EAST TROY WI.: Just after Midnight August 27, 1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan, boarded a Helicopter along with three members of Eric Clapton’s entourage (agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel Browne, and assistant tour manager Colin Smythe) and Pilot Jeff Brown. The heavy, dense fog severely limited visibility and the craft slammed into the 1,000-ft., man-made ski slope shortly after takeoff killing everyone on board.
The tragedy followed another legendary performance by Vaughan, who was only 35 at the time. The Alpine Valley Music Center played host for his final concert that included an encore jam with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and his big bro, Jimmie Vaughan. The red Fender Stratocaster that Stevie lent to Buddy that night still hangs on the wall of Guy's Chicago blues club (Legends).
SRV consistently ranked in the Top 10 on virtually every “Best Guitar Player Ever” list. In 1993, a memorial statue of Vaughan was unveiled and was the first public monument of a musician in Austin. He was inducted posthumously in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, where his brother Jimmie accepted his award. He earned six Grammy Awards and ten Austin Music Awards and was inducted into the the BLues Hall of Fame in 2000. I, like most of his disciples, remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that Monday morning. I was at the Family cabin in Maine, had just finished breakfast and was going to practice for that week's guitar lesson. It goes without saying, days later, my teacher and I had a somber visit. Then I asked him to show me the opening lick to "Texas Flood"........
R.I.P. SRV
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