5 Facts About The Legendary Guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan

Live at Carnegie Hall (Stevie Ray Vaughan album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)By Jim J Ward

Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of the more important guitarists in recent history and sadly he lost his life when on August 27, 1990, the helicopter he was in crashed into a ski hill in East Troy, Wisconsin.

His CDs and his awesome blues guitar playing still inspire generations of musicians, which includes a number of the worlds top guitarists, and no question with the passing of time, this will never change.

Listed here are 5 nuggets of knowledge about Stevie Ray Vaughan that you may not know:

1. Stevie Ray Vaughan came into this world on October 3, 1954 in Dallas Texas though transferred to Austin at the age of 17. He was the younger brother Jimmie Vaughan also a highly acclaimed guitar player. He was known by by his initials SRV which he famously put on on the scratch plate of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.

2. In the beginning SRV created a band named Triple Threat Review which later developed to become the blues rockband Double Trouble in 1978. Double Trouble recorded four studio albums including the legendary debut project Texas Flood in 1983, which was an important breakthrough accomplishment.

3. Stevie Ray was an exceedingly emotional and melodic guitar player and utilised a number of vintage guitars and amplifiers to generate his trademark sound. In contrast to many other top guitarists, Stevie Ray preferred using very heavy strings on his guitars to further hone his legendary personal sound from his Stratocaster's guitar pickups. It is known that he wasn't very fussy with regards to the brand of string he utilised provided that they were 'as thick as barbed wire'.

4. Stevie Ray owned a mouthwatering collection of vintage electric guitars but had become widely known for his common use of a Fender Stratocaster, his much-loved guitar being a 1963 model he took possession of in 1973. Another favourite 1963/64 Stratocaster was purchased for him by his wife Lenora as he did not have enough money to purchase the guitar himself. This particular Stratocaster was frequently acknowledged simply as Lenny. This Guitar was subsequently sold at auction in 2004 to raise revenue for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre and achieved an extremely healthy $ 623,500.

5. He has regularly achieved critical acclaim for his albums and guitar playing and in 2003 he was rated at number 7 in Rolling Stone magazine's directory of 100 greatest guitarists. He also received a posthumous induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000.

So there you have it, 5 little nuggets of information with regards to the wonderful Stevie Ray Vaughan. If you haven't yet experienced the sensational jazzy, blues guitar playing of SRV, there's certainly no better time than now.

Jim Ward is a keen guitar player and often writes about various aspects of the electric guitar. For an excellent guitar blog and also high quality replacement Stratocaster pickups and Les Paul humbucker pickups he recommends visiting: TubGuitarPickups.co.uk.

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