9. Stevie Ray Vaughan
Unlike with most of my guitar heroes, I grew up just as Stevie Ray Vaughan hit the big time. So I had the pleasure of real time discovery with him and was able to watch him grow and develop, as opposed to discovering him after his best days were already passed and his legend intact.
SRV saved blues music. At least he saved it as a still vibrant musical form in which new and exciting things could still be done. Blues was about as tired and dead as could be by the 1980's. But SRV, along with Robert Cray (#17 on this list), injected new blood and new energy into the genre. In a time period where synthesizers and drum machines were becoming the dominant pop instruments, SRV emerged as a new guitar god on a mission. It helped that he was also such a likeable guy with a flamboyant stage persona reminiscent of Hendrix, with the feather boas and funky hats.
His debut record, Texas Flood, is one of those titanic albums that shifts the landscape of music. It was pure blues, but it was also thoroughly modern. A show of stunning virtuosity with a style fully formed, but also brimming with soul, heart and humor. While not as critically acclaimed, I dig his sophomore effort, Couldn't Stand the Weather, even more. What balls to cover Hendrix's "Voodoo Child"! He also started to develop a thrilling blues/rock hybrid with the funny "Cold Shot" and great title track.
At the time of his tragic death in a helicopter crash, he had just released his most successful and ambitious record yet, In Step. Compounding the tragedy was the fact that SRV had finally overcome his substance abuse problems, and was celebrating a new sobriety and new lease on life. In Step fulfilled the promise of the blues/rock crossover started on Couldn't Stand the Weather and Soul To Soul. Singles like "Crossfire" and "Tightrope" fit just as comfortably on modern rock radio as they did in a sweaty blues club.
ABOVE: The SRV monument in Austin, Texas, his adopted hometown
While I love his own records, two things really stand out for me. First, SRV played lead guitar on David Bowie's 1983 slick pop smash, Let's Dance. The sound of SRV's round blues pegs trying to fit into Bowie's square pop holes created a fascinating tension. Credit Bowie for recognizing that tension and sustaining it over the course of the record. One of my favorite Bowie albums.
Second is a wonderful bootleg I have of a live show in Austin recorded about a month before his death. Never have I heard him play and sing with such concentrated brilliance. He rips through a ferocious, wah-drenched "Voodoo Child," as well as a prophetic "Life Without You," where he raps with the audience about how glad he is to be alive after his struggles with addiction. I was fortunate enough to see SRV in concert four or five times before his death. The most memorable was on a blistering summer day in Houston in the parking lot of the Astrodome at the Miller Lite Festival. I remember the staff hosing down the audience with fire hoses as SRV played. He never failed to wow and entertain.
If I have any complaints about SRV, it is that his playing did not have a lot of variety. But within his style, he was simply untouchable.
ABOVE: Always one of my favorite tunes of his, "Couldn't Stand the Weather." Yeah, he can solo like a madman. But listen to how absolutely funky his playing could also be.
ABOVE: The groovy "Mary Had a Little Lamb" performed on Austin City Limits
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