One of the most influential Blues musicians of his generation, Stevie Ray Vaughan helped revive the Blues in the 1980s, putting the genre back in the spotlight and helping to rescue the careers and audiences of the artists who had influenced him but struggled to secure record deals at the time.
Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1954, he had the chance to see many incredible Bluesmen perform live and to witness the rise of local bands, such as ZZ Top (From Houston), the power trio formed by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. Although there are not many interviews available from Stevie, he did speak about ZZ Top once, sharing his opinion of them and he had many interesting connections with the trio since he was young.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s opinion on ZZ Top and Billy Gibbons
“(I am a fan and they are) good friends too. (‘Can you explain their success?’) ‘Who can? They’ve done quite a bit and there’s a lot of factors. I wouldn’t even try to say what all of them are. A lot of it has to do with just… From the beginning, especially from the beginning, playing raw, (being a) three-piece Rock and Roll (band). Now is moving to other directions and I’m not sure… I haven’t heard the new record even, I haven’t heard anything.”
“I heard different opinions of it, I don’t know what the new thing is. But I do know that they’re all very nice people, I’ve known them for years and years and years. Billy’s done a lot of things for a lot of us that were coming up. He used to (get) like buses and ship two or three buses loaded with people to go see The Thunderbirds (Band Jimmie Vaughan, his older brother was part of), just for fun. You know, he does quite a few things to help people.”
Stevie continued:
“He gives his guitars away like crazy (smiles), thank you Billy (laughs). He gave me a guitar that I never got the chance to thank him for in person. I still have it, it’s been years. So (thank you!),” Stevie Ray Vaughan said in an interview in 1985, made available by Mega Backing Tracks (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Vaughan met the power trio when he was only 16 and had the chance to play with them on stage. Scott Phares, who was the bassist of Liberation (SRV’s high school band), recalled that incredible moment.
“One night, ZZ Top walked into Arthur’s (bar) with instruments in hand. (They) said, ‘Hey, we’re a South Texas band fixing to release an album. We want to take two of your sets tonight to get some exposure.’ Mike said, ‘Are you guys any good?’ Billy Gibbons said, ‘We’ll play, and if you don’t like us, we’ll leave.’ They got up there, and Stevie just about wet his pants, he couldn’t wait to play some Blues with Billy. They squared off and traded licks, and it was amazing,” he said in the book “Texas Flood: Inside The Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan”.
Billy Gibbons asked Vaughan which song he wanted to play and he picked “Thunderbird” by the Nightcaps, which he had been rehearsing since he was 10. Besides playing the guitar, he also sang the song with the band. According to Roddy Colonna, the drummer for Blackbird and a lifelong friend of Stevie’s, Billy was saying during the song: “Sing it, Little Stevie, sing.
Stevie Ray Vaughan once did the soundcheck for ZZ Top because they were not at the venue
Their friendship lasted until Stevie’s passing and interestingly he once went to visit ZZ Top before one of their concerts, but they were not at the venue for the soundcheck and could not make it. So he ended up doing the soundcheck for them. “Billy Gibbons was in town with Frank and Dusty to play the Circus Krone the next night, which happened to be a rare day off for Double Trouble. That afternoon Stevie showed up at ZZ Top’s soundcheck. The band wasn’t around, so Stevie did the soundcheck for them,” Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford said in the book “Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught in a Crossfire”.
In 1990, after SRV tragically died at the age of 35 in a helicopter crash, Billy Gibbons was part of the memorial service for his late friend. While Stevie Wonder and Dr. John sang “Amazing Grace” and “Ave Maria”, ZZ Top played alongside other incredible players like Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. Stevie liked trios like the one he formed with Double Trouble and of course, was a fan of ZZ Top. He was asked in an interview in New Zealand in 1986 what Texas had that gave the world so many great musicians, like ZZ Top and Johnny Winter. He said: “I think is the air, I’m not sure (laughs). I don’t know where it’s in, the dirt, the water… But it’s damn sure in the air, I know that (laughs).”
What made SRV special according to Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons has remained a close friend of Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie’s older brother. They have played together multiple times over the decades. From time to time, when asked about his late friend, Gibbons praises him and explains why he was so special. “He was a tremendous player and a tremendous person. There was a real beautiful sense of closure at Stevie Ray’s memorial service. We talked a lot about the old days.”
“One thing particular stood out in my mind: I remember playing a private dance club in Dallas called Arthur’s. Stevie Ray, who was 16 at the time, asked to sit in. His older brother, Jimmie, was sitting on the sidelines. So I kind of looked over at him and he just shrugged his shoulders; he didn’t say a word. So I let Stevie jump onstage with his red SG. He plugged in and just started wailing. I looked over at Jimmie, who was grinning with a look on his face that said, ‘Yeah, he is my little brother.’ He was so proud.”
Billy Gibbons continued:
“I think his duet album with Jimmie is a real gift. We all feel so fortunate to have that kind of playing survive in the face of such a great loss. I don’t think anyone should harbor any long-term sadness, though. You must grieve the loss to the fullest. But I think he graced us with a great memory and a sense of purpose,” he told Guitar World.
As Gibbons said, Stevie recorded “Family Style” with his brother Jimmie. That record became the first released posthumously, just a few months after his death. SRV’s final album, “The Sky Is Crying,” was released the following year. Besides those two, he had previously recorded “Texas Flood” (1983), “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” (1984), “Soul to Soul” (1985), and “In Step” (1989). He also collaborated with other famous artists, such as David Bowie, appearing on “Let’s Dance” (1983).