Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Mama, look at little sis. Out in the backyard…Playin’ like this. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Look at little sister. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Look at little sister!
That was the first time I remember hearing a Stevie Ray Vaughan song. I might well have heard one earlier, but maybe I wasn’t into the Blues enough to notice. So, for me, this was my first taste of SRV. Fast forward and I now believe that Stevie Ray Vaughan is the GOAT of electric blues guitarists.
At the time I didn’t actually have a clue who it was. But I remember thinking, “bloody hell, who is this guy?”. The DJ back announced the track — OK so that’s Stevie Ray Vaughan! And so began my lifelong appreciation and enjoyment listening to his incredible music.
In my opinion, I think this guy was the best ever electric blues guitarist the world has seen. Sure, there are and has been a lot of unbelievable Blues guitarists, but this guy had it all. Here’s some of my reasoning…
- Immediately identifiable — for the most part, you know it’s Stevie after hearing the first few bars. Usually it belts you straight away. That huge Texas sound. But even on some of his slower numbers, there is something about his playing that tells you it’s him immediately.
- The dude could really sing. He seemed to have the perfect voice to fit the Blues and his songs in particular. A fantastic mix of power, emotion, bourbon and gravel. He never overdid it — just sang the songs and let the guitar do most of the talking.
- Surrounded himself with an amazing band. When you’re a virtuoso, you have to find the very best guys just to keep up with you. He certainly did that with Double Trouble. Starting off with Chris Layton on drums and Tommy Shannon on bass. And a little later they added Reese Wynans on keyboards. If you check out some YouTube videos you’ll soon see how amazing these guys are. To be able to keep everything tight and together with Stevie is no mean feat. The complexity and skill in there playing is second to none.
- He could play virtually any style. While pretty much everything he played sounded like “Stevie”, he played such a variety of styles. Everything from rockin’, raucous Texas Blues shuffles, stuff that bordered on Jazz, to beautifully delicate ballads and everything in between.
- He could do some seriously freaky shit with a guitar. Again, check out YouTube and watch him playing solos behind his back or head, or switching and restringing guitars in the middle of a song. The guitar was just another body part to Stevie and he seemed to be able to do absolutely anything with it.
- His covers always seemed better than the originals. He took on songs that were amazing to start with, and seemed to elevate and extend them to a whole new level. To the point where listening to the original track becomes a bit of a disappointment really.
- His songs could evoke powerful imagery. In fact, HE evoked powerful imagery. His dress sense was outrageous and totally unique but fitted Stevie perfectly. His signature Stratocaster was part of this imagery, as it screamed dirty Blues, being shabby and well loved.
- Nobody has solo’d as well as him. His solos were simply astonishing. When you watch Stevie, you are watching someone who was born to do that.
So, for me when you put all that stuff together I don’t think anyone else comes close. Their are lots of Blues players I love, but for me, Stevie is the one. One can only imagine what would’ve been had he not died so tragically and so young. He seemed like he’d already lived a long life, so one tends to forget that he had so many great years ahead of him. God damn, he was only 35 when he died! Stevie certainly had battled his demons, like a lot of creative people. But he seemed to have getting on top of all that. But then he was gone.
When you watch some of the interviews of Stevie in his straight and sober phase, it’s clear he was a pretty kind-hearted fella, who thought deeply about himself, the world, and the people in it. If there is some sort of higher power, then it can be pretty cruel sometimes. He did not deserve to be taken away. Thankfully, his legacy lives on. He’s an inspiration for finding and using your talent, and doing what you can to bring a little bit more joy to the world.
Here are some examples of what I’ve been talking about.
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