Comprehensive information and links about Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan born in Dallas, Texas (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American blues guitar legend, known as one of the most influential electric blues musicians in history.

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Life and career

After playing in a series of bands, Dallas-native Vaughan formed the blues rock combo with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Jackie Newhouse in the late 1970s. Tommy Shannon replaced Newhouse in 1981. A popular local draw, Vaughan soon attracted attention from David Bowie and Jackson Browne, and he played on albums with both. Bowie first caught Vaughan at the Montreux Jazz Festival where initially a few members of the audience, who disliked his hard blues sound, booed Vaughan, though most of the crowd cheered him, as can be witnessed in the "Live at Montreux" DVD. Bowie featured Vaughan on his was strongly influenced by Albert King who dubbed himself Stevie's "Godfather". Stevie had a distinct sound of his own which was partly based on using heavy thirteen-gauge strings. Vaughan's sound and playing , which often features simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, also draws frequent comparisons to that of Jimi Hendrix; Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in performance.

Stevie Ray Vaughan (produced by John Hammond) featured the top-20 hit "Pride and Joy" and sold well in both blues and rock circles. Follow up albums, (1985), saw almost equal success as the debut album. Drug addiction and alcoholism took a toll on Vaughan in the mid-1980s, and he collapsed while on tour in 1986. He checked into rehab in Georgia later that year. He managed to recover from his addictions and became a teetotaler. Following his return, Vaughan recorded (1989), another critically acclaimed album that won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Record.

Vaughan's comeback was cut short when, in the early morning of August 27, 1990, he died in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin following a concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theater where earlier in the evening he appeared with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and his older brother Jimmie Vaughan. It was Eric Clapton who gave his seat on the helicopter to Stevie.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is interred in the Laurel Land Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.

, with his brother, Jimmie Vaughan (also a noted blues-rock guitarist and former member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds) was released in September 1990 after Stevie's death and was a popular hit. 1991's was the first of several posthumous Vaughan releases with chart success. Jimmie Vaughan later co-wrote and recorded a song in tribute to his brother and other late blues guitarists, entitled "Six Strings Down".

In 1991, Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3, Vaughan's birthday, to be "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day." This day is often celebrated by eating cotton candy, a favorite food of Stevie's.

In 1992, Fender released the Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster, a reproduction of his battered 1962 Fender Stratocaster which he affectionately named "Number One" (sometimes referred to as "First Wife"), designed along with Stevie before his death. As of 2005, the model is still in production. It depicts "Number One" as it would have been brand-new in 1962, though when Stevie bought it in 1974 it was already badly weathered, as can be seen in several photographs of a young Vaughan. It also utilizes the black letter- pick-guard, a polyurethane finish, Pau Ferro fretwood, and Stevie's initials on the headstock. The Brazilian rosewood of Stevie's guitar was too expensive, and only about 50 SRV Signature models exist with the Brazilian rosewood instead of the pau ferro. Pau ferro does not appear similar to Brazilian rosewood while it is young, but it darkens with age and will eventually resemble what Stevie's guitar had. Some guitarists feel that a poly finish lessens sustain, but it protects the guitar better and lasts longer than the nitrocellulose lacquer that Stevie's guitar had.

In 1994, the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue was erected at Auditorium Shores on Town Lake in Austin, Texas.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named him number seven on their list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time". [1]

In 2004, Fender released the Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute Model "Number One" Stratocaster Guitar, a direct replica of Stevie Ray Vaughan's primary guitar, also called "First Wife." Constructed of a 1962 and a 1962 neck, it possessed a deep, dark growl of a tone that was immediately identifiable. Even though it used all "stock" Fender Strat parts, about the only "original equipment" parts it possessed by 1990 were the and the pickups. Over the years, Stevie and Rene Martinez, his guitar tech, replaced the pickguard, vibrato unit, saddles and neck.

The neck was damaged during a stage accident, and a spare was used from another of Stevie's Stratocasters. After he died, the original neck was put back on and the guitar was given to his brother. This is confirmed both by an interview with Jimmie Vaughan as well as pictures of Fender personnel dissecting the guitar to create 100 Custom Shop "Relic" reproductions in a Guitar World Magazine, as well as several other online sources.

Equipment

There are many falsities reported about Stevie's stage equipment, but here are the facts, as reported by his guitar technician Rene Martinez, who worked with Stevie's equipment for many years.

For guitars, Stevie used some acoustics and a Hamiltone Custom, but he mainly used Fender Stratocasters. His most famous was a Brazilian rosewood Strat that had "1962" stamped on the neck and , but "1959" written on the pickups. It was not a 1963 in any way. He never used bass frets, but did use "jumbo" Dunlop 6105's. It also had a lefty tremolo installed and was known as "Number One" or "First Wife", at least once being called "Number One Wife" in an interview with Stevie. It had a "D-Size", oddly shaped thick neck that was perfect for his large hands and thick fingers. It was taken apart by Fender employees to make 100 exact copies, and these facts were verified as can be read in a Guitar World magazine. The pickups were never overwound purposely, but were from a batch of pickups made at Fender in 1959 that had been mistakenly overwound, producing "Number One's" distinctive sound. This also puts to bed the rumor that it was buried with Stevie, when in actuality all of Stevie's guitars are in possession of Jimmy Vaughan, his older brother.

"Lenny" was a 1963 maple-neck that was named after his wife, Leonore. It had a very bright, thin sound. Supposedly, Stevie found this guitar in a pawnshop, but couldn't afford to buy it. One of Stevie's roadies, Byron Barr, bought it and he and Lenora presented it to Stevie for his birthday in 1976. According to the story, Lenora was supposed to pay Byron for the guitar; she started a pool with her friends to collect the money, but it was Stevie who eventually settled the debt, with cash and a leather jacket. Its neck was originally a thin rosewood, but Stevie replaced it with a thicker non-Fender maple neck.

"Charley" was a Stratocaster built for him by Charley Wirz, a friend. Three Danelectro "lipstick tubes" are the pickups, and it had a hardtail bridge.

"Red" was a 1964 with a lefty neck that let him emulate the sounds of Otis Rush and Jimi Hendrix. This setup was able to give Stevie not only the sound he wanted, but the feel that lacked from a right hand neck.

He used a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, many different Ibanez Tube Screamers (Most notably the TS-808), Vox or Dunlop Wah's, and at one point a Univibe, though he usually used his rotating Leslie speaker cabinet.

Amps were a blonde '64 Fender Twin, a 100-watt Marshall JCM 800 half stack, a 150-watt Dumble Steel String Singer, two '64 Fender Vibroverbs (they are consecutively numbered: 5 and 6; Stevie was very proud of having obtained such low serial numbers). He also had a pair of 4x10 Fender Super Reverbs. At some venues he also had several Marshall full stacks for volume.

Bootlegs

See the Willmot's database for one the most complete collector's attempt at a comprehensive list of unreleased material.

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