To me, this picture says it all about the value of integrity, hard-work and passion for music, self-confidence (that comes from staying true to yourself and your talent) and style…and answers the question why so many people LOVE the Vaughan Brothers – Jimmie and Stevie Ray…
Between them, I’ve seen Jimmie and Stevie Ray more than a dozen times – I’ll always remember the first time I saw each of them.
Sure, part of that is the incredible talent and tone, part of it is the fact that I was SO into the blues at that time it was like my neurons were going to shoot right through my frontal cortex hearing the first note as the crunching of the Texas Shuffle or Chicago Blues tune chugged along.
But there was something else…
It was the deadly combination of self-assurance and talent from decades of playing and competing in music-rich Dallas and Austin Texas, the integrity and honesty of having stuck to their guns even though the music industry tried multiple times to throw them off course and that style…
Tell me if you don’t see all of that wrapped up in these pictures.
Now, close your eyes and imagine what a dramatic entrance with 100 Watts or more of power surging out of perfectly setup Fender amps fed by the raw power and smooth tone of the single coils fueling the Fender Stratocasters piloted by the Vaughan Brothers…you are (or would be if you have never caught either of them in concert…sadly it is too late for Stevie Ray though you can still get a sense through the multitude of videos available online…but luckily you can see the very busy and relevant Jimmie who is hotter than Texas Ashphalt in July these days)
I can still see the day nearly 35-years ago when Stevie Ray brought his Double Trouble Couldn’t Stand the Weather Tour to Ottawa’s National Arts Center to lay a beating on it like it had never seen before…Aug 16th, 1984 – what a night…my sense of life and music were changed forever moments after he entered a black stage playing the first few bars of “Scuttle Buttin…” and THEN…
The house lights came up and from the 3rd row this giant of a figure wearing a poncho with his trademark black zorro hat with Texas emblem loud and proud – my mind was blown. The rest of the evening was an orgy of power, finesse, tone, honesty and GREAT music from the entire band.
Never again would I be THAT blown away and still search out that perfect combination of talent, confidence, integrity/honesty and style – it comes along once in a lifetime (something like the impact of seeing Hendrix live I would imagine…a chance I never had unfortunately) – and now Jimmie carries the torch in his own HONEST and integral way…I still get the feeling when I see him as I did in San Francisco last year.
It’s a rare thing…if you can remember a similar experience when you saw your favorite artist live, share it here and maybe we can all catch the wave one more time.
Filed under blues guitar, stevie ray vaughan, texas blues by on Jul 23rd, 2019. Comment. 
One of my favorite clips ever, take a look at the concentration and respect shown on Albert Collins and Jimmie Vaughan’s face as they watch one of the early Texas Blues masters Lightning Hopkins.
There are obviously many varieties of the blues, as you hear Jimmie talk about near the end of the clip – Texas definitely has its own interpretation marked by horns, big sound and honesty.
Filed under texas blues by on Mar 6th, 2015. Comment.
Who would have thought of seeing the Foo Fighters with the Austin blues greats Jimmie Vaughan and Gary Clarke Jr…but it works when they lay into a killer version of the Fabulous Thunderbirds “Tuff Enough” –
Great to see Jimmie playing in the upper switch position on the strat (the FAT sound) and with a pick – nice change and back to the good ol days of the T-Birds!
Filed under Blues Legends, jimmie vaughan by on Feb 6th, 2015. Comment.
Cool “raw” interview with Jimmie Vaughan, you get to see a “behind the scenes” of filming an interview.
Some great highlights from the interview:
- How The Fabulous T-Birds got their start as the Antone’s house band where they backed the who’s who of blues singers
- Why they moved down from Dallas to Austin (hippie scene, cops are nicer)
- Some of the many Texas musical influences from Bob Wills to Buddy Holly
- History of how Stevie Ray improved while Jimmie was out on the road
Love these types of in-depth interviews – always learn something new
Filed under Blues Legends, texas blues by on Dec 30th, 2014. Comment.
Saw Jimmie and his band on a plane from Toronto heading to London last Sunday – couldn’t believed when I was boarding the plane, looked up and there was Jimmy Vaughan and his terrific band.
Unfortunately, I had to return to Canada prior to this gig in London at “Under The Bridge”. You can still catch him in Europe at the Blues Express in Differdange, Luxembourg and BOSPOP Festival in Weert, Netherlands (Who are no doubt lamenting their World Cup Semi-Final Loss) or shows in Germany and France as well – you can keep up to date with his rigorous schedule on his Facebook page here. Leave a comment if you have been to a Jimmie Vaughan show lately. I’ll get another chance to see him when he plays back up in the Ottawa area in August.
Here is a quick video of one song from his recent European Tour – Jimmy Vaughan and the Tilt-A-Whirl-Band — Oh, and just for good measure, this is followed by a video of a younger Jimmie with Kim Wilson in the Fabulous ThunderBird days – on non other than Johnny Carson!
And on the Johnny Carson Show…
Filed under jimmie vaughan, texas blues by on Jul 11th, 2014. Comment.
The first of its kind brings back bitter-sweet memories for us fans and no doubt for Stevie Ray Vaughan’s loved ones.
Just listen to Jimmy’s words…”I want to thanks Bob for coming in and talking to me about this (the idea of the exhibit), you know I have all of Stevie’s stuff and I don’t really know what to do with it, you know, I go and look at it sometimes and then there’s also the part about he’s my little brother and I, you know, I’m supposed to protect my little brother so I never really know what to do with a lot of his stuff emotionally – you know…”
Couldn’t have put it better Jimmy, you have been a good, honest steward of your little brother’s things and legacy…good job JLV!
Filed under jimmie vaughan, stevie ray vaughan by on Jul 7th, 2014. Comment.
What more could you want than the spot-on blues guitar playing of Jimmie Vaughan with the Joplin-like vocals of Susan Tedeschi belting a BB King tune (Let the good times roll) backed by the #1 blues backup band in the world – Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton of Double Trouble – Stevie Ray Vaughan’s former band)
Listen for the incredible timing, soul and jump that this song holds from a line-up that respects the tradition of pure blues.
Filed under blues guitar, Blues Legends by on Dec 27th, 2013. Comment.
I’ll admit it – I’m a YouTube junkie when it comes to keeping an eye on blues guitar greats – past and present.
This little gem was posted recently showing the Mike Flanigin Trio featuring the one and only Jimmy Vaughan on guitar at the Upstairs portion of the Continental Club in Austin Texas.
The song is “Hey Baby” – the massive one-hit produced by Bruce Channel who has been linked in history to Delbert McClinton (a name that is perhaps better known).
The Continental has a rich history opening in Austin in 1957 that includes stints as a popular burlesque club where girls like “Bubbles” and “Candy” graced the stage. How could this NOT evolve into a blues club right?
The 1970’s are where the magic happened with incredible blues guitar acts were booked including the Vaughan Brothers (Stevie Ray and Jimmie in their own bands through the 70’s into the 80’s as well as guys like WC Clark – going to catch him at Ottawa’s Bluesfest this year – The Cobras – with SRV and without – Joe Ely, Leroy Parnell, the Sexton Brothers (Charlie of Arc Angles fame and now a constant fixture in Dylan’s road bands).
Not bad right?
Thing is, you rarely see the big names giving back like this anymore. They all came out of the Texas blues or honkeytonk scene, this clip gives us a glimpse into what it must have been like back in the blues guitar heydey in Austin, not to mention the active club scenes in both Dallas and Houston.
Filed under Blog by on May 1st, 2013. Comment.
Came across this video sharing the details of Jimmie Vaughan’s guitar setup…if you are a fan of Jimmie you know that he is a minimalist (that’s what they called Steve Jobs by the way…so nothing wrong with that!)
I’m a huge fan of Jimmie Vaughan’s simple, clear, biting tone – but find at times he could use some more sustain and little more low end.
Indeed, in this setup we see why he gets such a “thin” tone…it includes often setting the Fender Strat pickup to one of the lower positions, setting the tone to high treble and playing the guitar “cold” (not at full volume) as well as his amplifiers are set with presence and treble extremely high (almost full) with Bass way down near 3-4.
Interesting talk with his guitar tech, always learn from these setup reviews:
Filed under jimmie vaughan by on May 11th, 2012. Comment.
Wow man, I was so impressed by this Jimmie Vaughan interview, mainly because he goes through the thought process of how he (and how other great blues guitar players like BB, Freddie King, Eric Clapton and Gatemouth Brown) developed their own style.
It’s one thing to learn the guitar, another to be able to play like your heroes and still another to have the confidence and desire to forge your own sound.
Not only do you become a musician and guitar player, but you become an innovator and artist using this approach.
Isn’t it better to leave this earth having shared and created your own sound instead of just imitating others?
How do you develop your own style… Jimmy’s way of describing it is “play what you hear”…now that makes total sense!
I remember hearing BB King talk about how he developed his style of “fills” by trying to come up with the horn (sax) fills he would hear in songs…that became the BB King style of blues playing.
So if you want to or already play guitar, think about what do you want to hear and try to incorporate that into your playing.
Here’s the video:
Filed under jimmie vaughan, texas blues by on Apr 5th, 2012. Comment.
