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  #16  
Old 03-18-2008, 07:06 AM
Lewguitar Lewguitar is offline
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I remember where I was when Jimi Hendrix died and I was working at Discount Records in Ann Arbor Michigan and an old friend from Detroit called to tell me.

And I remember what I was doing when Stevie died. I was listening to KBCO in Boulder and one of the DJ's said there was a report of a helicopter crash and that at least one famous musician had died. Then they came back after a few more songs and said that it was Stevie Ray.

He was my favorite blues/rock guitarist since the greats of the 60's: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix were at their peak...although Jeff Beck just keeps getting better and better.
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  #17  
Old 06-22-2008, 07:30 AM
guitar-gueezer guitar-gueezer is offline
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Cool Would you have liked Stevie to play Gospel?

I for one would have liked it, and my dream came true! Trust me on this one....no, it was not Stevie playing Gospel, but a native Indian family Gospel band from New Mexico called the "Plateros"....the lead guitarist was playing as good as I've ever heard Stevie play.
jj
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  #18  
Old 06-22-2008, 05:32 PM
Keira Keira is offline
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I saw Stevie at the Sydney Opera House on the "Couldn't Stand the Weather" tour the day after the most insane floods Sydney has ever seen. The night before I was playing in a band and coming home in the van was like driving a speed boat, you only knew where the road was by the placement of the telegraph poles! Car's were floating into store windows, guys were out on surfboards in the CBD!

I never forgave him for not saying "Couldn't Stand the Weather" when he came on stage. He musta heard of the flood even if he hadn't flown in and floods aren't common place in Sydney.

Anyway his playing was so insanely good I went out and bought another ticket the next day and was lucky enough to get a single seat in the second row in the middle and smuggle my camera in with a long lens.

As to his personality I have little doubt he was softly spoken and just focused on his addictions, guitar music and alcohol. It would be difficult to see beyond that I think. Shame Clapton offered him that spare seat on the 'copter... oh well

Anyway I forgive you now Stevie for missing a perfectly syncronistic and funny marketing line. Thank god for recordings eh what?

P.S. Jimi's VC Slight Return is still the best.
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  #19  
Old 06-22-2008, 06:21 PM
TODD KESTER TODD KESTER is offline
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I met Stevie in Atlanta when the music store I was working for in Birmingham Alabama did some work for his then guitar tech Rene Martinez. This was a few months before his death.He was very friendly softspoken and seemed very humble. I remember staring at his hands seeing all the veins sticking out everywhere.
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  #20  
Old 06-22-2008, 06:33 PM
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Hondo Hondo is offline
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I knew Stevie and Jimmie when we lived in Dallas. We moved to Austin at different times (between 74 - 76) for the same reason - the scene was just wide open and too cool to not be there.

We weren't 'running buddies' but would jam together from time to time - mainly when visiting each other's gigs or at someone else's gigs. The whole Austin scene overlapped musically then - the lines between Blues, Progressive Country, Traditional Country and Traditional Rock were, for the most part, blurred.

The only 'star' was Willie Nelson (although BW Stevenson, Willis Ramsey and Asleep at the Wheel were pretty close) as all of us were trying to make a living, trying to get 'heard' and having a pretty good time of it all. The whole scene in Austin was pretty cool in the fact that even the 'stars' jammed and partied with 'unknowns'. My understanding is that LA and Nashville were not like that. It was quite an experience.

As far as his personality, he was pretty funny, not introverted, but not obnoxious. Both he and Jimmie were just regular guys who happened to be incredible musicians.

I moved to San Antonio in 1980 to go to a guitar school and then moved to New Mexico. I quit playing professionally in 1982 and my life went a different direction than playing in nightclubs. As a result, I lost touch with most of the guys in Austin, so I wasn't around when Stevie's star really ascended. I wasn't surprised, though, and was deeply saddened by the news of his death.
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  #21  
Old 06-26-2008, 06:05 PM
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Interesting. I had a completely different impression. I wouldn't say I knew him and I didn't jam with him. I was more in the jazz world and only met him on occasion. We did share the stage at the Armadillo World Headquarters a few times. This was the mid-70's, 1976 I think. I was playing saxophone in a jazz rock band called 'Hand to Mouth' (awful name) and he was in 'The Blue Cobras' (I think, long time ago). He was a scruffy, homely guy usually in a funny hat (like a cap someone from NYC would wear before baseball hats became ubiquitous) that did not speak very well but was nice enough. He was pale and emaciated. He did not come off as terribly bright or innovative and was not even considered a good musician among the folks I ran with. The local guitar hero was a young Eric Johnson in the Electromagnets, not Stevie Ray. I don't know what happened between then and him becoming a guitar icon. Certainly would not have predicted it.
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Last edited by Spook; 06-26-2008 at 06:13 PM.
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  #22  
Old 06-26-2008, 06:43 PM
Bluelew Bluelew is offline
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The truth about the superglue is Stevie would play till his calouses would sometimes peel and glued them down, that's the fact from his techs and bandmates, that other stuff is a myth.
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  #23  
Old 06-30-2008, 01:45 PM
sharkydude50 sharkydude50 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitar-gueezer View Post
....the lead guitarist was playing as good as I've ever heard Stevie play.
jj
You must not have seen the "Live in Montreaux" DVD yet bra.
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  #24  
Old 07-04-2008, 11:11 AM
Troisnoir Troisnoir is offline
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I never met him, but I consider him to be way beyond most guitarists I've seen or heard.

I remember getting the Austin City Limits video and just being blown away. I kept telling my wife how great he was, and although she isn't into guitar, she can still appreciate quality music...she's just not enamored with it all. After I got the video, I eventually got her to watch it, and I asked her what she thought while it was playing. She said I was right, he's pretty good. But she had one question: she noticed the cameras were cutting from Stevie to the drummer, the bassist and the keyboardist, and back to Stevie...how come they never show the other guitarist? I said there isn't another guitarist...when she picked her jaw up off the floor, her opinion had risen substantially!
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  #25  
Old 07-04-2008, 11:32 AM
cocobolo_guy cocobolo_guy is offline
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I did not personally know Stevie, But I sure knew of the man. I remember the day the news came across rock 92 in NC when they announced his death. They played Riviera Paradise as a tribute. I cried like a baby, shoot I tearing up even now. Simply put He was one of the greats

Riviera Paradise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_uuU81cwVw
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Last edited by cocobolo_guy; 07-04-2008 at 12:07 PM. Reason: Add link for youtube
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  #26  
Old 07-04-2008, 11:18 PM
bryankimsey bryankimsey is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewguitar View Post
And I remember what I was doing when Stevie died. I was listening to KBCO in Boulder and one of the DJ's said there was a report of a helicopter crash and that at least one famous musician had died.
My wife was working at Los Alamos Nat'l Lab and I was helping with some computer problem or another. The radio was on and I heard "blah...blah...blah.... Stevie Ray Vaughan was 36 years old." That got my attention.

I never got to see him play. Missed him several times. One time I was working on my Master's research and took a week off to fly home from SLC to Albuq. While home, a friend of mine mentioned he'd just seen SRV play in Albuq. When? The day I landed in Albuq!!! Upon arriving back to the study site, everyone was gone. I asked one of the few remaining folks and she said "Oh, they've all gone into town to hear Stevie Ray Vaughan play...."
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  #27  
Old 07-06-2008, 01:57 PM
bluecollarman bluecollarman is offline
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Must admit I had never heard of SRV until just 3 or 4 years ago. On a rare day in my daily commute I actually had the radio on instead of a cd and heard this song that blew me away. I'd never heard of this Stevie Ray Vaughn. When I got to the office I did a quick internet search to discover he had died a few years before. I stopped on the way home and bought SRV's Greatest Hits and listened to it for days.

What a loss.
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  #28  
Old 09-03-2012, 08:25 PM
ptferris ptferris is offline
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Default early 80s in Austin ...

Just came across this thread and had to comment. I met Stevie through a family friend, who at the time was sharing an apt. with Tommy Shannon. His wife, Lynne, and my sister-in-law also spent some time together. I left a guitar at that apt. and one night received a phone call .... It was Stevie asking if he could play me guitar. Had I been thinking ... and a little less shocked, I would have asked him to sign it, scratch it or otherwise make his mark upon it. I always suspected the family friend put him up to the call, but nonetheless, he did it. Seeing him live in Austin was hands down one of the best music experiences ever.

RIP Stevie.
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  #29  
Old 11-06-2017, 10:09 PM
lcgeek lcgeek is offline
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Thread revival. Skip past the first 20 seconds or so and enjoy SRV tearing it up on an old Gibson. Classic.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BMK1g4rHrWY

Last edited by lcgeek; 11-06-2017 at 10:16 PM.
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  #30  
Old 11-08-2017, 11:16 AM
Neon Soul Neon Soul is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewguitar View Post
I doubt that ever happened...
Well it did happen according to Rene Martinez, Stevie's guitar tech that was with him at most of his shows.

Rene said the final straw for the big strings was when Stevie requested Rene's arm instead of his own, probably as a joke, and Rene decided that was it and started moving him down to 11's.
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