Today is 33 Years since we lost SRV

[Toto'sDad]

@Toto'sDad - I was another who discovered SRV after his death by seeing his appearances on Austin City Limits. When watching those two appearances, it's like "night" & "day" seeing the major change in him due to getting sober and clean from the drugs. In an eerie coincidence, he passed away four years after his father did. SRV's dad died on August 27, 1986.

We miss you and always will, SRV!!

When SRV was at his greatest, I was going through a difficult time in my life. I worked almost all of the time literally, I had little time for entertainment. By the time I discovered SRV my work situation was a good as it ever got for this old boy. I watched him on a rerun of Austin City Limits and was simply amazed, and in awe of his skills. I'm truly sorry I was late to the party on him.

 

[Peegoo]

I was in a hole in the Middle East when I heard about it. It seems like it was just yesterday.

It's depressing to shoot and be shot at, but this sad news was oddly more depressing.

Music has power that transcends even life and death.

 

[Boreas]

Saw him once after his cleanup. Outstanding!

Heaven has a helluva band!

 

[squirt]

Always wanted to see him and Jeff Healey together. There's some vid floating around, must've been great to be there...

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jeff Healey - 'Look At Little Sister'
​

 

[Peegoo]

Beck had nothing on Stevie when they toured and played together.

And Jeff ate guitarists for breakfast.

That was The Fire Meets the Fury tour, 1989. I saw them at the Capitol Center near D.C.

They burned the place down!

 

[Slip Kid]

One of my heroes. The off-note he hits at the end of “Life Without You” still sends chills. What a loss.

That one gave me chills too. Even when seeing him play it live. I literally couldn't listen to that song for a few years after his passing.

I was at work having lunch that day when my uncle came in and told me had just heard about it on the radio. Stevie was huge to me and I was devastated. I had just saw him for the 4th and final time on July 4 with Joe Cocker. I found out years later that Lonnie Mack was hanging out with him backstage but unfortunately didn't come out to play.

 

[KingKongStanley]

It hurts me still, enough said.

 

[middy]

I was not far away, in Madison when I heard the news. Me and a couple musician friends spent the rest of the day getting drunk in his honor. Not that we didn’t do that every day…

 

[985plowboy]

SRV

 

[String Tree]

Wow...
33 Years since Alpine Valley.
FG

I still remember the first time I heard Say What.
He was the REAL DEAL in my book and, shall always be.

 

[Sparky2]

I was in a hole in the Middle East when I heard about it. It seems like it was just yesterday.

It's depressing to shoot and be shot at, but this sad news was oddly more depressing.

Music has power that transcends even life and death.

Yeah, I was down there in Desert Storm as well.

When he died, we heard about it days later when a copy of Stars & Stripes made the rounds.
We were sort of on the move at that point, so catching up on news was tough.

Almost as tough as eating MRE Chicken A La King.

 

[glenlivet]

Saw him and Albet Collins at the Aaragon Ballroom in Chicago...maybe '85-'86.
Best guitar-slinger show I ever saw....they absolutely blew the doors off the place.
They each had their own distinctive style and when they took the stage together it was pretty obvious there was some serious back and forth respect going on.... SRV would try a high piercing lick/note and ride it hard, then Albert would show him how it was really done. They were laughing and pointing and egging the crowd on....looked like they were having a ball.

Like others .... I heard about his passing while packing up to head to the gulf. I want to say it was just a day or two before we flew out.

 

[Dukex]

RIP Stevie!

 

[Toadtele]

I remember finding out from the radio in my old 64 Ford.

I had to pull over and take a moment. It was a dark day in my young life.

Thank you, Mr. Vaughan for all the wonderful music and memories, and the inspiration and example for many of us to get and stay sober…but mostly for the music.

I don’t want this to sound silly but when I heard I was trying to mack on this chick while she was babysitting.
I was 15. I had just moved to a new town with my mother, whom I didn’t know, that previous June.
I was pretty lost to say the least. Anyway I heard about it from MTV news. Kurt Loder I think his name was.
I crawled off this girl and sat in front of that old console defeated.
That girl and I became good friends for many years.
Honestly it’s kind of like the whole JFK where was I when?

 

[fjblair]

I saw him in a club in the early 80's, and it remains the most intense concert experience I have ever witnessed. It was otherworldly.

 

[NOTHING89 10]

RIP

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

That was The Fire Meets the Fury tour, 1989. I saw them at the Capitol Center near D.C.

They burned the place down!

I had the chance to go see them, but i had to work & couldn't get
away. Next time, i thought...

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Beck had nothing on Stevie when they toured and played together.

And Jeff ate guitarists for breakfast.

I saw that tour.

For the vast majority of that tour, they did not play together, except for “going down” for the very last song.

They both respected the hell out of each other.


He was on such a high from being sober the last couple years of his life he was constantly touring. I know I know - “keeping busy”. Keep that monkey off your back for the first couple years and then it’ll get a lot easier as it goes on.

He gigged in our area four times the last year of his life with another one scheduled that they canceled.

And you can see by his last record, (that only in retrospect suffers from lousy 80s production ) that he was branching out a little bit, and , I think , had all his best stuff in front of him.

 

[Stubee]

I’d seen him just a short time before the crash and it was hard to believe another of my favorites was gone. So young. He sure could shake them strings!

 

[screefer]

Let's also miss the great Double Trouble rhythm of Tommy and Chris.