Stevie Ray Vaughan

i dunno if any of you have heard of Stevie Ray Vaughan but he was a really influential blues-rock guitarist, but unfortunately his passed away on the 27th of August 1990 in a helicopter crash, he was only 36 at the time. It's always a shame when people so talented as Stevie Ray have to die so young he had recorded his 1st album only in 1983. Below are some facts about this guitar legend. Stevie Ray is ranked 7# in Rolling Stone's 100 greatest guitarist of all time list.

• Vaughan was born on October 3, 1954, in Dallas, Texas, and was raised in the city's Oak Cliff

neighborhood.

• On August 25 and August 26, 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble finished the summer portion of the In Step Tour with shows at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, just outside of East Troy, Wisconsin. The show also featured Robert Cray & His Memphis Horns, and Eric Clapton.

  The musicians had expected a long bus ride back to Chicago. However, Vaughan was informed by a member of Clapton's crew that three seats were open on one of the helicopters returning to Chicago with Clapton's crew, enough for Vaughan, his brother Jimmie, and Jimmie's wife Connie. It turned out there was only one seat left; Vaughan requested it from his brother, who obliged. At 12:44 a.m. pilot Jeffrey Browne guided the helicopter off the ground. Moments after takeoff the helicopter crashed into a ski slope and all five on board were killed. Although the crash occurred only 0.6 miles from takeoff, it went unnoticed by those at the concert site.

  The search for the wreckage began at 5:00 a.m., finally being located two hours later with the help of its locator beacon.The cause of the crash was believed to be pilot error.

  Chris Layton and Jimmie Vaughan did not find out about the crash until they returned to their motel in Chicago. The following morning Jimmie Vaughan was called to identify the body of his brother. The coroner's report stated that the cause of death was exsanguinationsevering of the aorta. The severance was caused by high deceleration during crash impact. caused by

• Stevie Ray Vaughan is interred in the Laurel Land Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.

What touched me the most about Stevie Ray was the fact that he really loved his guitars, he had tons of guitars but he only really cared and loved two of his guitars his "Number one" and "Lenny".

Number One (also known as First Wife) was a 1963 Fender Stratocaster used by Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan for most of his career. After purchasing the instrument from Ray Henning's Heart of Texas music shop in Austin, Texas, in 1973, Vaughan made heavy use of the guitar on all five of the studio albums released in his lifetime and in Family Style an album recorded with his brother Jimmie shortly before his death in 1990.

Stevie Ray said that he knew straightaway that there was something special about First Wife. He liked the sunburst finish and the thick, oddly shaped D-neck. Stevie Ray had large hands and the unusually thick neck felt comfortable.

"I didn't even have to play it - I just knew by the way it looked that it would sound great. I was carrying my '63 Strat and asked if [Ray] would like to trade. Thank God he did, and it's been my main axe ever since."

Soon after he got the guitar, Vaughan found some "SRV" clear plastic letters at a truck stop that were painted white which he placed on his pick guard.

His Lenny guitar was a used 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar which was given to him by his wife Lenora"Lenny" Vaughan on his 26th birthday. The guitar caught his eye in a local pawnshop but at the time he was not yet famous and he couldn't afford the guitar which cost $350. So on his birth day his wife got a few friends together and they all chipped in $50 to buy the guitar for Stevie. That night while his wife was sleeping Stevie Ray sat up the whole night writing a song for her, and he called the song and the guitar "Lenny" the only uses Lenny to play that song,
and no matter where he goes on tour he always brings his "Number One" and "Lenny" guitars with him.