The Watcher of Lady Bird Lake

"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents." This quote, said by Ludwig van Beethoven is very true, especially for those who dabble in the blues genre of music. It isn't just a style of music, and a style of expressing ones inner soul to the world. One great example of a person who could express himself with ease was Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in the mid-twentieth century in the southern United States of America. He began to play the guitar at a very early age, and started playing in clubs in his teens. Once in the spotlight of the electric blues music world, he struggled with addictions, but overcame them and continued on with his career better than ever before. He died in a tragic accident along with a few other musicians in the late twentieth century. This marked the end of the life of one of the most influential guitarists of all time.

Early Life

Stevie Ray Vaughan was born on October 3, 1954. He was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and began to play the guitar at a very early age. His brother Jimmie, who was three years older than him, was a huge influence on the desire for Stevie to learn to play the guitar. He first plucked the strings of the guitar at the very young age of eight, and continued to play throughout his adolescent years. In junior high, Stevie formed many bands with his some his friends in his grade. These garage bands would play a set at local nightclubs on occasion. Often when Stevie would go into school, he would sleep through his classes, because he had been up so late the night before, playing his guitar. For this reason, his marks suffered immensely. Stevie, however, was not interested in his school marks; all he cared about was playing the guitar. One of the turning points in his life, which helped him realize that he wanted be a guitarist occurred while working as a dishwasher at a local burger joint.

Part of my job was to clean out the trash bins. One night, I was standing on top of a barrel, [and] the top caved in. I fell in grease up to [my chest], and right then I decided 'I'm not gonna do this anymore. I'm gonna play guitar'.

In 1972, Stevie decided that school was unnecessary for a guitarist, and dropped out. Immediately after, he moved to Austin, Texas, where he could pursue his music full-time.

Rise to Fame

The first serious band that Stevie played with was known as the Cobras. This band, during the mid 70's played in various nightclubs in Texas. However, this band only lasted a few years, and then broke up. Following the Cobra's downfall, Stevie, along with bassist Jackie Newhouse, drummer Chris Layton, and vocalist Lou Ann Barton formed the group Triple Threat in 1975. Only a few years later, after playing in bars and nightclubs around Texas, Barton left the band. The remaining members of the group decided to continue as a band with Stevie as the lead singer. The band was renamed Double Trouble in 1978.

The next following years, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and his band, Double Trouble continued to play around Texas, and became one of the most familiar bands around.

In 1982, the band played the Montreux Festival and their performance caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne. After Double Trouble's performance, Bowie asked Vaughan to play on his forthcoming album, while Browne offered the group free recording time at his Los Angeles studio, Downtown; both offers were accepted. Stevie Ray laid down the lead guitar tracks for what became Bowie's Let's Dance album in late 1982. Shortly afterward, John Hammond, Sr. landed Vaughan and Double Trouble a record contract with Epic and the band recorded their debut album in less than a week at Downtown.

The bands debut album, released in 1983, was titled 'Texas Flood'. At the same time that the band was receiving recognition for their initial album, Vaughan was earning quite a large amount of recognition for his works with Bowie on the 'Let's Dance' album. Although Bowie's album was an enormous hit, 'Texas Flood' was one of the greatest albums released in that decade in both the rock and blues worlds. In 1983, Vaughan was offered a spot as Bowie's lead guitarist on his stadium tour, but he turned David down, and decided he preferred to play with Double Trouble.

Vaughan and his band double trouble decided it would be a good idea to have their own tour, which turned out to be a huge success. Shortly following, Double Trouble released their second album, titled 'Couldn't Stand the Weather', in May of 1984. The bands opening album would be a difficult one to follow up, but this album answered the call. 'Couldn't Stand the Weather' surpassed its predecessor and reached number 31 on the charts; the album went gold by 1985.

Later in the year 1985, Double Trouble acquired keyboardist Reese Wynans, and then shortly after released their third album, titled 'Soul to Soul'. This album was also very successful, and reached number thirty four on the music charts.

Keeping it Together and Overcoming

Even though Vaughan's professional career was skyrocketing, he was plummeting into drug addictions and alcoholism. He was living the typical lifestyle of a rocker. Even though his health was suffering immensely, he continued to push himself. At a concert he was playing at, in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Vaughan collapsed while on stage due to intoxication. The years of substance abuse had caught up with the guitarist: He had hit an all-time low. The next thirteen shows of the tour were to be cancelled. He continued to push himself until he released the live album 'Live Alive' in October of 1986, and announced an American tour in 1987. Before the tour would start, Vaughan made a personal decision to check into a rehabilitation clinic. Double Trouble did not have much activity for the next year, for Stevie was stuck in rehab.

It had seemed as though Vaughan had overcame his addictions, and was back on tour. The American tour that was announced before his stint in rehab was now on, and Stevie couldn't have been happier. "I can honestly say that I'm really glad to be alive today, because left to my own devices ... I would've slowly killed myself" . Even though it seemed like Stevie was over his drug addictions, he returned to rehab after the American tour.

Vaughan