Month of April 2022: Celebrity Profiles

Now, if you are an avid blues listener, like my husband is, you will undoubtedly rate this book much higher. My husband absolutely has always, and still loves Stevie’s music. He gave this book a 3.5 stars. I never had even heard of him until we met in September 1987. Now, the blues is “almost” right up there with my ‘70’s music.

But, you won’t get the feel of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s real personality from this book. It is pretty dry reading. The authors dropped SOOOOO many blues artist’s names and every joint they ever played in from Dallas, Austin, Houston to San Antonio. I probably only heard about an eighth of the blues singers mentioned.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was a generation between me and my mother. She was born in 1945; I was born October 15, 1964. Stevie was the 2nd and youngest of two boys, born on October 3, 1954…almost exactly 10 years older than me. He was a native of small town, Terrell, Rockwall County, Texas, 33 miles east of Dallas.

Like my parents, Stevie’s parents didn’t decide on a name for him until they signed the birth certificate. They chose his name because it “sounded” good. His older brother, Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan was named after his father, Jimmie Lee Vaughan. My oldest and youngest sisters were both named after my parents. I’m the middle child. They didn’t know what to name me. A black nurse kept calling me Missy and the name has stuck all my life. But, on my birth certificate is a French name that “sounds” really nice: Yvette Renee.

Stevie’s family moved around a LOT for his dad’s job, but they finally settled in a house on Glenfield Street in Oak Cliff, known as “the Brooklyn of the South” (p. 27), and, today, is one of the oldest districts in Dallas, Texas.

By age 11, he was OBSESSED with playing the electric guitar and never looked back. He dreamed about it and, at times, slept with his guitar. If he didn’t have a guitar in hand, he would be fingering notes. He drove other people crazy because that’s all he would ever talk about. He really looked up to his big brother, Jimmie, and wanted to be just like him. Unfortunately, that included drinking and drugs.

When Stevie and Albert King played together at Antone’s, on 6th Street, in Austin for the first time, he sang “Texas Flood” and a few other songs, and because he wasn’t used to singing, Stevie actually apologized for his voice. (p.98) Crazy! He has a beautiful vibrato and quite a sexy voice. King was surprisingly impressed with Stevie’s performance and ability to keep up, where Eric Clapton and a few others had failed and disappointed the King.

At age 22, Stevie decided it was time to finally put his own band together, Triple Threat Revue. But even then, band members came and went frequently due to Stevie’s drug use and disorganization in getting consistent gigs. Eventually, a new group was put together, called Double Trouble. Still, they stayed broke, looking for their next gig, drugs and alcohol. Stevie was 25 years old when he married Lenny (Lenora Darlene Bailey). They were so broke that they made wedding rings out of wire found on the ground.

I thought it was interesting that Stevie wasn’t a big fan of David Bowie (I’m not either. He’s just not my taste). He hated the “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” album most. Stevie didn’t just not like it, it made him mad. (p. 151) Haha! That’s exactly how Stevie’s wild solo guitar jams make me feel…mad and literally pissed off because it sounds like so much chaos with that electric guitar. It sure didn’t help that my husband had to blast it every chance he got for the past 34 years. So sorry Stevie! Otherwise, I do love your music. But, I’m really more of an acoustic guitar person.

In May 1983, radio stations all across the US were gearing up to play a few of Stevie’s music from his album Texas Flood: “Love Struck Baby” and “Pride and Joy”. While I was graduating high school, Stevie was becoming a big name in the blues industry. “Texas Flood” went gold. Double Trouble was travelling and playing at arenas making thousands now, but somehow losing even more than they brought in. He demanded a fifth of crown royal backstage before every concert, and snorted at least 7 grams of coke throughout the concert, and kept (and spent) $5,000 in his boots at all times.

Stevie had done so much coke that he had to have his cartilage in his nose removed. He used to entertain ( or showoff) at the after parties by pulling a hankie through his nose.

April 10, 1985, Stevie sang the “Star Spangled Banner”” at the Houston Astrodome at National League. It was horrible. The crowd boo’d him. They didn’t like it. My husband even said it was horrible. Stevie was so messed up on coke and crown he didn’t even notice. All he could think about at the time was getting Mickey Mantles autograph on his guitar.

In 3 years, by 1986, Stevie was nearly all washed up due to his daily dose of coke and Crown Royal.

On August 27, 1986, his father, who suffered from Parkinson’s, was taken off life support and died. The next day Stevie had to leave Dallas for a tour in London. A month later, on September 29, he began vomiting up blood due to ulcers and holes in his stomach. He collapsed and was taken to the London Clinic for a four-week rest and cared for by the same doctor who treated Eric Clapton through his heroin addiction. Clapton even gave Stevie a visit and encouragement, and sent wagon loads of flowers.

On October 16, 1986 (one day after my 22nd birthday) Stevie entered into the 28-day Charter treatment in Georgia (in the U.S.) on his own. It was life or death. Alcoholics Anonymous’s 12-Step Program was instrumental in helping Stevie come clean. In fact, attending the meetings had become just as much an obsession as snorting coke had previously been. He became a healthaholic, gave up red meat and shopped at Whole Foods Market natural grocery. He turned to God and often gave words of encouragement during his concerts. He was now giving “hugs, not drugs”.

Stevie wanted his next album to be meaningful, and not all about girls, cars and alcohol. When he sat to record “Riviera Paradise” onto Stevie’s last album with Double Trouble, “In Step”, (which was released in July 1989, and went gold, then platinum) lights were turned out in the studio and Stevie turned his back to everyone sitting behind the glass and he lost himself in his music. He finished the song with exactly 8 seconds left on the tape. It was the first take, and it was perfect. He is quoted, “To me the song was a much needed chance to turn the lights off in the studio and basically - I don’t know how to put it any other way - pray through my guitar.” (p. 240)

Listen to his live version here on YouTube (9:54 minutes long):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3c_8VUL5jks&feature=youtu.be

“Tick Tock” carried the message of making amends before its too late, and was sung and played by Stevie and his brother, Jimmie. Stevie told his brother, “Let’s make it clean.” So, Jimmie went into rehab, and this song was made just after Jimmie came out of rehab. It is part of their album, “Family Style”, Stevie’s last recorded album before his death. This song made Billboard’s Top 10 just a few days after he was laid to rest.

Listen to “Tick Tock” here on YouTube. That’s Jimmie starting off the song with talking, then Stevie singing:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N8uUTW9zPbM&feature=youtu.be

On August 27, 1990, on the exact same day his father died, but four years earlier, Stevie, age 35, was killed in a helicopter crash, after finishing a huge concert in Chicago that included a lot of the big blues players…Jimmie Vaughan, Albert King, Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker. Incidentally, this was also one day after my husband’s 26th birthday. We were stationed in South Carolina with the U.S. Coast Guard. He remembers it like it was yesterday.

The fog had begun to roll in. There was only one seat left in the helicopter that was about to take off. Jimmie, his wife and Connie were supposed to all ride back together. Stevie asked his brother if it was alright if he took this one back. It was filled with a few of Eric Clapton’s entourage. Eric Clapton was in the helicopter right behind them when he saw the helicopter simply disappear. He didn’t think anything of it because it was so foggy out, they couldn’t really see much anyways. It wasn’t until early the next morning when they discovered the crash. Jimmie Vaughan and Eric Clapton were asked to go to the sight to identify the bodies. Jimmie saw Stevie’s hat and picked it up. As he headed back to the vehicle, he was wishing he had some momentum from Stevie, when someone came running up and handed him Stevie’s cross from his neck.

Stevie’s cause of death was from a cut aorta, and he was tested negative for drugs in his system.

Stevie is buried in Veteran’s Section 15, next to his father, at Laurel Land Memorial Park in south Oak Cliff.

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s official YouTube Channel:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxPlXqVP-0GvvGG-WrE_6Iw


Genealogy: Need to research

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s grandparents, James Robert and Sarah Catherine Vaughan, were originally from Fulton County, Arkansas. (p. 5) I have Vaughan ancestors on my dad’s paternal side that I have never researched before. My grandfather Julius Leslie Roberts mother was a Vaughan: Mary Roseanna Vaughan (b. 1841, Vermilion Parish, LA - d. 1929 Elton, LA). I haven’t even researched who her parents are. It might mean I will have to research a little of Stevie’s family as well to see if we connect anywhere along the line. FUN! ( )

I am a huge Stevie Ray Vaughan fan, saw him several times in concert, and have a deep appreciation for his music. SRV grew up as a musician, as did most of his family, and everyone familiar with his story knows that his rise to fame was also accompanied by his descent into drug abuse.

Vaughan’s professional musical career lasted only seven years and six albums. By 1986 Vaughan was in rehab, hopelessly addicted to drugs and alcohol. After cleaning up his act, it looked like he got his personal life and music back on track. In 1990, just as he was reaching new artistic heights, his helicopter crashed near Alpine Valley, Wisconsin after a concert. Music deaths rarely get as tragic as Vaughan’s.

At the time of his death on August 27, 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan left behind a large collection of recordings. Over the years, his record companies have continued to issue his music in various formats. Jimmie Vaughan, his brother, took control of his intellectual property rights after his death so his music continues to live on decades after his death.




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If there is any book out there that will bring you into SRV's life, this is the book. Joe Nick spent a great deal of time in Austin Tx and became an expert on the life and music of Stevie. I consider myself a big fan, and by reading this book, I found out more than I thought I knew. Joe Patoski is also a great guy. I got the chance to talk with him at the Author Banquet that honored him in Duncanville TX. ( )

I became a Stevie Ray Vaughan fan shortly before his untimely death. After reading his biography, I became an even bigger fan. Thoroughly enjoyable read. ( )