20 yrs ago today Vaughn was killed in a helicopter crash following a show
at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. I'll leave a link to a good article from the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel if interested.... ( disregard incorrect headline
in article ).

Anyone ever see SRV or have a favorite song or performance? I am not
that well versed on his stuff unfortunately but knew him to be a very
talented guitarist.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/101617113.html

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Great guitar player. Mediocre singer and terrible lyric writer. His music after he got sober was also pretty bad.

He's probably one of the greatest of all time though. I used to be really into SRV, but I don't listen to him much anymore.

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Guy At Bar A Little Too Into Stevie Ray Vaughan

February 21, 2001 | ISSUE 37•06

EUCLID, OH–According to Main Street Tavern employees and patrons, the guy at the end of the bar is a little too into deceased blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Bar-goer John Menke said that the guy, an unidentified beret- and denim-vest-wearing man in his early 30s, should be avoided "unless you want to talk about Stevie Ray Vaughan for at least an hour."

"I go up to get another pitcher of beer, and this guy at the bar just stares at me, biting his lip and nodding his head to the Stevie Ray Vaughan song on the jukebox," Menke said. "I try to look away, but then I accidentally make eye contact for a split second. That's when he says to me, 'Man, there'll never be another SRV.' Before you know it, I'm trapped listening to him go off about Vaughan's blistering guitar solo [on 'Cold Shot']."

After expounding on Vaughan's "fiery, impassioned guitar work" on "Cold Shot" for several minutes, the guy explained to Menke the song's origins.

"The guy says to me, 'Stevie used to sing this to the women he felt had wronged him, but he realized he was the one who was cold to women because of his addictions,'" Menke said. "I definitely got the feeling that this wasn't the first time this guy had ever told a complete stranger that story."

The guy was about to explain to Menke that the title of the album In Step was a reference to the 12-step program Vaughan had completed, but Menke excused himself to go to the men's room. After waiting in the bathroom the approximate length of time it would take to urinate, Menke ordered a pitcher of beer at the other end of the bar and returned to his table.

Main Street Tavern patron Bill Raychek, who later in the evening encountered the guy at the bar's pool table, said he "went on and on" about how Vaughan had finally begun to turn his life around and conquer his demons when he was tragically killed in the summer of 1990.

"I don't recall asking the guy to tell me about the night of Stevie Ray Vaughan's death in great detail, but he did," Raychek said. "As you no doubt know, Vaughan had just finished a show with Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, and his brother Jimmie at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, WI, and was going to drive back to Chicago. At the last minute, though, Vaughan decided to board a helicopter instead. Shortly after take-off, in a thick fog, the chopper crashed into a nearby hillside, killing all five on board, including numerous members of Clapton's management team."

Continued Raychek: "When the guy told me that, I responded by saying, 'Wow,' in as disinterested a manner possible. But he just plowed on ahead, telling me how ironic it was that the last song Stevie ever played was a transcendent 20-minute version of 'Sweet Home Chicago,' almost as if he knew he'd be called home to the Lord that night."

Bartender Frank Aufiero said the guy's habit of steering any conversation toward the subject of Stevie Ray Vaughan was "extremely irritating."

"For some reason, I was talking to someone about Annette Funicello," Aufiero said. "Out of nowhere, the guy chimes in about how the soundtrack for the Funicello movie Back To The Beach has Vaughan collaborating with Dick Dale on a version of 'Pipeline.' It's almost like he's playing Six Degrees Of Stevie Ray Vaughan."

Aufiero acknowledged that he himself likes Vaughan, but said he finds the guy at the bar's enthusiasm "a bit much."

"Stevie's great, but there are other things to talk about in this world," Aufiero said. "I mean, when I go out someplace, I don't sit around saying things like, 'Without Stevie Ray Vaughan, there is no Jonny Lang or Kenny Wayne Shepherd.' If I didn't know better, I'd think this guy was hired by Vaughan's PR firm, but his territory is only this bar."

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I've read from quite a few Blues purists (including his brother) that he really wasn't all that great....he just had THE attitude.

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@audioidkid

Stevie Ray Gone


It should've been Clapton instead.

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At least that would've spared the world from Tears in Heaven.

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I'm thinking Clapton's kid would have made that trade.

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I dont' really get it. That's pretty much what Blues is... attitude.

That's like saying Van Gogh wasn't all that great... he was just REALLY creative.

....and his brother was a hack compared to SRV.

My band Severed Scrotum had a song called "Eric Clapton Pushed His Kid".

Off the top of my head I think the lyrics went like this...

Hey little boy
you dropped your little toy
daddy got mad and he pushed you out a window

Wrote a hit song
is that so wrong
We'd do it to to be as rich as you

would you look the same if I saw you in heaven
probably not now you look like bloody snot



Don't remember the rest of it.

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Are you sure you didn't have anything to do with the Brown's Chicken murders?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

at this point no, I'm not sure.

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i love that article. almost as much as this one:

Teen Who Just Discovered Led Zeppelin Starting To Piss Off Friends

October 31, 2001 | ISSUE 37•39

GURNEE, IL—Mark Campa, 16, who has listened to and talked about Led Zeppelin almost exclusively since discovering the '70s rock group over the summer, is "really starting to piss off" his friends, sources reported Monday.

"I've got nothing against Zep—they're awesome," said James Savich, 16, a longtime friend of Campa's. "But Mark acts like he's the first person ever to really get into them when he's, like, the 59 billionth."

Campa was first exposed to the band in June when older brother Bryan returned from college and started playing Led Zeppelin II while lifting weights in the garage. After one listen, Campa was reportedly hooked, buying his own copy and playing it incessantly for weeks.

Campa's Led Zeppelin fixation soon manifested itself in myriad ways, with the teen playing only Led Zeppelin in his car, drawing the Led Zeppelin IV runes on his arm, and spending $73 at the Kane County Fair ring toss in an effort to win a Swan Song mirror.

According to friends, Campa's newfound love of the band has caused him to behave in a "dicklick" fashion.

"Last Saturday night, a bunch of us were driving around cranking the new Slipknot when Mark popped the tape out and started messing with the radio," said Rick Eglund, 17. "I was like, 'Dude, what's your problem?' He said it was time for WLUP's 'Get The Led Out' and that he never missed it. I told him he was gonna miss it that night. Then, he tried to stop me from putting the tape back into my own stereo. I had to pull over and force him to switch seats with Dan [Alberman]."

"The stupid thing is, at the time, we were driving Mark home," Eglund continued. "He has all their CDs, so he could've listened to Zep all night if he'd just waited five minutes. I guess he had to prove what a big fan he is."

In addition to naming his '91 Prelude the "Honda Of The Holy" and renaming his cat of four years "Bonzo" as an homage to late Led Zeppelin drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham, Campa has irritated friends with his constant barrage of Led Zeppelin trivia.

"In the past week alone, I've learned that Keith Moon came up with the band's name, Jimmy Page is in the movie Blowup, and 'All Of My Love' is about Robert Plant's son Karac, who died from a viral infection," Savich said. "And if I hear Mark tell us about the 'mudshark incident' one more time, I'm gonna kill him. Everybody knows Hammer Of The Gods is bullshit, anyway."

Campa has also developed a habit of pointing out Led Zeppelin connections to seemingly non-Zeppelin-related items.

"I downloaded the Lord Of The Rings trailer and, next thing you know, Mark goes into this whole thing about how 'The Battle Of Evermore' references the book Lord Of The Rings," Alberman said. "I had to re-start the trailer after he was done because no one got to see it. It's getting to the point where you're almost afraid to go to a movie with Mark because John Paul Jones' second cousin might be an extra in it."

Added Eglund: "It could be worse, I guess. He could've gotten into the Grateful Dead. Or Floyd. Just imagine if he walked around all day quoting Dark Side Of The Moon. Christ."