Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954 - 1990)
His main influences are blues masters Albert King, Albert Collins, Lonnie Mack, Buddy Guy, B.B. King. Stevie Ray Vaughan assimilated other guitar players’ styles and then incorporated his own. The end result is an original sound that honours his predecessors as much as it leaves a legacy for generations to come.
His improvisation talent is almost unprecedented. One can say he had a non-stop flow of notes coming out of his guitar, but he always managed to keep tasteful phrasing and never sounded saturated (i.e. Scuttle Buttin’, Pride and Joy). On the other hand, he could play smooth, gentle phrases too (i.e. Riviera Paradise, Tin Pan Alley, Little Wing). Many guitar legends, such as B.B. King and Eric Clapton, recognize this rare talent of Stevie. Stevie Ray Vaughan must have had very strong hands, as his Stratocaster was by most standards a very uncomfortable guitar with a very high action and thick strings. He would often play an explosive short burst of notes followed by a pause or chord melodies (i.e. Better Leave My Little Girl Alone). Like many excellent musicians, he was known to practice constantly. He would have many Strats in his tour bus and there are many anecdotes about how he would play and practice after a concert. One more example that talent is worthless without dedication! (ask Paco de Lucia).
His band, Double Trouble -although not always recognized-, was such a solid ensemble featuring bassist Tommy Shannon, drummer Chris Layton and later Reese Wynans on the keyboard. The main thing to remember about Stevie Ray Vaughan’s music goes beyond his incredible technique. Stevie Ray Vaughan transmitted passion through music like only few could. I think this is his main legacy, the way he took guitar expression to new heights.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s tone is unmistakeable, very rich and takes the Stratocaster sound to its limit (and even abuse, as his guitar endured really bad treatment). This is in part due to the heavy gauge of his strings (0.013 to 0.056). He tuned his guitar half a tone down (Eb), which somehow softened the tension of the strings. Anyone who has played using 0.013 – 0.056 knows how complicated it could be to do a full-tone bend in regular tuning. He would prefer the tremolo bar to be placed upside down in his guitars. He owned many guitars, the following being his most famous ones:
Other known guitars are: Scotch, Red, Yellow, Black, Charley and Dobro. He used GHS Customer Nickel Rockers strings: .013, .015, .019, .028, .038, 056. His most used amps were:
Like most blues players, Stevie Ray Vaughan played with simple equipment. His sound is accomplished through good taste and simplicity. When you’re such an amazing guitar player, that’s all you need! Anyways, he would set his amps the loudest way possible aiming to get a nice overdrive (not fuzz or distortion) and then he would use his favourite pedals:
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s talent deserved to emerge like a storm, and it did with the release of "Texas Flood" in 1983. This album was recorded “live", which means vocals, rhythm and leads are recorded in the same take. It features songs such as:
One year after, in 1984, he released his second album “Could’t Stand The Weather". Equally good, this album confirmed SRV’s position as a rising guitar legend. It has its fair share of guitar classics, as you can see:
Scuttle Buttin’, one of my favourite songs by Stevie Ray Vaughan, followed by Say What! Scuttle Buttin’ is a very challenging modern blues song where string pull-offs are the main theme. Try to do that using gauge 0.013-0.056 strings! Like Robert Cray once mentioned: “There will be a lot of frustrated guitar players out there trying to play Stevie’s stuff". I like the use of the wah pedal in Say What!, which brings a nice twist to an otherwise more traditional 12-bar instrumental blues. SRV playing Little Wing. This is pure Stevie Ray Vaughan, playing “First Wife" and adding his vigorous playing to a mellow tune like Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing. Then he takes the audience to all different levels of intensity. Also, you can hear the sound of the Fender Vibratone rotating speaker in some passages (similar to a chorus effect, where the frequencies overlap). Finally, the use of the tremolo bar on the upper side of the bridge, as opposed to the standard location near the controls. The use of the tremolo bar was widely used by Jimi Hendrix and was later adopted by guitar players such as Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani. Stormy Monday, with Albert King. This video shows a 29 years old Stevie jamming with his main guitar influence, the year he released Texas Flood and reached international success. The great thing to notice about this video is the similarities between the two styles, yet SRV brings his own fresh playing to traditional blues. Another thing I like about this video is how they both give each other space and how they show mutual respect. Stevie’s guitar sounds a little thinner and looks like Lenny, but I’m not 100% sure. Rude Mood. Released in Texas Flood, this Grammy-nominated song is a great display of technique and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s unique style. Pull-offs, complex rhythm, intensity, chord-muting, alternating bass lines and speed are the main ingredients of it. There are just so many “tricks" in this song that only SRV can make it sound like that.
Lenny. A great example of Stevie’s versatile guitar playing. Not everything is explosive in his repertoire. Of course, as he builds tension in the performance he gives us his trademark intense guitar playing too. Most of the song is executed with the pickup in the neck position, but he uses the volume and tone control to work with the dynamics of the song.
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