it is best to remember the life of an American guitar legend. Born on October 3rd, 1954 in Dallas, Texas, he was a famed guitarist who influenced many different styles of music. For thirty years he has been remembered as one of the greatest guitarists in the world.
It is hard to believe that it has been more than three decades since his death. When we think back to his legacy and career, Stevie Ray Vaughan will always be remembered for being a talented musician who shaped music forever with his own unique sound and style.
Legacy
Vaughan throughout his career revived blues rock and paved the way for many other artists. Vaughan's work continues to influence numerous blues, rock and alternative artists, including John Mayer, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Mike McCready, Albert Cummings, Los Lonely Boys and Chris Duarte, among others. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Vaughan as "the leading light in American blues" and developed "a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre". In 1983, Variety magazine called Vaughan the "guitar hero of the present era".
In the months that followed his death, Vaughan sold over 5.5 million albums in the United States. On September 25, 1990, Epic released Family Style, an LP the Vaughan brothers cut at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The label released several promotional singles and videos for the collaborative effort. In November 1990, CMV Enterprises released Pride and Joy, a collection of eight Double Trouble music videos.Sony signed a deal with the Vaughan estate to obtain control of his back catalog, as well as permission to release albums with previously unreleased material and new collections of released work. On October 29, 1991, The Sky Is Crying was released as Vaughan's first posthumous album with Double Trouble, and featured studio recordings from 1984–1985. Other compilations, live albums, and films have also been released since his death.
On October 3, 1991, Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed "Stevie Ray Vaughan Commemoration Day", during which a memorial concert was held at the Texas Theatre.In 1993, a memorial statue of Vaughan was unveiled on Auditorium Shores and is the first public monument of a musician in Austin.In September 1994, a Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Run for Recovery was held in Dallas; the event was a benefit for the Ethel Daniels Foundation, established to help those in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction who cannot afford treatment.
In 1999, the Musicians' Assistance Program (later renamed MusiCares MAP Fund) created the "Stevie Ray Vaughan Award" to honor the memory of Vaughan and to recognize musicians for their devotion to helping other addicts struggling with the recovery process. The recipients include Eric Clapton, David Crosby, Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Pete Townshend, Chris Cornell, Jerry Cantrell, Mike McCready, among others.
In 2005, Martha Vaughan established the Stevie Ray Vaughan Scholarship, awarded by W.E. Greiner Middle School to students who intend to attend college and pursue the arts as a profession.
Awards and honors
Vaughan won five W. C. Handy Awards and was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000. In 1985, he was named an honorary admiral in the Texas Navy. Vaughan had a single number-one hit on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for the song "Crossfire". His album sales in the US stand at over 15 million units. Family Style, released shortly after his death, won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album and became his best-selling, non-Double Trouble studio album with over a million shipments in the US. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him seventh among the "100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time". He also became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, but did not appear on a nominations roster until 2014. He was inducted in the RRHOF alongside Double Trouble in 2015. Guitar World Magazine ranked him as no. 8 in its list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists.
In 1994 the city of Austin, Texas erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial on the hiking trail beside Lady Bird Lake.
Guitar
Vaughan owned and used a variety of guitars during his career. His guitar of choice, and the instrument that he became most associated with, was the Fender Stratocaster, his favorite being a 1963 body, with a 1962 neck, and pickups dated from 1959. This is why Vaughan usually referred to his Stratocaster as a, "1959 Strat." He explained why he favored this guitar in a 1983 interview: "I like the strength of its sound. Any guitar I play has got to be pretty versatile. It's got a big, strong tone and it'll take anything I do to it." Vaughan also referred to this instrument as his "first wife," or, "Number One.
Best Of His Videos :)
Cold Shot
Cold Shot" (originally credited to Michael Kindred and W. C. Clark; later incorrectly credited to only Michael Kindred)
Life by the Drop
This song is by Stevie Ray Vaughan and appears on the Posthumous album The Sky Is Crying (1991) and on the compilation album The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (2002).
Couldn't Stand the Weather
Couldn't Stand the Weather is the second studio album by American blues-rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. It was released on May 15, 1984, by Epic Records as the follow-up to the band's critically and commercially successful 1983 album, Texas Flood. Recording sessions took place in January 1984 at the Power Station in New York City.
Tightrope
“Tightrope” – part of the “In Step” album of 1989 is about Stevie’s road to recovery from his Cocaine and Alcohol addiction. “In Step” was the last album that Stevie would record with Double Trouble
The Sky is Crying
"The Sky Is Crying" is a blues standard written and initially recorded by Elmore James in 1959. Called "one of his most durable compositions", "The Sky Is Crying" became an R& B record chart hit and has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists like SRV