Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Stevie Ray Vaughan
Background information
Also known as	SRV
Born	October 3, 1954(1954-10-03) Dallas, Texas, United States
Died	August 27, 1990 (aged 35) East Troy, Wisconsin
Genres	Blues, blues-rock, Texas blues, Jazz
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1970–1990
Labels	Epic
Associated acts	Double Trouble, Jimmie Vaughan, David Bowie,Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray
Notable instruments
See SRV guitars

Stevie Ray Vaughan (born Stephen Ray Vaughan; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is often considered to be one of the most important electric guitarists in the history of rock music by other musicians and commentators. Six albums of Vaughan's work have been released.^[1] In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,^[2] and Classic Rock Magazine ranked him #3 in their list of the 100 Wildest Guitar Heroes in 2007. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential blues guitarists in history.

[edit] Early life

Stephen Ray Vaughan was born on October 3, 1954 at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas to Jim and Martha Vaughan. His brother, Jimmie Vaughan, is three years older. At age 7, Vaughan acquired his first guitar, a Sears toy guitar with only three strings. Among the first songs that he learned to play were hits by The Nightcaps, a Texas garage rock band that had a national hit in 1962 with "Wine, Wine, Wine." In 1963, Vaughan got his first electric guitar, a hand-me-down from his brother.

Vaughan began life on the move, Stevie's father was an asbestos worker which carried their family around Texas and beyond. As a child Stevie lived in more than 30 towns. Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie's brother stated "It was the absolute perfect training for us to do what we did". Vaughan's first exposure to music was western swing, music that big Jim and Martha would listen to. Vaughan got hooked in the blues early on, and taught himself the guitar techniques of artists such as Otis Rush, Albert King and Buddy Guy. Vaughan would sound out solos note for note in his bedroom. Doyle Bramhall was one of the first to take notice of Vaughan's talent.^[3]

[edit] Early career

Jimmie Vaughan's friend, Doyle Bramhall, heard Stevie Ray Vaughan playing a song called "Jeff's Boogie" by The Yardbirds, and was impressed. Bramhall would help Vaughan’s singing and songwriting development. In 1967, Vaughan’s first band, The Chantones, played an outdoor show at Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas and began to advance beyond school dances and private parties. During the summer of 1970, after falling into a barrel of grease while working for a fast food restaurant, Vaughan quit his job, formed his first relatively long-lasting band, Blackbird, and devoted his working life to music.^[4]

In 1971, Vaughan made his first studio recording, sitting in with a high school band called A Cast of Thousands for a compilation album named A New Hi. The two songs that were on the album showcased Vaughan's early burgeoning talent. During Christmas vacation, he dropped out of high school and moved to Austin, Texas with Blackbird. Their home base was a nightclub on the outskirts of town called the Soap Creek Saloon. In late 1972, he joined a rock band called Krackerjack, but quit a few months later when the lead singer decided that the band should wear theatrical makeup on stage.

In March 1973, Marc Benno added Vaughan to his band the Nightcrawlers, which was recording an album in Hollywood for A&M Records. The recording featured Doyle Bramhall on the drums, along with the beginning of a songwriting partnership with Vaughan. The album was not released, however, and the band traveled back to Texas. A year later, he found a battered 1963 Fender Stratocaster at a music store in Austin. It would remain as his favorite guitar for the rest of his life.

In late December 1974, Vaughan joined a popular Austin band Paul Ray & the Cobras, averaging approximately five shows a week.^[5] The Cobras released a record and won "Band of the Year" in an Austin music poll. Three years later, Vaughan left the Cobras and formed Triple Threat Revue with vocalist Lou Ann Barton, W.C. Clark on bass guitar, Mike Kindred on keyboards, and Fredde "Pharoah" Walden on drums. Later, Jackie Newhouse replaced W.C. Clark on bass and Chris Layton replaced Walden on drums. Vaughan and Lou Ann renamed the band Double Trouble, though Barton left in 1980 to sing for Roomful of Blues.^[6] On December 23, 1979, Vaughan and Lenora "Lenny" Bailey were married between sets at the Rome Inn nightclub in Austin.

[edit] Double Trouble

Tommy Shannon, the former bassist in Krackerjack, replaced Jackie Newhouse in 1981. In July, the band played a music festival in Manor, Texas and a videotape of the performance was given to Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie Watts.^[7] Double Trouble then played a private party for The Rolling Stones at New York's Danceteria nightclub.

[edit] Montreux Jazz Festival

On July 17, 1982, Vaughan and Double Trouble played the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the first unsigned act to perform at the event. Some of the audience were booing the loud band throughout their performance since the festival was predominantly acoustical music and also out of a feeling, widespread in blues circles at the time, that blues should be played by dark-skinned men, not by a flamboyant white band. The hostile reception can be heard on CD/DVD recordings of the show. However, two men in the audience immediately spotted the band's and especially the front man's brilliant raw talent: David Bowie and Jackson Browne. Shortly after the show, Bowie approached Vaughan and told him how much he had appreciated the set, and they made friends. Later the same night, Vaughan and his band joined Browne jamming at an after party which lasted for hours into the morning.

Bowie asked Vaughan to play lead guitar on his upcoming album Let's Dance. Vaughan accepted the offer, and contributed riveting solos on the record ("Let's Dance" and "China Girl" according to Chris Layton on the televised "Stevie Ray Vaughan: Play Hard and Floor It" © 2007). The album became the best-selling album of Bowie's career. Bowie also invited Vaughan to go on his Serious Moonlight Tour. He signed on, but shortly before the tour was due to start, after some kind of argument, he was told he had been fired or left at his own decision. There are several versions of what forced the two to go separate paths; in the rehearsal period they had been looking forward to working together again. According to one version, during the rehearsal period, Vaughan allegedly decided to attend the funeral of Muddy Waters and, thus, could not be found for 5 days. According to another, when David Bowie told Stevie that he wanted him to come down a flight of stairs on stage with a little dance routine while playing his guitar, Stevie realized that this was not his kind of gig. He was not a "pop" artist and refused to rehearse dance numbers like that one. Soon after the discussion, allegedly, he quit the tour preparations, and went back to focus on his own music and career with Double Trouble.

[edit] Debut album - Texas Flood

Jackson Browne offered Vaughan time in his recording studio in Los Angeles free of charge, and the band accepted the offer in November 1982. In the spring of the following year, music producer John Hammond heard a tape of the band's Montreux performance, and got the band a recording contract with Epic Records. Hammond is credited with discovering Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, among others. On June 13, 1983, the recordings in Browne's studio morphed into Texas Flood, Vaughan and Double Trouble's debut album, and was released to glowing reviews, selling over half a million units.^[8][9] Along with making an appearance on Austin City Limits, readers of Guitar Player magazine voted Vaughan as "Best New Talent" and "Best Electric Blues Guitar Player", with Texas Flood as "Best Guitar Album".

More popular than any blues album in nearly twenty years, Texas Flood was a surprise success for Vaughan, who had labored in obscurity for years. On the North American Billboard Music Charts, Texas Flood peaked at #64 and #38 on the Billboard 200 and Pop Albums charts, respectively. The single "Pride and Joy" peaked at #20 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The album was Grammy nominated in 1983 for "Best Blues Recording" along with "Rude Mood", which was nominated for "Best Blues Instrumental Performance". To date Texas Flood has achieved Multi-Platinum status in the US and Canada.

[edit] Live at the El Mocambo

As part of the 1983 Texas Flood tour Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played at the famous El Mocambo in Toronto. The band were shocked by the size of the venue, it was very intimate and small. The likes of the Rolling Stones and Elvis Costello had performed there. The show is hailed by many fans as one of Vaughan's best performances from the Texas Flood tour. A DVD was released by Sony Music Video in 1999 of the televised show and became multi-platinum.

[edit] Couldn't Stand the Weather

On May 15, 1984, Couldn't Stand the Weather Vaughan's second album was released and reached number 31 on the Billboard charts and has achieved a multi-platinum status, selling over 2,000,000 copies.^[10] In November 1984, Vaughan won "Entertainer of the Year" and "Instrumentalist of the Year" at the National Blues Awards in Memphis, Tennessee.

[edit] Carnegie Hall

In October 1984, Vaughan and Double Trouble performed at Carnegie Hall. To celebrate his thirtieth birthday, Vaughan brought along an all-star supporting band, including Dr. John on keyboards and his brother, Jimmie, on guitar, who wore custom tailored velvet mariachi suits. His wife and parents flew in from Texas to share in his triumph. The power trio of Vaughan, Shannon and Layton was expanded that night with the participation of the five-man horn section from Roomful of Blues.

Stevie originally envisioned the concert as a full-length video for release. The record label wanted to film the special occasion, but was shelved when the band blocked out studio time in March 1985 for the soon-to-be album, Soul to Soul, so they rolled audio tape.

[edit] Soul To Soul and Live Alive

On September 30, 1985, the band's third album, Soul to Soul, was released, featuring new band member, Reese Wynans, on keyboards. It became their third gold album and went to number 34 on the Billboard charts. In July 1986, with demands by Vaughan's record company to release another album the band decided to make a live album entitled Live Alive, with shows recorded from their Soul to Soul tour. On August 27, 1986, after playing a show in Memphis, Tennessee, Vaughan's father, Big Jim Vaughan, died of Parkinson's disease. Vaughan went home to comfort his family, but was rushed back on a jet to continue the tour. Although his professional career was soaring, Vaughan was sinking deep into alcoholism and drug addiction. Despite his declining health, Vaughan continued to push himself.

[edit] Addiction, recovery and comeback

With fame and fortune came excess. Vaughan cocaine habit rose to 4 grams a day. To cure hangovers he would dissolve some of the cocaine into a glass of whiskey for a morning pick me up.

Vaughan's personal life was in tatters, his long time wife was on the verge of collapse and as her husband's growing fame pushed her to the sidelines, she reacted bitterly. Vaughan struggled through two more concerts, though the last thirteen dates on the tour were canceled while Vaughan was admitted to a hospital in London. He emerged clean and sober in Atlanta, Georgia. Tommy Shannon also came out clean and sober while in Austin. Live Alive was released on November 15, 1986. Vaughan had a new purpose, a new found energy and he had help, starting with the new love of his life, Janna Lapidus, whom he'd met in New Zealand, and separated from Lenny, his first wife.

In the spring of 1987, MTV broadcast the band’s show in Daytona Beach, Florida as part of its spring break coverage. Vaughan also appeared in the movie Back to the Beach, performing "Pipeline" with Dick Dale. He even appeared on B.B. King’s Cinemax television special with Eric Clapton, Albert King, Phil Collins, Gladys Knight, Paul Butterfield, Chaka Khan, and Billy Ocean. Later that year, Vaughan filed for divorce from Lenny.

In 1988, Vaughan appeared with Stevie Wonder on an MTV special for the promotion of Wonder's album Characters. Double Trouble also headlined a concert at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Vaughan's divorce from Lenny was finalized toward the end of the year.

On January 23, 1989, the band performed at an inauguration party in Washington, D.C. for George H. W. Bush.

[edit] In Step and beyond

The immortal words sung on "The House Is Rockin" are appropriately inscribed over the entrance of the famous Hard Rock Casino in Las Vagas: "When this house is rocking, don't bother knocking, come on in."

The band's fifth album, In Step, was released in June, and went on to win a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Recording". In Step would sell over 2,000,000 copies and achieve a multi-platinum status. It became Vaughans best selling album to date and was hailed as Vaughans finest work.

The title In Step can be seen as referring to Vaughan's new-found sobriety, following the years of drug and alcohol use that eventually led Vaughan into rehabilitation. It was also Vaughan's final album with Double Trouble. The album peaked at 33 in The Billboard 200 and homed the hit single "Crossfire", which went straight to number 1 in the Mainstream Rock Tracks. Vaughans long time friend Doyle Bramhall also had gone through his own battle with addiction. Together they would write songs that would feature on In Step, songs about walking the 'Tightrope' to recovery.

In the spring of 1990, Vaughan and his brother recorded an album together, one that would feature the music they had grown up with. They recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis and were produced by Nile Rodgers. The brothers agreed to name it Family Style. That summer, Vaughan and Double Trouble went on tour with British soul singer Joe Cocker, touring places like Alaska and the Benson & Hedges Blues Festival. The album would go platinum and reach 7 in The Billboard 200.

[edit] Death

To complete the summer portion of the 1990 "In Step" tour, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played two shows on August 25 and 26 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, while on tour with Eric Clapton. The show was a blues lovers dream come true with performances from Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughan. The last song Vaughan ever played was "Sweet Home Chicago" with Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughan.^{[citation needed]}

For travel to the next venue, the tour manager reserved four helicopters to circumvent congested highway traffic. The helicopters, not certified for flight under instrument flight rules, lifted off in dense fog at 12:40 A.M. on August 27. Just past the lift-off zone was a 300-foot hill. Vaughan's pilot, unfamiliar with the area, did not climb to sufficient altitude immediately after take-off, and the helicopter crashed into the hill.

According to the report by the National Transportation Safety Board, the cause of the accident was determined to be inadequate planning by the pilot and failure to attain sufficient altitude to clear an obstacle.^[11] Fog and haze, as well as the rising terrain, were listed as contributing factors. All occupants—including Vaughan, the pilot and three members of Eric Clapton's travel group—were killed on impact.

On August 31, 1990, funeral services were held for Vaughan at Laurel Land Memorial Park in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas. Brother Jimmie, mother Martha, and girlfriend Janna were in attendance. Among the mourners were Stevie Wonder, Buddy Guy, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Nile Rodgers.^[12]

[edit] Legacy

The 1991 album The Sky Is Crying was the first of several posthumous Vaughan releases to achieve chart success. Jimmie Vaughan later co-wrote and recorded a song in tribute to his brother and other deceased blues guitarists, titled "Six Strings Down". Bonnie Raitt's 1991 album Luck of the Draw was dedicated to him. Many other artists recorded songs in remembrance of Vaughan, including Eric Johnson,^[13] Tommy Emmanuel (the song Stevie's Blues), Buddy Guy and Steve Vai ("Jibboom" on the album The Ultra Zone, 1999) and guitarist Wayne Perkins ("Big Stratocaster", from the album Rambling Heart). Stevie Wonder included a song on his 1995 live album Natural Wonder titled "Stevie Ray Blues". On the album, Wonder refers to the song as "Stevie Ray Vaughan Blues".

Musicians such as John Mayer, Robert Randolph, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Colin James, Jonny Lang, Los Lonely Boys, Mike McCready, Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, Tyler Bryant and Doyle Bramhall II have cited Vaughan as an influence.

SRV Signature Stratocaster

In 1991, Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3, Vaughan's birthday, to be "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day." An annual motorcycle ride and concert in Central Texas benefits the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Scholarship Fund.^[14]

In 1992, the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released the Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster, which Vaughan had helped design. As of 2007, the model is still in production. In 2004, Fender also released a limited edition exact replica of "Number One".^[15] The last guitar that Vaughan played before his death is on display in the Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. During that same year, Vaughan's name is mentioned in Stephen King's You Know They Got a Hell of a Band, a short story about a town populated by late music legends.

In 1994, the city of Austin erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake, the site of a number of Vaughan's concerts. It has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

In 2000, Stevie Ray Vaughan was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Stevie Ray Vaughan became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.^[16]

In November 2007, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released a second tribute to Vaughan, an exact replica of his second beloved guitar: Lenny. This guitar was given to him by his wife Lenora ("Lenny") on his 26th birthday and Vaughan was very fond of it. According to Fender, the original Lenny was a 1965 Strat that he saw in the window of a pawn shop that he was unable to afford. The guitar is sold with a strap, a case with Vaughan's name embroidered in the fabric lining, a number of brochures and memorabilia and a leather bound certificate of authenticity.

In 2008, residents voted to rename Dallas' Industrial Boulevard, with Vaughan's name being one of the finalists alongside Stanley Marcus, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Cesar Chavez.^[17]

[edit] Influences and style

Vaughan's blues style was influenced by many blues guitarists. Foremost among them were Albert King, Otis Rush, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix. He was also strongly influenced by early blues-rock guitarist Lonnie Mack, who, according to Vaughan, "really taught me to play guitar from the heart",^[18] Vaughan, who had idolized Mack since childhood,^{[citation needed]} produced and played on Mack's 1985 Alligator Records album Strike Like Lightning^[19] and covered "Wham!", which was written by Mack, among others. Vaughan's older brother Jimmie Vaughan has stated that Johnny "Guitar" Watson was the guitarist he and Vaughan studied the most. Vaughan also cited his brother as an influence.

Vaughan's sound and playing style, which often incorporated simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, drew comparisons to Hendrix. Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in performance, such as "Little Wing," "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," and "Third Stone from the Sun." He was also heavily influenced by Freddie King, another Texas bluesman, mainly in the use of tone and attack; King's heavy vibrato can clearly be heard in Vaughan's playing. Another stylistic influence was Albert Collins. By utilizing his index finger as a pick à la Albert Collins, he was able to coax various tonal nuances from his amplifiers. Vaughan also took considerable influence from jazz guitarists such as Kenny Burrell. His influence is obvious not only on Vaughan's 'Riviera Paradise', but also on Vaughan's cover of Burrell's piece Chitlins con Carne.

[edit] Stevie's guitars and musical equipment

[edit] Number One

Stevie's main guitar was a cherished, beat-up 1963 Fender Stratocaster he dubbed Number One. He always referred to Number One as a '59. "1962" was stamped on the neck, and "1963" was written in the body cavity. On the back of the pickups, "1959" was written. The fretboard was a "veneer" board (curved on the underside), though all of Stevie's other rosewood-board guitars were slab-boards (flat on the underside).

Number One was 100% stock, except for the five-way toggle switch and the lefty vibrato arm. Around 1980, Stevie needed to have his vibrato arm repaired, and a lefty vibrato was the only one in stock. Number One was the only guitar with a lefty vibrato arm. All of his other guitars had righty vibrato arms. In the last tone position, a push-push pot with a dummy coil was installed in order to cut down on the hum from the single-coil pickups. Different value capacitors were also added so the tone would stay close to the original sound.

Number One had a very big neck and it may have been the biggest neck of any Strat ever made, and accompanied his heavy gauge strings and big frets. Fender rated the necks in terms of size either A, B, C or D, D being the largest. The body was made of alder. Stevie preferred his fretwire to be as tall as it possibly could be.

[edit] Yellow (Butter)

Yellow was a yellow 1959 Stratocaster that was given to Stevie by Vanilla Fudge's lead guitarist. It was in poor shape, but was restored by Charley Wirz. When Yellow was given to Charley , the body was hollowed out to accept four humbuckers, Charley then removed the humbuckers and fashioned a new pickguard in which he placed a single Fender Strat pickup in the neck position. Stevie placed his signature "SRV" sticker directly under the strings, where normally the other two pickups are installed.

This was supposedly the guitar played on the album versions of "Honey Bee" and "Tell Me". Yellow was stolen in 1987 and never recovered.

[edit] Lenny

Lenny was one of Vaughan's several Fender Stratocasters, dating from 1965. This guitar was purchased at a pawn shop in Texas for $350. Originally 3-tone sunburst with a rosewood neck, it was later stripped down to a dark natural finish and re-fitted with a mid-'50s-style maple neck reportedly given to him by Billy Gibbons before its purchase by Vaughan's wife Lenora in 1980. Behind the bridge, on the lower bout of the guitar body is a unique inlay, thought to be originally from an early 1900's mandolin. The Fender Custom Shop has produced a limited-edition run of Lenny Tribute replicas since December 12th, 2007 and they are sold by the Guitar Center for USD$17,000. The guitar is mainly used for "Lenny" the song of the same name dedicated to Stevie's wife Lenora. A little over four years ago on June 24, 2004 Lenny was put up for auction and was sold to Guitar Center for $623,500.

[edit] Charley

Charley was a custom-made Stratocaster used by Vaughan.

It was built for Stevie by Charley Wirz, a friend and owner of Charley's Guitar Shop in Dallas, Texas. It was made for Vaughan in late 1983, but had a neck plate with the engravement "More In '84". It had three Danelectro "lipstick" pickups and a hardtail bridge (no vibrato arm). The guitar was also rewired with 1 tone knob and 1 volume. This guitar was said by Vaughan to have a lot of "bite" in its tone.

The body was alder with "trick" aka "flip-flop" automotive paint that showed up with an "iridescent" blue tint depending on the angle of light. The neck was maple with an ebony fingerboard and sported Stevie's famous "SRV" initials on the pickguard around 1989.

This guitar often was used during "Life Without You", which was itself inspired as a tribute to Charley Wirz.

[edit] Scotch

Scotch is a 1961 Fender Stratocaster used by Vaughan for the last 5 years of his life. He acquired this guitar in the fall of 1985, and it is said to have been bought in either Baltimore or "The Boathouse" in Norfolk, Virginia. It was to be a prize at one of Stevie's shows, but he bought the guitar instead and gave away another one of his guitars.

This guitar has a butterscotch colored finish with a non-original tiger-striped pickguard made by Rene Martinez, Vaughan's guitar tech. The tiger-striped pickguard resembled the same pickguard in which Buddy Guy had on his butter-colored guitar at the time.

"Scotch" was stock except for the tiger-striped pickguard where he added his famous "SRV" prismatic stickers.

Stevie used this guitar in place of Number One towards the end of 1990, because of Number One's neck problems.

"Red", one of his other guitars, originally had a right-handed neck, but switched over to a left-handed neck in 1986. Around 1990, because "Number One" was having neck troubles, he took the original neck from "Scotch" and put it on "Number One" and took the original neck from "Red" and put it on "Scotch", leaving the left-handed neck on "Red".

Stevie usually used this guitar on "Leave My Girl Alone", and sometimes "Superstition".

[edit] Main

Main (also known as Hamiltone or the "Couldn't Stand the Weather" guitar) was a custom Fender Stratocaster-style guitar made for Vaughan by James Hamilton in Buffalo, NY. It was presented to Vaughan by James as a gift from ZZ Top guitarist, Billy Gibbons on April 29, 1984.

This guitar features a two-piece maple body and a "neck-through body" design. It also originally had EMG preamped pickups, but Vaughan didn't like the pickups in it. His next music video was about to be made, which was "Couldn't Stand the Weather", and didn't want to get Number One wet during filming, as this would've ruined the original 1959 pickups. So he used this guitar for filming. The EMG pickups and Gibson style amber top hat knobs were changed in June 1984.

Its fingerboard is ebony with a mother-of-pearl inlay that read "Stevie Ray Vaughan". The guitar was originally set to be made for Stevie in 1979, but the plan was dropped when Vaughan started using his middle name "Ray", as he was known as "Stevie Vaughan" at the time.

"Main" was usually played on "Cold Shot" or "Couldn't Stand the Weather".

[edit] Strings and picks

His string gauges, high to low, were usually .013, .015, .019, .028, .038, .058. Sometimes he'd use a slightly lighter high E string, like a .012 or .011. And he always tuned down one half step.

Picks were always Fender Mediums, played on the side, round edge.

[edit] Amplifiers

Stevie used a combination of amps, all running at the same time.

• Two "blackface" Fender Super Reverbs
• 150-watt Dumble Steel String Singer with a 4x12 Dumble bottom
• 200-watt Marshall Major head with a 4x12 Dumble bottom
• "Blackface" Fender Vibroverb, with one 15" speaker, used to power a Leslie-type Fender Vibratone cabinet with a rotating speaker inside.

His amps were all upgraded to Electro-Voice speakers.

[edit] Pedals

He always used an Ibanez Tube Screamer, starting with the original first-issue 808, followed by the TS-9 and then the TS-10 Classic.

• Vintage '60s Vox wah-wahs
• Vintage Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face
• '60's Tycobrahe Octavia
• Wah Pedal once owned by Jimi Hendrix

[edit] Stolen and returned gear

In 2007, guitars, handwritten song lyrics, photographs of Vaughan, and other memorabilia were stolen from his brother's storage room in Austin. One of the thieves was sentenced to five months in jail and 10 years of deferred adjudication, following a plea agreement.^[20]

The gear was found to be in the possession of Michael Winders, who was arrested along with another man when police responded to a complaint of a suspicious smell coming from an Austin hotel room. When police entered, they found several items believed to be Vaughan's.^[21]

[edit] Grammy Awards and nominations

• 1984: Best Traditional Blues Album for Blues Explosion (various artists)
• 1986: "Say What!", from Soul to Soul, nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance^[22] (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
• 1987: "Pipeline", with Dick Dale, nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance^[23]
• 1989: Best Contemporary Blues Album for In Step (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
• 1990: Best Contemporary Blues Album for Family Style (The Vaughan Brothers)
• 1990: Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "D/FW" (The Vaughan Brothers)
• 1992: Best Contemporary Blues Album for The Sky Is Crying (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
• 1992: Best Rock Instrumental Performance for his cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing" (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)^[24]

[edit] Discography

[edit] See also

Texas portal

• List of guitars used by Stevie Ray Vaughan
• Music of Austin
• Chicago Blues Festival

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Patoski, Joe Nick & Bill Crawford (1993). Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught in the Crossfire. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-16068-7.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Stevie Ray Vaughan

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stevie Ray Vaughan

• Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Open Directory Project
• Stevie Ray Vaughan at Sony Music
• Official NTSB report about the crash in which Vaughan died.
• Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Internet Movie Database