Stephen Ray Vaughan (SRV)

Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990), born in Dallas, Texas, was an American blues guitarist. His broad appeal made him one of the world's most influential electric blues guitarists. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.^[1] He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan.

Vaughan was born at 10:13 am on October 3, 1954 in Dallas, Texas and was raised in that city's Oak Cliff neighborhood. Neither of his parents had any strong musical talent but were avid music fans. They would take Vaughan and his older brother Jimmie to concerts to see Fats Domino, Jimmy Reed, and Bob Wills.

Even though Vaughan initially wanted to play the drums as his primary instrument, Michael Quinn gave him a guitar when he was eight years old. Vaughan's brother, Jimmie Vaughan, gave him his first guitar lessons. Vaughan was later quoted in Guitar Player Magazine as saying, "My brother Jimmie actually was one of the biggest influences on my playing. He really was the reason I started to play, watching him and seeing what could be done." After his brother showed him a few basic chords, Vaughan taught himself to play. He played entirely by ear and never learned how to read sheet music. By the time he was 13 years old he was playing in clubs where he met many of his blues idols. A few years later he dropped out of Justin F. Kimball High School and moved to Austin to pursue music. Vaughan's talent caught the attention of guitarist Johnny Winter, and blues-club owner Clifford Antone.

Vaughan's first recording band was called Paul Ray and the Cobras. They played at clubs and bars in Austin during the mid-1970s, and released one single. Vaughan later recorded two other singles under the band name The Cobras. Following the break-up of The Cobras, he formed Triple Threat in late 1975, which included bassist Jackie Newhouse, drummer Chris Layton, vocalist Lou Ann Barton, and sax player Johnny Reno. Barton left the band in 1978 to pursue a solo career, followed by Reno in 1979. The three remaining members started performing under the name Double Trouble, inspired by an Otis Rush song of the same name. Vaughan became the band's lead singer.

Tommy Shannon, the bass player on Johnny Winter's early albums, replaced Newhouse in 1981. A popular Austin act, Vaughan soon attracted the attention of musicians David Bowie and Jackson Browne. Both Browne and Bowie first caught Vaughan at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival, where some members of the audience booed the band because they disliked Double Trouble's hard blues sound; the crowd response was quite different when they were subsequently invited to headline "Blues Night" at the festival in 1985.

In November, 1982, Vaughan recorded in Jackson Browne's studio in downtown Los Angeles. The recordings were brought to the attention of A&R man John Hammond and became Double Trouble's critically acclaimed first album, Texas Flood (1983), produced by Hammond; it featured the top-20 hit "Pride and Joy" and sold 500,000 copies, earning the band a Gold Record. Additionally the album was nominated for a Grammy and its song "Rude Mood" was nominated for best rock instrumental. Vaughan won three categories in the Guitar Player's Readers Poll: "Best New Talent", "Best Blues Album", and "Best Electric Blues Guitarist" (beating out none other than Eric Clapton). He became only the second guitarist in history to win three Guitar Player awards in one year (the first is Jeff Beck). Vaughan won the "Best Electric Blues Guitarist" award every year until 1991.

Also in 1983 Bowie featured Vaughan on his 1983 album Let's Dance. Vaughan was even asked to go on tour with Bowie, but declined so he could continue to play with Double Trouble.

The band's next album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, was recorded in January 1984. During the summer of 1984 Vaughan and Double Trouble appeared on numerous TV shows, including Rockpalast, Much Music, and Solid Gold. During the Grammy awards of 1984 Vaughan along with George Thorogood presented Chuck Berry with a lifetime achievement award. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" from Couldn't Stand The Weather was nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".

These bookings were preparing the band for a night at Carnegie Hall in New York City on October 4, 1984. The show featured one Double Trouble "set" and the other with guests Dr. John on keyboards, George Rains on drums, Jimmie Vaughan on guitar, Roomful of Blues Horns, and singer Angela Strehli. The group rehearsed in September 1984 at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas.

In November, Vaughan won two W.C. Handy National Blues Awards: "Entertainer of the Year" and "Blues Instrumentalist of the Year." It was the first time a white person won either award. During this time, he also began recording with one of his earliest idols, blues-rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack, to produce the album Strike Like Lightning on the Alligator label.

In late January 1985, the band went on a 6-night Japanese tour with various interviews and performances. In March, the band started to produce their third album Soul to Soul. Reese Wynans, a former keyboardist with Captain Beyond and Delbert McClinton's band, was added to the band not long after. The album's production lasted for two months. On April 10 Vaughan played "The Star Spangled Banner" for opening day of the National League baseball season at the Houston Astrodome (supposedly he didn't get a good audience response from that crowd; he did, at least, get to meet former New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle afterwards). Soul to Soul was released on September 30, 1985; Vaughan received his fifth Grammy nomination: "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for one of its songs, "Say What!".

In the following months of 1986, Vaughan and Double Trouble went on tour in New Zealand. It was around this time that he met Janna Lapidus, a touring model in New Zealand.

In the summer, the band was considering ideas of a new album, particularly a live album. Shows were set up at the Austin Opera House and at the Dallas Starfest. Audiences saw Vaughan struggle through these shows, as some of the original recordings were filled with technical difficulties.

On August 27, 1986, the Vaughan brothers' father, Big Jim, passed away of heart failure. The boys rushed home to comfort their mother, but yet little time to mourn. A funeral was arranged two days later. After the funeral was finished, a jet rushed Vaughan to Montreal, Quebec, where he played the Miller Beer Festival in Jarry Park.

The recordings in both Dallas and Austin, as well as the Montreux Jazz Festival, were edited and later released on [Live Alive] in November 1986.

info: wikipedia