Remembering Stevie

Today would have been blues great Stevie Ray Vaugn's 53rd birthday. Stevie is and has been one of favorite musicians for a very long time. Ever since I first heard him tearing through the opening of 'Couldn't Stand the Weather' on his Texas Flood cd I was hooked. I eventually compiled his cd's and a nice box set with DVD Maggie gave me last year.

Vaughan's blues style was strongly influenced by many blues guitarists. Foremost among them were Albert King, who dubbed himself Stevie's "godfather", Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix & Lightnin' Hopkins. He was also strongly influenced by early blues-rock guitarist Lonnie Mack.
And, I'm not sure if many people know this, but Stevie played on the David Bowie song "Let's Dance".

Stevie was killed in a helicopter crash on August 25th 199o just outside of East Troy, Wisconsin. He had just finished performing with other guitar greats Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray. He took the remaining seat on a Bell helicopter, actually asking his brother Jimmie if he could have it.

Sadly he had just recovered from a drug and alcohol addiction a few years earlier. There are alot of things that could be said about the bluesman, but really, his music says it all. Here is a link to the Wikipidea entry on Stevie and a list of his works. If you like guitar music and have never heard Stevie play, do yourself a favor and check him out.