Getting into Stevie Ray Vaughn

I lived in Austin, TX in the '70s in a house six blocks south of the Rome Inn, a former Italian restaurant that had been converted into a music club. The name didn't change because it cost too much. The regular Tuesday night band was Paul Ray and the Cobras. Paul Ray was a wonderful blues singer and his lead guitarist was a young Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie Ray was usually near the back of the stage with his back to the audience and I never heard him sing, that was Paul Ray's job. The cover charge was $2, a real bargain.

Blast from the past!  He "opened" for the band his older brother Jimmy played lead guitar for, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, at the Midland TX Sheraton.  Talk about a small venue!  Prob 1984.  He was soooo loud.  Anyway, he did a very well done album with Jimmy near the end called Family Style.  Check it out.

And If you ever get to Austin, there is a really cool statue of Stevie Ray down on Town Lake or "Lady Bird Lake" near the 1st street bridge. I was born in Austin and he was an icon back in the 80's. It was a really sad day when he died. I often watch him play on YouTube because I cannot fathom how someone can do what he does to a guitar.

I am a Blues guy…I was inspired by hearing the 1st Paul Butterfield album at age 15, and ran down to buy my first harp. That album featured the guitar work of Michael Bloomfield and set the bar for my sense of what’s great. There was Danny Kalb in The Blues Project, then Eric Clapton emerged with Mayall, then Peter Green, and of course Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin launched. All added to my sense of what makes for great blues guitar. T-Bone, BB and the other 2 Kings, Buddy Guy, Earl Hooker and Chuck Berry too. I heard Johnny Winter’s 1st appearance in NYC, and Ten Years After. My reaction was like Salieri on Amadeus…”Too many notes!”  So when SRV arrived, I had a firmly embedded framework to hear what he was putting down. Not a fan. I prefer his brother Jimmy’s more patient approach.  Listen to “Part Time Lover” on the 1st T-Birds album for instance. Listen to “Texas” by Electric Flag. Refer to the above list of names, and above all…enjoy the music. 

If you want to see early Stevie ON FIRE find Live At El Mocambo.  You can still buy it on DVD, I have a Record Store Day vinyl edition.