröffentlichungen erwarten kann. Weltweit werden in den Archiven von Aufnahmestudios oder Radio- und Fernsehstationen seit den frühen siebziger Jahren unveröffentlichte Aufnahmen aufgespürt und auf dem britischen Fan-Label „Rockstar Records“ publiziert.
1987 wurde Eddie Cochran in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
Edward Raymond 'Eddie' Cochran (October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American musician. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[1] He experimented with multitrack recording and overdubbing even on his earliest singles,[2] and was also able to play piano, bass and drums.[1] His image as a sharply dressed and good-looking young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 50s rocker, and in death he achieved an iconic status.[3]
Cochran was born in Minnesota and moved with his family to California in the early 1950s. He was involved with music from an early age, playing in the school band and teaching himself to play blues guitar.[4] In 1955, he formed a duet with the guitarist Hank Cochran (no relation), and when they split the following year, Eddie began a song-writing career with Jerry Capehart. His first success came when he performed the song "Twenty Flight Rock" in the film The Girl Can't Help It, starring Jayne Mansfield. Soon afterwards, Liberty Records signed him to a recording contract.
Cochran died aged 21 after a road accident, while travelling in a taxi in Chippenham, Wiltshire, during his British tour in April 1960, having just performed at Bristol's Hippodrome theatre. Though his best-known songs were released during his lifetime, more of his songs were released posthumously. In 1987, Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His songs have been covered by a wide variety of recording artists (see the "Style and Influence" section of this article for examples).
Early life
Cochran was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, as Edward Raymond Cochran.[2] His parents were from Oklahoma, and he always said in interviews that he was from Oklahoma. He took music lessons in school but quit the band to play drums. Also, rather than taking piano lessons, he began learning guitar, playing the country music he heard on the radio.
Music career
Early career (1953–1956)
In 1953, Cochran's family moved to Bell Gardens, California. As his guitar playing improved, he formed a band with two friends from his junior high school. He dropped out of Bell Gardens High School in his first year to become a professional musician.[5] During a show featuring many performers at an American Legion hall, he met Hank Cochran (later a country music songwriter). Although they were not related, they recorded as The Cochran Brothers and began performing together.[6] They recorded a few singles from Ekko that were not successful but helped to establish them as a performing act. Eddie Cochran also worked as a session musician and began writing songs, making a "demo" with Jerry Capehart, his future manager. In July 1956, Eddie Cochran's first solo single was released on the Crest label.[7] It featured "Skinny Jim", now regarded as a rockabilly classic. In the summer of 1956, Boris Petroff asked Cochran if he would appear in the musical comedy film The Girl Can't Help It. He agreed and sang a song called "Twenty Flight Rock" that was featured in the movie.
Later career (1957–1960)
In 1957, Cochran starred in his second film, Untamed Youth, and also had his first hit, "Sittin' in the Balcony", one of the few songs he recorded that were written by other songwriters (in this case John D. Loudermilk). "Twenty Flight Rock" was written by AMI staff writer Ned Fairchild (a pen name, her real name is Nelda Fairchild). Fairchild, who was not a rock and roll performer, merely provided the initial form of the song, and the co-writing credit reflects Cochran's changes and contributions to the final product.
In November 1957, Liberty Records released Cochran's only album released during his lifetime, Singin' to My Baby. The album included Eddie's first hit "Sittin' in the Balcony". There were only a few rockers on this album, and Liberty seemed to want to move Cochran more into the pop music direction. In 1958, however, Cochran seemed to find his stride in the famous teenage anthem "Summertime Blues" (co-written with Jerry Capehart). With this song, Cochran was established as an important influence on music in the late 1950s, both lyrically and musically. The song, released on Liberty recording No. 55144, charted at No. 8 on August 25, 1958. Cochran's brief career included only a few more hits, such as "C'mon, Everybody", "Somethin' Else", "Teenage Heaven", and his posthumous UK number one hit "Three Steps to Heaven". Eddie Cochran remained popular in the UK throughout the 1960s and scored more posthumous hits such as "My Way", "Weekend" and "Nervous Breakdown".
Another aspect of Eddie's short but brilliant career is his work as backup musician and producer. He played guitar on tracks by Ray Stanley, Lee Denson, Baker Knight, Bob Denton, Galen Denny, Don Deal, Troyce Key, Mike Clifford, Paula Morgan, Jody Reynolds, Johnny Burnette, Wynn Stewart, Ernie Freeman, Elroy Peace, Derry Weaver, Eddie Daniels, Jewel Akens, John Ashley, Jack Lewis, Lynn Marshall, Jess Willard, the Holly Twins, Barry Martin and Al Casey.[7] In 1959 he played lead for Skeets McDonald at Columbia's studios for "You Oughta See Grandma Rock" and "Heart Breaking Mama". In a session for Gene Vincent in March 1958 he contributed his trademark low bass voice as heard on "Summertime Blues". The recordings were issued on the album A Gene Vincent Record Date.[8]
In early 1959, two of Cochran's friends, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, along with the Big Bopper, were killed in a plane crash while on tour. Eddie's friends and family later said that he was badly shaken by their deaths, and he developed a morbid premonition that he would also die young. It was shortly after their deaths that he wrote and recorded a tribute to them called "Three Stars". He was anxious to give up life on the road and spend his time in the studio making music, thereby reducing the chance of suffering a similar fatal accident while touring. However, financial responsibilities required that he continue to perform live, and that led to his acceptance of an offer to tour the United Kingdom in 1960.
UK tour and death
On Saturday, April 16, 1960, at about 11.50 p.m., while on tour in the United Kingdom, 21-year-old Cochran died as a result of a traffic accident in a taxi (a Ford Consul, not, as widely reported, a London hackney carriage) traveling through Chippenham, Wiltshire, on the A4. The speeding taxi blew a tire, lost control, and crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, where a plaque now marks the spot. No other car was involved.[9] Cochran, who was seated in the center of the back seat, threw himself over his fiancée (songwriter Sharon Sheeley), to shield her, and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open. He was taken to St. Martin's Hospital, Bath, where he died at 4:10 p.m. the following day of severe head injuries.[10] Cochran's body was flown home and his remains were buried on April 25, 1960, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California.[11]
Sharon Sheeley and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash, Vincent sustaining lasting injuries to an already permanently damaged leg that would shorten his career and affect him for the rest of his life. The taxi driver, George Martin, was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and sentenced to prison for six months (although by some accounts he served no prison sentence).[12] His driving licence was reinstated in 1969. The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroner's inquest could be held. David Harman, a police cadet at the station who would later become known as Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, taught himself to play guitar on Cochran's impounded Gretsch.[13] Earlier in the tour, the same guitar had been carried to the car for Cochran by the 12-year-old Mark Feld, later known as Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who would himself die in a car crash in 1977.[14]
A memorial stone to commemorate Eddie Cochran can be found in the grounds of St Martin's Hospital in Bath.[15] The stone was restored in 2010 (on the 50th anniversary of his death) and can be found in the old chapel grounds at the Hospital. A memorial plaque can also be found next to the sundial at the back of the old chapel.[16]
Posthumous releases and honors
A posthumous album, My Way, was released in 1964.
Cochran was a prolific performer, and the British label Rockstar Records has released more of his music posthumously than had been released during his life. The company is still looking for unpublished songs.
One of his posthumous releases was "Three Stars", a tribute to J.P. Richardson, better known as the Big Bopper, and Eddie's friends Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, who had all died together in a plane crash just one year earlier. Written just hours after the tragedy by disc jockey Tommy Dee, it was recorded by Cochran two days later (Dee recorded his own version several weeks later). His voice broke during the spoken lyrics about Valens and Holly.
In 1987, Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[17] His pioneering contribution to the genre of rockabilly has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Several of his songs have been re-released since his death, such as "C'mon Everybody", which was a number 14 hit in 1988 in the UK. Rolling Stone ranked him number 84 on their 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Cochran's life is chronicled in several publications, including Don't Forget Me—The Eddie Cochran Story, written by Julie Mundy and Darrel Higham (ISBN 0-8230-7931-7), and Three Steps to Heaven, written by Bobby Cochran (ISBN 0-634-03252-6).
On June 2, 2008, The Very Best of Eddie Cochran was released by EMI Records.
On September 27, 2010, the mayor of Bell Gardens, California, declared October 3, 2010, to be "Eddie Cochran Day" to celebrate the famous musician who began his career when living in that city.
Style and influence
One of the first rock and roll artists to write his own songs and overdub tracks, Cochran is credited also with being one of the first to use an unwound third string in order to "bend" notes up a whole tone—an innovation (imparted to UK guitarist Joe Brown, who secured much session work as a result) that has since become an essential part of the standard rock guitar vocabulary. Artists such as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Rod Stewart, Motörhead, Humble Pie, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Lemmy Kilmister, the Head Cat, the Damned, UFO (band), T. Rex, Stray Cats, Brian Setzer, Cliff Richard, the Who, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, the White Stripes, the Sex Pistols, Rush, Buck Owens, Tiger Army, Dion, Simple Minds, Guitar Wolf, Paul McCartney, Alan Jackson, the Move, Dick Dale, Teenage Head, Keith Richards & the X-Pensive Winos, and Jimi Hendrix have covered his songs.
It was because Paul McCartney knew the chords and words to "Twenty Flight Rock" that he became a member of the Beatles. John Lennon was so impressed that he invited Paul to play with his band the Quarrymen. Jimi Hendrix performed "Summertime Blues" early in his career, and Pete Townshend of the Who was heavily influenced by Cochran's guitar style ("Summertime Blues" was a Who live staple for most of their career until the death of bassist-vocalist John Entwistle in 2002, and is featured on their Live at Leeds album). Glam rock artist Marc Bolan had his main Les Paul model refinished in a transparent orange to resemble the Gretsch 6120 guitar played by Cochran, who was his music hero.[18] He was also a heavy influence on the nascent rockabilly guitar legend Brian Setzer from Stray Cats, who plays a 6120 almost like Cochran, whom he portrayed in the film La Bamba.
In 1988 "C'mon Everybody" was used by Levi Strauss & Co. in an advertisement to promote its 501 Jeans catalogue and re-released as a promotional single, hitting No. 14 in the UK charts. The advertisement told a story of how the narrator, Sharon Sheeley, attracted Cochran by wearing her 501s.
Guitars
When playing with Hank Cochran, Eddie Cochran played a Gibson L-4C archtop acoustic guitar with a florentine cutaway and a DeArmond 'Rhythm Chief' pickup, which can be clearly seen in the Cochran Brothers publicity photograph.
Later, Cochran moved to a 1955 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins G-brand Western model, which Eddie had modified. He replaced the neck position De Armond Dynasonic pickup with a black covered Gibson P-90 pickup. He also used Martin acoustic guitars.
Cochran was born in Minnesota and moved with his family to California in the early 1950s. He was involved with music from an early age, playing in the school band and teaching himself to play blues guitar.[4] In 1955, he formed a duet with the guitarist Hank Cochran (no relation), and when they split the following year, Eddie began a song-writing career with Jerry Capehart. His first success came when he performed the song "Twenty Flight Rock" in the film The Girl Can't Help It, starring Jayne Mansfield. Soon afterwards, Liberty Records signed him to a recording contract.
Cochran died aged 21 after a road accident, while travelling in a taxi in Chippenham, Wiltshire, during his British tour in April 1960, having just performed at Bristol's Hippodrome theatre. Though his best-known songs were released during his lifetime, more of his songs were released posthumously. In 1987, Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His songs have been covered by a wide variety of recording artists (see the "Style and Influence" section of this article for examples).
Early life
Cochran was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, as Edward Raymond Cochran.[2] His parents were from Oklahoma, and he always said in interviews that he was from Oklahoma. He took music lessons in school but quit the band to play drums. Also, rather than taking piano lessons, he began learning guitar, playing the country music he heard on the radio.
Music career
Early career (1953–1956)
In 1953, Cochran's family moved to Bell Gardens, California. As his guitar playing improved, he formed a band with two friends from his junior high school. He dropped out of Bell Gardens High School in his first year to become a professional musician.[5] During a show featuring many performers at an American Legion hall, he met Hank Cochran (later a country music songwriter). Although they were not related, they recorded as The Cochran Brothers and began performing together.[6] They recorded a few singles from Ekko that were not successful but helped to establish them as a performing act. Eddie Cochran also worked as a session musician and began writing songs, making a "demo" with Jerry Capehart, his future manager. In July 1956, Eddie Cochran's first solo single was released on the Crest label.[7] It featured "Skinny Jim", now regarded as a rockabilly classic. In the summer of 1956, Boris Petroff asked Cochran if he would appear in the musical comedy film The Girl Can't Help It. He agreed and sang a song called "Twenty Flight Rock" that was featured in the movie.
Later career (1957–1960)
In 1957, Cochran starred in his second film, Untamed Youth, and also had his first hit, "Sittin' in the Balcony", one of the few songs he recorded that were written by other songwriters (in this case John D. Loudermilk). "Twenty Flight Rock" was written by AMI staff writer Ned Fairchild (a pen name, her real name is Nelda Fairchild). Fairchild, who was not a rock and roll performer, merely provided the initial form of the song, and the co-writing credit reflects Cochran's changes and contributions to the final product.
In November 1957, Liberty Records released Cochran's only album released during his lifetime, Singin' to My Baby. The album included Eddie's first hit "Sittin' in the Balcony". There were only a few rockers on this album, and Liberty seemed to want to move Cochran more into the pop music direction. In 1958, however, Cochran seemed to find his stride in the famous teenage anthem "Summertime Blues" (co-written with Jerry Capehart). With this song, Cochran was established as an important influence on music in the late 1950s, both lyrically and musically. The song, released on Liberty recording No. 55144, charted at No. 8 on August 25, 1958. Cochran's brief career included only a few more hits, such as "C'mon, Everybody", "Somethin' Else", "Teenage Heaven", and his posthumous UK number one hit "Three Steps to Heaven". Eddie Cochran remained popular in the UK throughout the 1960s and scored more posthumous hits such as "My Way", "Weekend" and "Nervous Breakdown".
Another aspect of Eddie's short but brilliant career is his work as backup musician and producer. He played guitar on tracks by Ray Stanley, Lee Denson, Baker Knight, Bob Denton, Galen Denny, Don Deal, Troyce Key, Mike Clifford, Paula Morgan, Jody Reynolds, Johnny Burnette, Wynn Stewart, Ernie Freeman, Elroy Peace, Derry Weaver, Eddie Daniels, Jewel Akens, John Ashley, Jack Lewis, Lynn Marshall, Jess Willard, the Holly Twins, Barry Martin and Al Casey.[7] In 1959 he played lead for Skeets McDonald at Columbia's studios for "You Oughta See Grandma Rock" and "Heart Breaking Mama". In a session for Gene Vincent in March 1958 he contributed his trademark low bass voice as heard on "Summertime Blues". The recordings were issued on the album A Gene Vincent Record Date.[8]
In early 1959, two of Cochran's friends, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, along with the Big Bopper, were killed in a plane crash while on tour. Eddie's friends and family later said that he was badly shaken by their deaths, and he developed a morbid premonition that he would also die young. It was shortly after their deaths that he wrote and recorded a tribute to them called "Three Stars". He was anxious to give up life on the road and spend his time in the studio making music, thereby reducing the chance of suffering a similar fatal accident while touring. However, financial responsibilities required that he continue to perform live, and that led to his acceptance of an offer to tour the United Kingdom in 1960.
UK tour and death
On Saturday, April 16, 1960, at about 11.50 p.m., while on tour in the United Kingdom, 21-year-old Cochran died as a result of a traffic accident in a taxi (a Ford Consul, not, as widely reported, a London hackney carriage) traveling through Chippenham, Wiltshire, on the A4. The speeding taxi blew a tire, lost control, and crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, where a plaque now marks the spot. No other car was involved.[9] Cochran, who was seated in the center of the back seat, threw himself over his fiancée (songwriter Sharon Sheeley), to shield her, and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open. He was taken to St. Martin's Hospital, Bath, where he died at 4:10 p.m. the following day of severe head injuries.[10] Cochran's body was flown home and his remains were buried on April 25, 1960, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California.[11]
Sharon Sheeley and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash, Vincent sustaining lasting injuries to an already permanently damaged leg that would shorten his career and affect him for the rest of his life. The taxi driver, George Martin, was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and sentenced to prison for six months (although by some accounts he served no prison sentence).[12] His driving licence was reinstated in 1969. The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroner's inquest could be held. David Harman, a police cadet at the station who would later become known as Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, taught himself to play guitar on Cochran's impounded Gretsch.[13] Earlier in the tour, the same guitar had been carried to the car for Cochran by the 12-year-old Mark Feld, later known as Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who would himself die in a car crash in 1977.[14]
A memorial stone to commemorate Eddie Cochran can be found in the grounds of St Martin's Hospital in Bath.[15] The stone was restored in 2010 (on the 50th anniversary of his death) and can be found in the old chapel grounds at the Hospital. A memorial plaque can also be found next to the sundial at the back of the old chapel.[16]
Posthumous releases and honors
A posthumous album, My Way, was released in 1964.
Cochran was a prolific performer, and the British label Rockstar Records has released more of his music posthumously than had been released during his life. The company is still looking for unpublished songs.
One of his posthumous releases was "Three Stars", a tribute to J.P. Richardson, better known as the Big Bopper, and Eddie's friends Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, who had all died together in a plane crash just one year earlier. Written just hours after the tragedy by disc jockey Tommy Dee, it was recorded by Cochran two days later (Dee recorded his own version several weeks later). His voice broke during the spoken lyrics about Valens and Holly.
In 1987, Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[17] His pioneering contribution to the genre of rockabilly has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Several of his songs have been re-released since his death, such as "C'mon Everybody", which was a number 14 hit in 1988 in the UK. Rolling Stone ranked him number 84 on their 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Cochran's life is chronicled in several publications, including Don't Forget Me—The Eddie Cochran Story, written by Julie Mundy and Darrel Higham (ISBN 0-8230-7931-7), and Three Steps to Heaven, written by Bobby Cochran (ISBN 0-634-03252-6).
On June 2, 2008, The Very Best of Eddie Cochran was released by EMI Records.
On September 27, 2010, the mayor of Bell Gardens, California, declared October 3, 2010, to be "Eddie Cochran Day" to celebrate the famous musician who began his career when living in that city.
Style and influence
One of the first rock and roll artists to write his own songs and overdub tracks, Cochran is credited also with being one of the first to use an unwound third string in order to "bend" notes up a whole tone—an innovation (imparted to UK guitarist Joe Brown, who secured much session work as a result) that has since become an essential part of the standard rock guitar vocabulary. Artists such as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Rod Stewart, Motörhead, Humble Pie, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Lemmy Kilmister, the Head Cat, the Damned, UFO (band), T. Rex, Stray Cats, Brian Setzer, Cliff Richard, the Who, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, the White Stripes, the Sex Pistols, Rush, Buck Owens, Tiger Army, Dion, Simple Minds, Guitar Wolf, Paul McCartney, Alan Jackson, the Move, Dick Dale, Teenage Head, Keith Richards & the X-Pensive Winos, and Jimi Hendrix have covered his songs.
It was because Paul McCartney knew the chords and words to "Twenty Flight Rock" that he became a member of the Beatles. John Lennon was so impressed that he invited Paul to play with his band the Quarrymen. Jimi Hendrix performed "Summertime Blues" early in his career, and Pete Townshend of the Who was heavily influenced by Cochran's guitar style ("Summertime Blues" was a Who live staple for most of their career until the death of bassist-vocalist John Entwistle in 2002, and is featured on their Live at Leeds album). Glam rock artist Marc Bolan had his main Les Paul model refinished in a transparent orange to resemble the Gretsch 6120 guitar played by Cochran, who was his music hero.[18] He was also a heavy influence on the nascent rockabilly guitar legend Brian Setzer from Stray Cats, who plays a 6120 almost like Cochran, whom he portrayed in the film La Bamba.
In 1988 "C'mon Everybody" was used by Levi Strauss & Co. in an advertisement to promote its 501 Jeans catalogue and re-released as a promotional single, hitting No. 14 in the UK charts. The advertisement told a story of how the narrator, Sharon Sheeley, attracted Cochran by wearing her 501s.
Guitars
When playing with Hank Cochran, Eddie Cochran played a Gibson L-4C archtop acoustic guitar with a florentine cutaway and a DeArmond 'Rhythm Chief' pickup, which can be clearly seen in the Cochran Brothers publicity photograph.
Later, Cochran moved to a 1955 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins G-brand Western model, which Eddie had modified. He replaced the neck position De Armond Dynasonic pickup with a black covered Gibson P-90 pickup. He also used Martin acoustic guitars.
Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues (Town Hall Party - 1959)
R.I.P.
Skip James +03.10.1969
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (* 21. Juni 1902 in Yazoo City, Mississippi; † 3. Oktober 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesmusiker.
Nehemiah Curtis James wuchs auf der Woodbine plantation nahe Bentonia auf. Als Kind erhielt er den Spitznamen "Skippy", der erst anlässlich seiner ersten Plattenaufnahmen im Jahre 1931 zu "Skip" verkürzt wurde. Er lernte zunächst Klavier und Orgel in der Sonntagsschule, später Gitarre bei Henry Stuckey, den er später als wichtigen Einfluss auf seine Musik angab [1]. Um 1918 begann er in Memphis (Tennessee) als Musiker zu arbeiten.
1931 nahm er für Paramount (nach seiner eigenen Erinnerung) 26 Stücke auf, von denen allerdings nur 18 veröffentlicht wurden.
Mit der Wirtschaftskrise endete seine musikalische Karriere. 1932 wurde er baptistischer Laienprediger.
Während des Folk-Revivals ist er 1964 von John Fahey, Bill Barth (später einer der Gründer von The Insect Trust) und Henry Vestine (später Bandmitglied von Canned Heat) im Tunica County Hospital (Mississippi) "wiederentdeckt" worden und trat im gleichen Jahr mit Mississippi John Hurt beim Newport Folk Festival auf. Es folgten zahlreiche Konzerte und mehrere LPs mit Neueinspielungen und Zusammenstellungen seiner Vorkriegs-Aufnahmen.
1969 erlag Skip James einem Krebsleiden.
Herausragendes Stilmittel war seine ungewöhnliche Falsettstimme und sein filigranes Fingerpicking. Er nutzte verschiedene offene Gitarrenstimmungen (e-moll, d-moll, A-Dur) und erreichte so außergewöhnliche Klangfarben.
Am bekanntesten sind wohl seine Stücke I'm so glad, das in der Version von Cream zum Hit wurde und der Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues, der im Film O Brother, Where Art Thou? der Gebrüder Coen von Chris Thomas King vorgetragen wurde. Weitere Coverversionen nahm unter anderem Johnny Winter auf.
Im Dokumentarfilm Soul of a man von Wim Wenders, war James eine der drei porträtierten Musikerpersönlichkeiten (neben J. B. Lenoir und Blind Willie Johnson).
Eine Schlüsselrolle nimmt auch James Devil Got My Woman in dem Film Ghost World von Terry Zwigoff ein.
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9,[1] 1902 – October 3, 1969)[2] was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. Born in Bentonia, Mississippi, United States, he died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He first learned to play guitar from another bluesman from the area, Henry Stuckey. His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly due to the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity. After a long absence from the public eye, James was "rediscovered" in 1964 by three blues enthusiasts, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at several folk and blues festivals and gave live concerts around the country, also recording several albums for various record labels.
His songs have influenced several generations of musicians, being adapted or covered by Kansas Joe McCoy, Robert Johnson, Alan Wilson, Cream, Deep Purple, Chris Thomas King, Alvin Youngblood Hart, The Derek Trucks Band, Beck, Big Sugar, Eric Clapton, John Martyn, Lucinda Williams and Rory Block. He is hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."[3]
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi.[2] His father was a converted bootlegger turned preacher.[4] As a youth, James heard local musicians such as Henry Stuckey and brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims and began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in his native Mississippi in the early 1920s, and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer.
He began playing guitar in open D-minor tuning[5]
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for Jackson, Mississippi, record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir, who placed blues performers with a variety of record labels including Paramount Records.[4] On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin to record for Paramount.[4] James's 1931 work is considered idiosyncratic among pre-war blues recordings, and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As is typical of his era, James recorded a variety of material – blues and spirituals, cover versions and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song by Art Sizemore and George A. Little entitled "So Tired", which had been recorded in 1928 by both Gene Austin and Lonnie Johnson (the latter under the title "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). Biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music".[6]
Several of the Grafton recordings, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis for Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues", and the band name for the English group 22-20s), have proven similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 RPMs have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James' recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and James gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church.[4] James himself was later ordained as a minister in both the Baptist and Methodist denominations, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.[4]
Disappearance, rediscovery, and legacy
For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and drifted in and out of music. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964 blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and of Son House at virtually the same moment was the start of the "blues revival" in the US.[6] In July 1964 James, along with other rediscovered performers, appeared at the Newport Folk Festival.[4] Several photographs by Dick Waterman captured this first performance in over 30 years. Throughout the remainder of the decade, he recorded for the Takoma, Melodeon, and Vanguard labels and played various engagements until his death in Philadelphia from cancer in 1969.[4][7]
Although James was not initially covered as frequently as other rediscovered musicians, British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad"[3] (a studio version and a live version), providing James with the only windfall of his career.[2] Deep Purple also covered "I'm So Glad," on Shades of Deep Purple. John Martyn covered "Devil Got My Woman", titled as "I'd Rather be the Devil" on his album Solid Air and played it live throughout his career. English blues rock band 22-20s named themselves after "22-20 Blues."[8]
Since his death, James's music has become more available and prevalent than during his lifetime – his 1931 recordings, along with several rediscovery recordings and concerts, have found their way onto numerous compact discs, drifting in and out of print. His influence is still felt among contemporary bluesmen. Gregg Allman recorded 'Devil Got My Woman' on his 2011 "Low Country Blues". James also left a mark on Hollywood, as well, with Chris Thomas King's cover of "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" on O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and the 1931 "Devil Got My Woman" featured in the plot and soundtrack of Ghost World. In recent times, British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially focused on the life of Skip James entitled "Nehemiah", which charted at number 30 in the UK Singles Chart.[9] "He's a Mighty Good Leader" was also covered by Beck on his 1994 album One Foot in the Grave.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and Skip James.[10] Skip James was not filmed before the 1960s. Keith B. Brown took the part of young Skip James in the scenes about his youth in the documentary. Wenders used many songs from James, some performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Beck, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, James 'Blood' Ulmer, T-Bone Burnett, Eagle Eye Cherry, Shemekia Copeland, Garland Jeffreys, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Los Lobos, Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed, Marc Ribot, Lucinda Williams, and Cassandra Wilson.[11]
Personality
James was known to be an aloof and moody person.[12] "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment" commented Dick Spottswood.[12]
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played his guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D-A-D-F-A-D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. James purportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey.[citation needed] Stuckey in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War,[citation needed] despite the fact that his service card shows he didn't serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James' "Devil Got My Woman."[2] James' classically-informed, finger-picking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar with heavy, hypnotic bass lines.[citation needed] James' style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it.[2] Calt, in his 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, maintains that there was indeed no style of blues that originated in Bentonia, and that this is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns, and who failed to see that in the case of Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the 1960s revival period. As such, the extent to which the work of said musicians is indicative of any "school", and whether James originated it or was simply a "member", remains an open question.
Skip James sings "Crow Jane"
Victoria Spivey +03.10.1976
Victoria Regina Spivey (* 15. Oktober 1906 in Houston, Texas; † 3. Oktober 1976 in New York City, New York) war eine US-amerikanische Blues-Sängerin, Pianospielerin und Komponistin.
Spiveys Vater hatte eine Band in Houston, Texas. Sehr früh schon spielte sie Klavier auf Partys, bald auch in Bars und Clubs, bisweilen mit so bekannten Blues-Größen wie Blind Lemon Jefferson.
1926 ging sie nach St. Louis, Missouri, wo sie mit dem Black Snake Blues ihre erste Aufnahme machte. Es folgten weitere Hits, bei denen sie von Stars wie Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson und Henry „Red“ Allen begleitet wurde.
1929 spielte Spivey „Missy Rose“ in dem Musicalfilm Hallelujah (Regie: King Vidor) und nahm mit J. C. Higginbotham und George „Pops“ Foster auf. In den 1930ern und 1940er Jahren war sie als Schauspielerin und in Bühnenshows erfolgreich. Oft trat sie zusammen mit ihrem Ehemann, dem Vaudeville-Tänzer Billy Adams, auf.
1951 zog Spivey sich von der Bühne zurück und leitete einen Kirchenchor. Im Zuge des Blues-Revivals der 1960er hatte sie ein Comeback. Mit Len Kunstadt gründete sie die Plattenfirma „Spivey Records“. Sie machte Aufnahmen mit ihren Freundinnen Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin und Hannah Sylvester, aber auch mit jungen Künstlern wie Luther Johnson, Sugar Blue und Bob Dylan. 1973 trat sie mit Roosevelt Sykes beim „Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival“ auf.
Victoria Spivey (October 15, 1906 – October 3, 1976)[1][2] was an American blues singer and songwriter. During a recording career that spanned forty years, from 1926 to the mid-1960s, she worked with Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence Williams, Luis Russell, Lonnie Johnson, and Bob Dylan.[3] She also performed in vaudeville and clubs, sometimes with her sister, Addie "Sweet Pease" Spivey. Among her compositions are "Black Snake Blues", "Dope Head Blues" and "Organ Grinder Blues". In 1962 she initiated her own recording label, Spivey Records.
Life and career
She was born Victoria Regina Spivey in Houston, Texas, United States,[4] the daughter of Grant and Addie (Smith) Spivey. Her father was a part-time musician and a flagman for the railroad; her mother was a nurse. Her sisters were Addie "Sweet Peas" Spivey (1910–1943), also a singer and musician, who recorded for several major record labels between 1929 and 1937; and Elton Island Spivey (1900–1971), who also sang professionally.[5]
Spivey's first professional experience was in a family string band led by her father in Houston. After Grant Spivey died, the seven-year-old Victoria played on her own at local parties and, in 1918, was hired to accompany films at the Lincoln Theater in Dallas.[6] As a teenager, she worked in local bars, nightclubs, and buffet flats, mostly alone, but occasionally with singer-guitarists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson.[4] In 1926, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she was signed by Okeh Records. Her first recording, "Black Snake Blues" (1926),[7] did well, and her association with the record label continued. She made numerous Okeh sides in New York until 1929, then switched to the RCA Victor label. Between 1931 and 1937, more recordings followed on the Vocalion and Decca labels,[4] and, working out of New York, she maintained an active performance schedule. Spivey's recorded accompanists included King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Red Allen.[5]
The Depression did not put an end to Spivey's musical career; she found a new outlet for her talent in the year of the crash, when film director King Vidor cast her to play "Missy Rose" in his first sound film, Hallelujah! (1929).[8] Through the 1930s and 1940s, Spivey continued to work in musical films and stage shows, often with her husband, vaudeville dancer Billy Adams, including the Hellzapoppin' Revue.[4]
In 1951, Spivey retired from show business to play the pipe organ and lead a church choir, but she returned to secular music in 1961, when she was reunited with an old singing partner, Lonnie Johnson, to appear on four tracks on his Prestige Bluesville album, Idle Hours. The folk music revival of the 1960s gave her further opportunities to make at least a semblance of a comeback. She recorded again for Prestige Bluesville, sharing an album Songs We Taught Your Mother with fellow veterans Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin and began making personal appearances at festivals and clubs, including the 1963 European tour of the American Folk Blues Festival.
In 1962, Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt launched Spivey Records, a low-budget label dedicated to blues and related music. They recorded prolifically such performers as Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Tate and Hannah Sylvester, as well as newer artists including Luther Johnson, Brenda Bell, Washboard Doc, Bill Dicey, Robert Ross, Sugar Blue, Paul Oscher, Danny Russo and Larry Johnson.[4]
In March 1962, Bob Dylan contributed harmonica and back-up vocals, accompanying Victoria Spivey and Big Joe Williams on a recording for Spivey Records. The recordings were released on Three Kings And The Queen (Spivey LP 1004) and Kings And The Queen Volume Two (Spivey LP 1014). (Dylan was listed under his own name on the record covers.)[9] In 1964 Spivey made her only recording with an all-white band: the Connecticut based Easy Riders Jazz Band, led by trombonist Big Bill Bissonnette. It was released first on an LP and later re-released on compact disc.
Spivey married four times; her husbands included Ruben Floyd and Billy Adams.[1]
Victoria Spivey died in New York on October 3, 1976, at the age of 69, from an internal haemorrhage.
Victoria Spivey & Lonnie Johnson - Dope Head Blues (1927)
Kathryn Marie McDonald +03.10.2012
http://rocknwomen.org/artistinfo.html
Early years
McDonald performed professionally for the first time around Seattle when she was 12 years old. The first song she fully learned was "Goodnight Irene" by Huddie Leadbetter and at age two she would sing all five verses from her crib. She attributes these evenings to the reason for her late night work habits.
In San Francisco
At the age of 19 she moved to San Francisco and joined Ike & Tina Turner as an Ikette. She then did some work with Big Brother and the Holding Company.[3] In 1973 she recorded Insane Asylum for Capitol Records. The album was co-produced by David Briggs and Pete Sears. It included great musicians such as Guitar: Nils Lofgren, John Cipollina, Neal Schon: Drums: Aynsley Dunbar. Horns: Boots Hughston. Vocal: Kathi McDonald & Sly Stone. The Pointer Sisters on backups. Many famous SF Bay Area musicians played on the album, and Kathi sang backup with many great bands. Sears was also her musical arranger and played keyboards and bass, as well as writing several of the album's songs with McDonald.
Post San Francisco
McDonald contributed backing vocals to four tracks that appear on The Rolling Stones 1972 release Exile on Main Street, including the hit single "Tumbling Dice".[2] Her album Save Your Breath was released over 20 years after Insane Asylum appeared. Above and Beyond followed in 1999, featuring contributions from Lee Oskar on harmonica and Brian Auger on keyboards. McDonald devoted more than two decades to recording and performing in collaboration with Long John Baldry, and the duo scored with their version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" when it was released in Canada.[3] In later years, she also contributed to the Seattle Women in Rhythm and Blues project. She reunited with Big Brother and the Holding Company in California for a concert on New Year's Eve, 1997.[3] She was inducted into the Washington Blues Society's Hall of Fame in 1999.[2]
Death
McDonald died on October 3, 2012, in Seattle, Washington.[1] She was 64.
Kathi McDonald - I'd Rather Go Blind
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