Stevie Ray picked up the guitar first time at the age of 8. His first instrument was a western toy six-string guitar made by Sears. First electric guitar was a hollow-body Gibson Messenger from his brother Jimmie. Originally Stevie wanted to play the drums.
In 1982 The Rolling Stones hired Double Trouble to play at a private party for in New York City.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble first time appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982. Even if not well received, Stevie attracted attention from David Bowie and he was invited to play on best selling Bowie’s Let's Dance album in the songs "Let's Dance" and "China Girl." In 1985 Stevie played in Montreux again with much better results.
The first band of Stevie was Blackbird that he founded when he was 17 after dropping out of high school and moving to Austin, Texas.
The first album Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded with other group The Nightcrawlers for A&M Records, but the company refused to release the album. It was finally released in 2009 on Chicago label Blue Skunk Music
Stevie appeared in one movie "Back to the Beach", directed by Lyndall Hobbs in 1987. He performed "Pipeline" alongside surf guitar legend Dick Dale.
Stevie Ray Vaughan played with the wrong end of the pick. He played with the heavier, thicker part. This was due to Stevie's extremely heavy attack on the guitar strings when he played.
John Mayer cities Stevie Ray Vaughan among his greatest influences. He has “SRV” tattooed on his arm!
In 1989 Stevie Ray Vaughan performed at George H.W. Bush’s inauguration party.
This is only rumor that Clapton gave up his seat in the helicopter that crashed near East Troy, Wisconsin with Stevie on board. As Clapton explained, following a concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theater where Stevie he appeared with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and his older brother Jimmie Vaughan, there were 4 copters chartered to fly musicians back to Chicago. Stevie was on board a different helicopter with 2 of Eric's crew.
A day before helicopter crash, 36 days before Stevie's 36th birthday, Vaughan told his band and crew members about a horrible nightmare in which he was at his own funeral and saw thousands of mourners.
Stevie Ray never saw Hendrix perform live even if he cited Jimmi Hendrix and BB King among his greatest influences.
Stevie couldn't read music. He said: " It was more like math to me. A lot of songs I write now … I don’t even know what key they're in."
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