["Scuttle Buttin'" playing in the background.]

Lennie Block: One of rock's most powerful, talented, and influential guitarists, and also a humble man, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Stevie Ray Vaughan: I might have a glimmer of an idea of what people like Albert King or B.B. King or, or, other people like that think when somebody like myself comes along and can't get their music out of his mind. And starts copying them. I'm just getting a very small glimpse of what BB King must think. Because who doesn't play B.B. King stuff in their music? Or try? Who doesn't play Albert King things in their music? Who doesn't play Jimi Hendrix stuff in their music, you know? You know, there's very few people who don't.

LB: Hi I'm Lennie Block. On August 27th, 1990, a tragic helicopter accident snuffed out the life of the charismatic leader of Double Trouble. Now, five years later, Stevie Ray's music still stands tall, and the cream of it can be found on the new release of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Greatest Hits.

["Pride and Joy" plays.]

LB: "Pride and Joy", one of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's greatest hits. Right now, let's go back to Stevie's beginnings as a player, peeking over his brother Jimmie's shoulder.

SRV: I saw how much fun he was havin' learning, and how much fun he was havin' jus' playin' you know? It was somethin' I knew that I wanted to try. There was one time I got frustrated and put it down for a few months, but then I got something that I could play better and went for it, you know. And, uh, it wasn't too long till I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And that was it. And uh, like, so I haven't had another job except playin' music since I was twelve.

LB: "Texas Flood", from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Greatest Hits. It's also the title tune from their debut, Texas Flood, which is a good way of describing the flow of great blues that's a part of the Lone Star state's musical tradition However, Stevie didn't really feel immersed in the tradition of Texas guitarists like Albert Collins and Lightnin' Hopkins.

SRV: When I started playing, which was a little bit behind Jimmie, all the influences were so much more varied. You know it used be so much more of a regional thang, all over the country, different regions. And it got to be more of a, (sigh) more like trading out of information in a way, you know? And when the English blues boom scene came on, and then of course, like, the Beatles and the Stones and the.. that whole influence came in. I was gettin' all of that at the same time as Jimmie was bringing Muddy Waters and Jimmie Reed and BB King and Buddy Guy and you know. So it, I got all that, I got all those influences at once, so it was not just a Texas thing.

LB: "Taxman", from the brand new release Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Greatest Hits, was previously unreleased. Don't fill out your tax returns yet, we've got a slight return on the way next, on Stevie Ray Vaughan On His Own Words.

LB: This is Stevie Ray Vaughan In His Own Words. The big break for Stevie Ray and his band Double Trouble came at Montreaux.

SRV: There was actually two nights that we were at Montreaux. The first we played on the big stage. We got a mixed reaction. The place is actually built for acoustic jazz and here we come in there with, with Fender amps and everything, and I ended up having 'em covered up with blankets and everything. But it was still loud for their comparison. Um, but we had had several people in the audience, come to find out they were all sitting right together right in the front, um, that were booing us, but in that room it sounded like a lot more people booing, you know? Especially when you're nervous, you know? (laughs)

LB: That was David's Let's Dance LP. The hoopla from Stevie's sessions with David Bowie no doubt helped expose Double Trouble's own Texas Flood, and their follow-up, Couldn't Stand the Weather.

LB: From that great hit came the title of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble 1984 album, Couldn't Stand the Weather. The weather in Montreaux must've been pretty hot back in 1982. Here's Stevie to tell the second half of his Swiss tale.

SRV: The next night, Jackson Brown played, in the big room, and we played in the musician's bar underneath the casino. And Jackson Brown's whole band came to see US afterwards, and we played all night long. I mean literally, from after his show until the morning. And ended up during the course of the night, we played a lot of the night with Jackson Browns' band we ended up with the whole band, all of us, both bands at the same time, and, uh, that was where Jackson offered us his studio.

LB: One of Stevie Ray Vaughan's greatest hits, "Cold Shot". Clearly, Jimi Hendrix played a significant role in Stevie's musical growth. This is how Stevie first heard him.

SRV: My brother found a demo 45, you know, demonstration copy, in a trash bin at a TV show that they were doin' in Dallas. A musi.... a rock TV show. And uh, he brought it home, and put it on the stereo, and we both creamed our jeans (laughs) and I've never been the same since. (laughs) I just thought he was the greatest thing I'd ever seen, you know, (laughs). I never got to see him live, but, there's a whole lot about his life I was influenced by. His music, his style, um, his attitude, uh, what he was looking for, or at least in my interpretation what he was looking for, which was growing from the inside out.

LB: A masterful cover, "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" once heard on Stevie Ray Vaughan Couldn't Stand the Weather, and now heard on Greatest Hits. We'll be right back with Stevie Ray Vaughan In His Own Words in just a minute.

["Tin Pan Alley" plays. ]

LB: Welcome back to Mediamerica Radio's presentation of Stevie Ray Vaughan In His Own Words.

SRV: Every time I hear B.B. King, Live at the Regal, I remember being' in my room, and I had, I had, I had one of those little airline stereos where they have the satellite speakers? Which is really a cardboard box with a wire attached to it? And I'd mike that up, somehow I ended up with a Shure PA system in my bedroom. It was for gigs, but... and I didn't have any amps, so I'd go rent these amps the day of the gig and keep 'em for a couple of days and then take 'em back.

["Look at Little Sister" plays. ]

LB: "Look at Little Sister" is one of the songs that turned 1985's Soul to Soul platinum for Double Trouble

SRV: And as a rule of this band, and I'm proud to be in this band because of this: We do only songs that we really like, and that way we can put it all into it. And really, and really care about what we're doing. If we don't like it, we won't do it. And if we don't like how it sounds, we'll stop it till we find out what to do about it.

["Say What" plays.]

LB: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's "Say What". Stevie Ray remembers Cream next, In His Own Words.

LB: Hi, I'm Lennie Block, your host for this tribute, Stevie Ray Vaughan In His Own Words.

SRV: That's what the blues is about, it's about, as far as I can tell, it's a, it's a way to tell somebody what's going on, and by doin' that, either whoever's listenin' to it, can uh, can relate to what you're sayin' because it's the same thing that's happening to them and as a result they feel better. Or it's worse that what they're gone through, and so they go 'whew' and feel better. Or it's not quite as bad and they can go 'well this is worse, but at least somebody understands' and feel better. And then there's the happy side of life, when that part's over (laughs). And that's blues too, you know, because you grew from it.

LB: A soulful song from the soul of Stevie Ray Vaughan, "Life Without You". As a youngster, Stevie was fortunate enough to have seen Cream on their farewell tour.

SRV: I just remember the electricity in the air, you know. Everybody just anticipatin' it and watchin'. It was like everything was right out there in the open, WIDE open, you know? And, uh, there wasn't giant PAs, you know. They had some cabinets for the bass and some cabinets for the drums to mike that were sittin' back there with the rigs. And, and the guitar amps and then there was some more of the same cabinets set off on the side of the stage for you to sing through. (laughs) you know?

LB: Here's a little excitement, Double Trouble style.

LB: "Change It" from Live Alive. As Stevie Ray Vaughan's career surged upwards, so did his reliance on alcohol and drugs. However, he got clean and regained his sanity. It led to a quality song-writing session with his old friend Doyle Bramhall.

SRV: Doyle and I have known each other since I was about 12, and we've been friends ever since. He was the first person to pay attention to me playin' guitar, and I've always held him real close to my heart for that. We both had gone through a lot of problems with drugs and alcohol and come out, come through 'em. Out of this, the whole thing, we've, uh, we were able to sit down and talk about a lot of these things, and sometimes we'd talk for a couple of hours. And then, take a loo... it would dawn on us, 'oh yeah, we're supposed to be writin' songs,' and we'd look down and what was written out already, that we had pieces and parts of, would now be tied together by what we'd been discussing. So, it worked. And, uh, that's why those songs, that's why those songs really mean something.

LB: "Wall of Denial" from In Step.

["Scuttle buttin'" plays. ]  

LB: We're back with Stevie Ray Vaughan and the origin of the Double Trouble name, In His Own Words.

SRV: I'd been takin' turns on whatever, whatever came to mind, playin' drums or singin', playin' guitar or playin' bass and somebody started calling me Triple Threat. And uh, we ended up having this, I went, I, I left the band I was with called the Cobras and started this band Triple Threat Review cause we looked at it as a review because there were actually five different people in the band doin' vocals, doin' their little sections of the thing, of the show, so it was like a review. Uh, that band, of course, we had too many leaders, it went off into a bunch of different bands. Lou Ann and I stayed together and the obvious thing to do was call it, instead of Triple Threat, was to call it Double Trouble, because we were both trouble and there was just two of us. (laughs) And, and at the same time, my favorite song was "Double Trouble" by Otis Rush. It just made sense.

LB: "The House is Rockin'" is a Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble greatest hit from In Step, an honor it shares with "Crossfire".

SRV: It's a great song, and, um, I didn't write the song.

LB: But not writing the song didn't keep Stevie from feeling it.

SRV: Well, it's also about life. You know, and not just life on the road or not just life here or there, but it's got all kinds of different uh, connotations, I guess? Connections? And uh, and a lot of that stuff I went through, you know, and we all do, so it was, it wasn't like, just because I didn't write the song that I'm not involved with the lyrics are and it doesn't mean something to me.

LB: Crossfire, not to be confused with Crossroads, which Eric Clapton did so well. And speaking of Eric...

SRV: He's a really neat guy, and, uh, a great guitarist. We met, the first time we actually met and spoke or anything, was, um, in Australia. I was down there on tour and I believe he had just finished a tour. We'd just arrived and he was just leaving the hotel. I'd been up all night, having too much fun, and, uh, he was taking care of himself at the time, which he is now again. Which was real neat cause he was real tolerant of what I was going through and understood it, and uh, basically left his comments about my standing at the time was, well, sometimes you have to go through that stuff don't you?' cause he's been through it himself.

LB: "Tightrope", found on the newly released Epic CD, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Greatest Hits. Stevie fulfills a lifelong dream.

SRV: I finally realized we hadn't had this much fun or been around each other this much since we were little kids.

LB: You're tuned to Stevie Ray Vaughan In His Own Words. With all Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan had accomplished musically, one piece was missing. They never made an album together until they collaborated on 1990's Family Style. Here's Stevie:

SRV: It's really fun, because, for so long Jimmie had his band and I had ours, you know, and uh, it was, it was kinda like everybody wanted to know why we didn't play together. And Jimmie kinda put it, like it was like kinda having two organ players in a band, you know. But we had always actually wanted to do something. And now we're getting to do it and it's, it's... one thing that's come out of it is that's real neat for me, I finally realized that, uh, we had, we hadn't had this much fun or been around each other this much since we were little kids. You know, and sometimes that comes out and it's like two little kids in the car having fun, and mom's going... making fun of mom, you know, and I dunno, it's jus... we had a lot of fun doing this thing.

LB: "Telephone Song" from Family Style, uniting Stevie Ray Vaughan with his mentor and brother Jimmie.

SRV: He definitely got me started, and then, uh, somewhere along the line he showed me that I was supposed to learn by myself (laughs), you know? And, uh, I'm glad he did. He's, he's probably my biggest influence. For many reasons. Mainly because when we first started, I watched him, you know, I watched him a LOT and, uh, it was so easy for him to learn and pick up what he picked up, that it just didn't seem like it could be hard, you know and that, that's like... you know... and I glad a bumble bee don't know he can't fly. It was kinda the same theory.

LB: "Tick Tock" by the brothers Vaughan. Here's Stevie:

SRV: It's wonderful to play with anybody that you've admired all your life: Albert Collins, B.B. King, Albert King. Different styles yes, different backgrounds, where they came from, yes; however they've all influenced each other in some way or another and they've all influenced us, you know, as guitarists.

LB: Throughout his career, Stevie Ray did get to play with many of his idols, including the aforementioned three. In fact, Stevie had performed with friends and colleagues Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray on August 27th 1990. The helicopter transporting him from the gig never made it.

LB: "Life by the Drop" from The Sky is Crying, the album Jimmie Vaughan assembled in homage to his brother. We'll be right back.

LB: Stevie Ray Vaughan's words have been forever silenced, but Jimmie Vaughan saw to it that we could still hear new music from his brother, when in 1991 he lovingly put together The Sky is Crying, an album of unreleased music.

JLV: He's certainly one of the most famous guitar players that ever lived. He, he's really changed a lot of music. I mean guitar players play different now than they did before he came out. What can I say?

LB: "The Sky is Crying". Stevie Ray spoke best with his guitar, and so, In His Own Words, here's Stevie Ray:

LB: Stevie Ray Vaughan. His music will always be with us, and his music will always be felt. Play on, brother.

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