“The Greatest Anglo Blues Guitarist Ever:” The Life of Stevie Ray Vaughn (Aug 27, 2023)

The Texas Music Series continues with a little “Blues.”

Blues/Rock guitarist and singer Eric Clapton was the headliner at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin, just a bit southwest of Milwaukee, on August 26, 1990. Clapton was almost finished with his set when he walked to the microphone at the front of the stage and addressed the audience. Clapton—himself considered one of the best blues guitarists ever—spoke to the gathered throng: “I’d like to bring out to join me, in truth, the best guitar players in the entire world. Ladies and gentlemen, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughn.” The four took the stage to thunderous applause and immediately launched into the classic standard of “Sweet Home Chicago.” It was a masterful performance, one that Stevie Ray Vaughn smiled through in its entirety. Vaughn was sober for the first time in years, and his career, which had been as up and down as his personal life had been, was on the upswing. He was happy. But it would also be the final show of his career.

Stevie Ray Vaughn, born and raised in Dallas, was destined to be a musician. Music was a constant in his home; his older brother Jimmie picked up the guitar when he was just eight and, Stevie Ray, followed his lead when he was just seven. Jimmie Vaughn was a great guitarist, but Stevie Ray was a prodigy. When he was twelve, he began to join professional bands who played regularly in Dallas’ blues nightclubs. When he was fifteen, he headlined his first show. He received praise from his fellow blues performers, and while still a teenager, Stevie Ray decided that music was what he wanted to do with his life. So, he dropped out of high school and, in 1970, formed his first blues band, Blackbird. Dallas was fine for learning to play the blues, but Vaughn did not think it was a place to make a career out of playing the blues—and make no mistake, Stevie Ray Vaughn was born to play classic blues music. Austin, with its growing music scene fueled by the country Outlaw movement, the University of Texas core audience, and an emerging live music landscape seemed the better place, so Vaughn and the Blackbirds made the move south.

Blackbird did not survive the move intact, so in 1975 Vaughn joined another band, Paul Ray and the Cobras. His guitar licks filled the band’s missing piece, and The Cobras was named “Austin’s Band of the Year’ in 1976. Two different reviews in that year singled out “young Stevie Vaughn” as the highlight of the group. His popularity spread, and it became time for Vaughn to once again form and lead a new band. He recruited two other rising stars of Austin’s blues vista, bassist W.C. Clark and vocalist Lou Ann Barton and, in 1977, “The Triple Threat Revue” was born. They quickly became the most booked act in Austin. Barton, however, had other plans for her life and left the group two years after its formation. Undeterred, Vaughn and Barton dubbed themselves “Double Trouble” (inspired by an Otis Redding song that Stevie Ray claimed as his favorite) and they continued to perform all over Texas and the Southwest. Jack Newhouse and Tommy Shannon joined them on bass, and Chris Layton played drums. But it was Vaughn on lead guitar and vocals that made them a sensation.

Double Trouble was a Texas phenomenon, but national prominence proved elusive until they played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982. They performed early in the set, which was normal for relatively obscure acts, but superstar David Bowie, waiting backstage, was impressed with the group and especially with Vaughn. He asked Stevie Ray to play on his next album. Stevie played lead on six of the eight songs on “Let’s Dance,” which became Bowie’s biggest selling up to that time. Double Trouble accompanied Vaughn to the recording session in Los Angles and the group joined a “jam session” with another star, Jackson Browne. He was also impressed, and he arranged and paid for a recording session for the band at Downtown Studios as well as a recording contract with Epic Records. Produced by the legendary John Hammond, Double Trouble’s debut album “Texas Flood” came out in the summer of 1983. It became a blockbuster blues success, soaring into the Top 40 and initiated a successful 1984 tour. Vaughn, once again, drew the primary attention, and he broke into national recognition. They released a second album, “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” which was an even bigger success. By the time their third album debuted in 1985, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble were stars.

Like happens with so many artists, success was a blessing and a curse for Stevie Ray Vaughn. He had achieved his dream of national popularity, and his music was hailed by the masses and critics alike as “cutting-edge,” “innovative,” and as one reviewer wrote, “The most fun I have had in a long time.” But, the drive to succeed and to also have the energy to constantly tour and record had caused him to become mired in drug and alcohol addiction. He thought he needed the pills and narcotics to have enough energy and time to perform, and the alcohol helped to stem the tide of the twin demons of shyness and the idea that he would never be as good as he wanted to be. He began to have to cancel shows, and during 1986, when he did appear, he was often intoxicated, which led to backlash from his fans. Finally, in Germany, in the midst of a European tour, he collapsed on stage and had to be hospitalized.

Stevie Ray Vaughn entered a rehab facility and then took almost the entire year of 1987 off to find “center” in his life. Unlike many of his fellow addicts, he did seem to recover. He realized why he had turned to substance abuse and swore to overcome the demons that haunted him. In an interview, he told a reporter for the Milwaukee Sentinel that he was “almost dead” and that “the way I was acting was not me.” He went back on tour in 1988 with Robert Plant, headlined at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, and also recorded an album, “In Step,” that became his most commercially successful album. His gig and introduction at Alpine Valley were part of his career resurgence, and he talked often of how good he felt and how he was overcoming the urge for substance abuse.

There is no telling what kind of heights Stevie Ray Vaughn may have reached as his career began to once again take off. He was just 35, an age when many successful musicians are just starting to blossom. When he finished his set in East Troy, he and the other performers and crew boarded four helicopters that were ferrying them to Chicago for another show. Three of those aircraft made the trip without a hitch, but the one that carried Stevie Ray Vaughn had a malfunction and had barely taken off when it crashed into a nearby ski slope. Stevie Ray Vaughn, a man who one reviewer once called “the greatest Anglo blues guitarist ever,” perished, although his music lives on.

The East Texas Historical Association provides this column as a public service. Scott Sosebee is a Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University and the Executive Director of the Association. He can be contacted at sosebeem@sfasu.edu; www.easttexashistorical.org.