The thing I like most about SRV is his impeccable guitar tone. It's probably impossible to get a Fender Stratocaster to sound more rock and roll than the way Stevie has his settings on his guitar and more importantly, his amps. Absolutely ripping tone.
was fortunate enough to see SRV live a few times live in my teens. I've seen a couple thousand other live performances in the decades since. To this day - SRV is the best guitar tone I've ever heard. Full and lush and dripping with tension and release and evoked such a full range of emotion.
Most guitar players would never want to use the heavy gauge of strings that he used, but Stevie worked up to it. His contemporaries thought he was crazy for using such heavy strings. BB King famously told him that he was working too hard, after strumming one of SRV's guitars. The thing is, due to his aggressive playing style, he needed those heavier strings, and his tone would never have been what it was, had he not used them.
SRV's attack on the guitar is unbelievable. The way he is capable of muting notes with this left hand, the way he strums through every string when playing lead lines. Ugh, he was incredible. Easily the greatest blues guitarist to ever play the electric guitar - I am happy to debate.
His tone, vibrato, sustain, expression, articulation, and dynamics were incomparable. And Chris and Tommy were his career long partners and compatriots who understood exactly what was needed!
And the heavy strings were part of that. It had nothing to do with with the simple tone of the sound - many people have done tests on the sound you get from various string gauges and you really cannot hear the difference. I think SRV played 0.013 gauge specifically because they are so hard to play - he wanted the guitar to fight back, forcing him to physically pour everything he had into his playing - basically making the guitar his b&tch. There is a reason he sweated so much - he was physically working very hard. That was great for songs like Voodoo and Texas Flood. For his softer songs like Lemmy and Riviera Paradise, he played normal gauge strings, like 9 or 10s.
@@GreenDistantStar I suppose you can compare- just as you can compare Hendrix to his predecessors like Albert King or SRV to his predecessor Albert Collins- but those comparisons will come up short. Vaughan’s pinpoint articulation and the fine control of his vibrato were unprecedented. Standing on the shoulders of giants. Yes, but raising the bar.
You have to check out Stevie's cover of Jimi's Little Wing! As to his outfit, his drummer Chris, said in an interview, "Those weren't his stage outfits, that was how he dressed. He'd be like that in rehearsal, at his house, or even when we just went to the mall. That's just how he was."
Can you please give Machine Gun by Jimi Hendrix specifically from the band of gypsies album. In my (and many others) opinion it is the best live guitar performance of all time. The song is a protest of the Vietnam war and was a tribute and dedicated to all the soldiers fighting overseas. The sheer emotion in Jimis playing is unmatched by any other playing I have ever heard before or since
I don't like "best of all time" statements, because I'll hear something else, and go... oh, but this one...but Machine Gun has to be up there. It's astonishing.
Brilliant! Gotta compare this to his 1989 version from this same venue. Very different, but both FIRE! This version here is the SLOW one… The 1989 version is also Stevie clean and sober.❤Donna G
Reese Wynans played keyboards later on with Double Trouble. Also, SRV couldn't read sheet music. It was all just instinctive. Please do SRV's "Riviera Paradise" and you'll love the keyboards in it.
Every time I see this video I love the fact that Stevie's Strat is set up with a left handed bridge and whammy bar. It's an homage to Jimi playing a right-handed Strat upside down. Stevie definitely went all in with his Jimi tributes. Thanks for the reaction vid.
@@craigstiles5186 Although I've been playing bass guitar for 55 years I also own and play a Strat. I see what you're talking about, but that certainly never got in the way for Jeff Beck.
The two next SRV songs I think you’d appreciate the most would be “Riviera Paradise” (you’re gonna want the keyboard for that one) and “Life Without You” And always go live performance with Stevie
I really like the time he played this song out for about 12 minutes at Carnegie Hall, they stuck it on one of the greatest hits albums 👍 (the essential srv and double trouble)
"Standing next to a mountain, chop it down with the edge of my hand" is one of the most "ROCK" lyrics of all time. So is any of the verses in Jumpin" Jack Flash! 😊
Ugh. I remember the day he died. It was the day before I moved to California. I was so depressed on that trip. Speaking of which, please do an episode on Sinead O'Conner. I suggest you'd find "John, I love you" completely fascinating... but she has so many others.
It was great to hear you react to this. Just after you talked about the III chord he does a descending chord thing. I think you missed it because you were distracted, and as you said, it went by fast. Your keyboard stuff reminded me of "Child in time:, Deep Purple. Good live version on RU-vid.
It's amazing how much music came out of Stevie's guitar. One of the very, very, very few guitarists I don't mind hearing without an accompanying keyboard.
Sadly, you went with the wrong version. The performance, sound mix and sound quality are superior on this version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cFwTbsKkqxE.html
I am really happy seeing stevie on the channel ❤ please Riviera Paradise is a must. Such a wonderful song... Also Tin Pan Alley... And many other songs... Stevie's songs are all great
Got to see SRV once in 1983 before the first album came out. He was legendary before he was famous. Intense guitarist with such amazing talent for the blues/rock/ Texas Swing styles
It's staggering to me how similar some of Stevie's versions are to the Hendrix version, it's like he's channeling more than playing. I think it was Clapton that described Stevie as, " an ever open channel", a vessel for music.
I was fortunate to see Stevie perform 8 times live in Pittsburgh, and he played VC 8 different ways. Always brilliant and improvised! We are lucky to have so many great videos of Stevie and DT. Its funny that all the other VC versions here dont mention Nashville. Its my personal favorite as he was purely in "the zone" and played half of it behind his back! I always suggest the incredible Life Without You, a Stevie original, at the Capitol Center. That performance is pure Soul and Stevie reveals his Heart. RiP SRV.
Had the good fortune to see Mr. Stevie Ray Vaughn live one time, and it was one of the best evenings of music I have ever witnessed. And I have been to over 500 concerts, so I have some basis for comparison. His style and technique were so controlled that you didn't even notice how great it was, until you thought about it afterward, and then your jaw just hit the floor. He was so good it was scary. His helicopter crash at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin was a national tragedy, I still miss him and his talent.
FYI there are three studio versions by JH: this one, Voodoo Child, Slight Return (Electric Ladyland) in Eb Standard tuning, while Voodoo Chile (Electric Ladyland) and Voodoo Child Blues (Blues Album) are a half step lower in D Standard Tuning. Basics of this song are not that difficult; it was one of the first by JH I learned when I was 12, and the first in a tuning other than E Standard.
Hey Doug,, Cal here,, from Manchester UK,, I really love your reactions,,, comments and musical experience,, I really enjoy,,, I have a little request,,, Can you react to Camel, Lady Fantasy Live 84’ Hammersmith,, I would like to see your reaction,, Take care Master,,,
The playing along doesn't work for me. You're not paying attention to his amazing solo and expression and making it about you. Not cool. I stopped watching at six minutes. Do better.
Deep into his drug indulgence and still awesome. He looked and played so much better in 1989 on Austin City Limits after becoming clean. Check out his 1989 Austin City Limits appearance playing Look at Little Sister for one of the slickest broken string guitar tradeoffs with his tech. The full video is 4 minutes. There are some that show just the swap, but there is some piano playing by Reese Wynans that is good.
Naw... His drug addiction came to a head a few years later. Here he was nothing like he was during the double live album. He was really strung out then.
Just to bring you up to date - the sound on the intro uses a guitar foot pedal called a Wah-wah which is used to move through the frequencies with a "wah" sound. Jimi Hendrix was a pioneer using this sound in his recordings and SRV gives his interpretation on this effect. I luv'em both.
Love SRV. Another of my favourite facial contortionists is Gary Moore. I think his Montreux performance of The Messiah Will Come showcases his mastery of his craft, it is an instrumental but is moving despite the absence of words and I would love to see you react to it.
SRV actually could play behind his back. You can see it on one of his performances on Austin City Limits, which was broadcasted again within the past few weeks. He is just amazing to watch.
This is a fantastic rendition by Stevie but my all time favourite Hendrix cover by Stevie is Little Wing, in fact I would say that I prefer Stevie's version over Jimi's.
Doug, so many times I just shout at my screen when you turn away or start talking at JUST the greatest moments of these performances and say "shut up and watch what happens next!" lolol
I love when you get a little excited and play along. I used to do the same thing when I was an active guitar player lol. When the groove is do addictive in a song you can't help it. My dad told me when he was in college he and his friends would go see Stevie play in small bars. It's hard to wrap my brain around him playing in small venues because he's become such a legend and titan of the guitar.
Stevie had great feel and a natural sense of timing and rhythm , and a fantastic rhythm section to boot , with Reese Wynans joining the band later on, who is a great keyboard player , who's now with Joe Bonamassa! 👍
If you need ANOTHER SRV cover of a Hendrix tune ... you want Little Wing from Red Rocks ... 1985 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kA8vPcnskfo.html Seriously, this is my choice for Stevie's best performance ever
Not only could SRV play blues, he could play some serious jazz. Check out Rivera Paradise. It's an incredible instrumental with serious jazz overtones. The keyboard playing by Reese Wynans is incredible.
It was a treat watching your authentic reactions. Reminded me of the first time I saw Yo Yo Ma visibly moved by rock genre music. Love of music for music's sake. When you grabbed your keyboard, you reminded me of Reese Wynans, who SRV brought in later as their keyboard player. So you could very well have fit in! FYI - Reese now plays with Joe Bonamassa - another amazing blues player. Totally different sound than Stevie - but highly HIGHLY recommended. Joe worked with BB King for his first gig when Joe was a child. Like Stevie, his playing gets better and better over the years. Stevie was really close with Albert King ... played with him a lot coming up ... and ... Joe now owns Albert King's guitar, Lucy - Flying V ... and you can see him playing it on his cover of Albert's "I'll Play the Blues For You" (best version at the Greek Theater.) You might enjoy that one - but his stuff runs the gamut so far it is hard to pigeon hole exactly which song represents Joe! :-) Enjoy!! (PS: I second the rec to check SRV's other version of Voodoo Chile at Austin City Limits in '89 - totally different sound - he was also totally clean after AA and straightened out his life at that point.)
My son studied the guitar from age 5, the first five years with a classical teacher from [a professor from a local university] at 10 in 1986 he discovered MTV. After his recital at 10 playing "Fur Elise"- by Beethoven on a 12 string classical guitar to a standing ovation of over 1200; we switched him to a new teacher for more of a rock/pop/metal instruction. In September of 1989 we saw SRV open for The Who in the Astrodome. Floor center aisle seats, 10th row. I say this because ~ a year later we found a 1979 American made Stratocaster at a local pawn shop. My son knew right away what it was, [I knew nothing, just dad and wallet]. He asked the owner what he wanted for it? $125 was the reply. My 14 year old, said [no kidding] "the neck's warped and will have to be replaced, $50?" "Sold" was the reply. BTW, It was in it's original hard case. Researching once home, even with the neck warped, it was worth just under $500, we found the serial number between the neck and the body, right where is shouldd be He then asked me; "Dad, you work with wood and build furniture and stuff, can you strip down the body and make it look like Stevie's? To which I replied, "no problem but you'll have to take out all the wriing." He said "that's easy, as I will be rewiring it with new pickups as such anyway. I spent two months taking the finish off, bleaching the basswood body and applying a Walnut stain, applying 17 coats of epoxy [sanding and or steel wool between each one then applying at least a dozen coats of furniture paste wax. We ordered the black pick guard new internals and knobs and the 3way switch, pickups and a new neck. He and his Rock guitar teacher along with the owner of the local music store wired it. They created a very original sounding guitar. Adding Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders & a 2 volume/1 tone wiring. 22 fret Fender neck, etc. I wish I could post a photo as I would like to show off my refinishing of the body. Anyways, my boy had an SRV sounding strat, complete with the heavy guage strings and fret distance. Fortunately he has the hand strength to play it. His hands are large - as his wedding ring is a size 19, as he stands 6'6" goes 275, wears a 15 quad E shoe, added to having long piano fingers as they say.
There are several covers of this song online. I'm guessing you reviewed a few (l would), so how did you land on the Austin City Limits version? This is the clip I would have picked too.
OK this has nothing to do with Stevie Ray Vaughan; and I don't know if Doug takes suggestions from YT comments or by some other means, but - how about reacting to & analysing some Bear McCreary? Say, "Passacaglia" or "Allegro"? Not pop/rock, but I just decided to dig out the BSG soundtracks from years ago on a whim, and I'd love to hear Doug's views on those two pieces if possible.
Reese Wynans joined Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon & "Whipper" Layton) for Stevie Ray's third (_Soul to Soul_) & subsequent albums. IIRC, Stevie tells the story that the three of them were in the studio, recording tracks for _Soul to Soul_, and every once in a while they'd overhear a Hammond B3 accompanying them from another room. Wynans happened to be in the studio, and heard the three of them jamming. Like Doug, he couldn't help himself from comping. The band liked it so much, they asked him to sit in. Wynans was part of the band thereafter.
A guy I rented a house with played the guitar and had a notebook with Stevie Ray music. I once came home only to hear an incredibly frustrated voice screaming: "HE MUST HAVE 8 FINGERS ON EACH HAND!!!"
You must realize this by now, even though I see no mention of it in the comments after a minutes worth of search....what I am referring to is that you have the title of the song wrong. This is Voodoo Child (Slight Return)...it is a completely different song than Voodoo Chile. Both are Hendrix songs but they don't sound much like each other at all. Voodoo Chile is an early morning, after the concert Jam session with His "Jimi Hendrix Experience" drummer Mitch Mitchell, organist Steve Winwood, and bassist Jack Casady. Voodoo Chile was recorded 1st in May 1968 and a few months later Child was recorded (Slight Return) refers to the roots of Child coming from that Jam but only slightly. I hardly see any similarity personally. Lyrics are totally different too. They both appear on the album, Electric Ladyland. If I'm asked to compare, I like Chile much better...it's either 1 or 2 all time from Jimi and Child is 8-10 range in my ratings. Oh...one more thing if you were in the UK I could say your title was technically correct because Child was released as a single there and it was accidentally called Chile.
This is Austin City Limits 1983. May I suggest ACL 1989? Its the complete package. Clarity of video, set list, vibe. His south Western kimono, gun slinger hat and pants/boots drip Texas. Plus keyboard player. His death was a tragedy against humanity.
hi. Generally like your reactions but didn't like your one of Texas Flood, so i was curious to see what you were going to do this time. I almost turned it off when you started playing but fortunately you stopped. I listen to traditional Indian classical music; amazing stuff but I don't listen to for interesting chord progressions. Same with blues. (Though I thought i heard SRV jamming on Jimmy Hendrix favorite chord; 7#9). You brought up the heavy gage strings at the end. Good research on your part and explanation of its benefit. Not a direct quote but SRV said "If you don't have tone, then you don't have anything" What's even more remarkable is that an important part of SRV's playing is his incredible use of pitch bends and heavy vibrato. He must have had incredible strength in his hands and wrists to push those strings for hours, night after night. I'm not a guitar person but i wonder if that's why he detuned his guitar a half step; to give the strings a tad more flexibility.
One of my favorite things about SRV, even after seeing him live at a much younger age (me) and the many versions of his playing live that exist here on RU-vid is that he almost NEVER played the same song the same way... But if you never heard the song before you'd never realize it at all... Everything just flowed right out of the man like he is just telling a story verbally...
I believe Doug is digging rock'n roll after all... why don't you react to DIVIDIDOS take on this tune? Another power trio if that's a teaser for you. Greetings from Argentina!
I'd like to see you start guitar with an acoustic Bass. It's an easy transition from keyboard. And, you get to be a thing that is somewhere between a drummer, and a musician.. 😉
@@scottmacdonald1826 yep, the really cool thing about bassists is that they're versatile. They work with the drummer to lay down the foundation of the song and they also support the guitarist, I'm a sucker for bass solos, I only wish they weren't so rare in rock and metal. Steve Harris of Iron Maiden is my favorite bassist of all time and Geddy Lee of Rush is a close second, Steve Harris is the true musical genius in Iron Maiden. Listen to the bass intro of "Blood On The World's Hands" by Iron Maiden, it's soo captivating and beautiful!
Sorry, Doug, but you chose the wrong live performance. The best one is this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cFwTbsKkqxE.html Have fun!
As a guitar player the thing I always found amazing about SRV was his absolute command and physicality in handling the guitar while still playing flawlessly. The guitar was tired when he was done with it 😂
Love your content--just found this channel. Your knowledge and experience are very apparent. Would you ever react to the Grateful Dead, or Dead and Company? I love their stuff
Back in the day Jimi was asked who he thought the greatest guitar player was. He answered Terry Kath from the band Chicago. If he was around during Stevie’s time he would have answered Stevie and he would have been blown away by this version of his song
It's so interesting that SRV playing Hendrix wasn't that noteworthy compared to his own performances. But he did exceptional job, it's not that big of a surprise that as a teenager he spent his time playing Hendrix and other blues covers for the little bit of money. The string myth of SRV is slightly exaggerated. He had thicker strings at the end ranges of the board and somewhat regular in the middle. Which is actually more odd than having them linear.
Any version of Voodoo Chile by Hendrix or Stevie and your in for a good time and neither of them ever played it the same way twice. Many Have said that its electrified freaked out Muddy Waters but I have never heard any one mention. that the intro with guitar and drums is pure native American> Sing Along to the intro you will get it, I cant remember now if Jimi`s Grandmother was Cherokee or Apache princess.
Doug forget the technical aspects of Stevie's playing. Listen with your soul. You'll soon realize everytime his finger touched a string his soul shined through
SRV had massive hands. A true virtuoso with complete power and control over his instrument. Another thing that contributed to his unique sound was the use of the ts808 overdrive tube screamer and fender bassman amp.
Stay on the Voodoo Chile kick and check out Zakk Wylde w/ the Les Paul Trio playing at The Iridium. Well worth the time to listen and compare three outstanding artists with a classic song!
now you really need to listen / react to the Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood version of Voodoo Chile - Live at Madison Square Garden, If you want to know what the keyboard part should sound like
My understanding is it's not a V, IV, I. Its a D 9 add 11 (in standard tuning) to A/C# to E. Which would be a VII to IV to I. The ringing of the open third and first strings in the first chord creates a nice suspended sound. It's basically an open C chord slid up to the third fret. It's a beautiful chord.
Although SRV is a master of the southern blues-rock genre he cannot hold a candle to Gary Moore in taste, technique and musicality. Check out his cover of Voodoo Chile please
I’ve watched this concert footage over and over again. I did the exact same thing. I was just focusing on his fingers. He was abusing the strings and the neck of that poor guitar. Amazing
