There is a very telling thing about Stivie in this performance. He doe,s a blistering jawdroppin run and looks at the band and smiles he is shocked at how good it was. He wasn,t conciously aware he played it till it was over
Stevie used .13-gauge strings. To me, the GOAT. Stevie could have been one of the best metal guitarists had he wanted to, but the blues flowed through Stevie, and he was compelled to play it.
I learned that when I was very young and just started playing guitar and thought "well then that's what I'm going to do" got a set of .13 strings and could barely move any of them. Shredded my fingers trying to get it to work. :)
Me too! Love SRV!! I've never seen anyone with the endurance, stamina as SRV. He always took it up at least 2 notches! An absolute legend and he certainly paid homage to the greats b4 him. There will never be another! #GOAT
I was at that that show as a 17 year old kid and still gives me chills to see it here. Seen him front row in a tiny upstate NY venue with legendary Johnny Winter opening. two weeks later he was killed in the Helicopter cash.
I've shown this to people over the years and they're like WTF! I've seen various reactions channels react to it and it's the same thing, it never gets old reliving it through new eyes for the first time💯
Alan, the set of string gauges Stevie most commonly used ran: .013, .015, .019 (plain), .028, .038, .058. I'd enjoy hearing your reaction to another genius of the electric guitar, the mesmeric Roy Buchanan, "The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World". Try Live From Austin, TX from 1976. Roy knocked my socks off when I first heard him in the early 1970s. Buchanan influenced many guitarists, including Robbie Robertson, Gary Moore, Danny Gatton, Arlen Roth, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Jerry Garcia, Mick Ronson, Nils Lofgren, Jim Campilongo, and Steve Kimock.
"Lenny" at El Mocambo is epic too. Hendrix will never not move me because of his innovation, originality, and uniqueness. He's like comparing people to Prince, Michael, or even The Beatles. They kinda are all so unique. I'm kneel at the alter of SRV but one thing is he's fundamentally an extention of Albert King's blues basically turned up to eleven. He feels for the most part well within the boundaries of blues.Where as Hendrix to me is noticably over the edge of blues with respect to the use of distortion and feedback and a few of the songs. All while, if you listen to a lot of his music, still often playing blues riffs. And then of course he has songs that 100% feel like a traditional blues song like Hey Joe and catfish blues, red house, i hear a train etc. Regardless, i dont' rank them, don't rate them, I don't even try to declare a favorite. I kinda know I adore both. Both made me want to learn the guitar at different times. And i like both before i really even know about their place in the larger music scene. I just like purple haze and Texas Flood and that was all a kid in the 80s knew. It sounded cool!!!
Everything you just said I can totally relate to and agree with , right down to being a kid in the 70s I had to suffer disco ! Then punk fought back and from that moment I was into music, all the way in ! I’m going to see TOOL today and I’m like a kid a Xmas 🎅 I woke up to early 😂 and I’m 57 for christs sake 😳😂😂🙈
THAT version is not the best because Layton goes off on some other path....too high I suppose...but he's trying to play with SRV and 95% of the time he gets it done.
Anyone that can tell me one player that hits every note clean and Kristp as SRV. Everytime he hits a note he dont miss not one hit,everytime he hit a note you want hear a miss. They are a lot of greats you can't tell any one too like any body,it all comes from the way it fits the ear. "SEMPER FI" God Bless
Stevie and Albert King did a “duet” album. Look up Blues at sunrise. If Stevie was a tree Albert is the roots and this album shows it. The guitar he is playing is a piece of art to research. The neck is a ‘62 or ‘63 +- that is extremely fat with purpose of holding the monster strings. The left hand bridge was inspired by Hendrix. The pickups are 1959 strat, the combination of the huge strings and those super clean pickups is his signature sound in a nutshell. Crisp and exact. I built a 3 color burst strat with that guitar in mind
Joe ! You built a strat 😎 I’m going to enjoy absorbing Stevie and Albert . Not much else I can add , except thank you so much for all the information you have shared 😊👍😎
In 1985 , Stevie played at pier 6 pavilion in Baltimore. My parents were big fans of his and had tickets to the show. A friend of my mom's canceled at the last minute so I got to go. Phenomenal show. I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to see the legend. I was only 10 but I will never forget it. Thanks for sharing. Peace and love from Baltimore as always.
"Keepin the fire burnin"..I love this. I own Jimi and Stevie albums because I enjoy both versions. I don't compare the two. And while they are the same song, they have completely different takes on it, different structure, and different vibes. But Each is a joy to listen to and that's how it should be.
My favorite YT video of Stevie is undoubtedly "Life Without You" live from the Capitol theatre with the nursery rhyme "Mary Had A Little Lamb" a close second.
You perfectly voiced what I've been feeling about the qualitative comparisons between SRV and Jimi. I honestly don't know how you could really even put one over the other. Your metaphor of Jimi starting the innovative fire and SRV keeping it hot is just so perfectly put, and what I also keep coming back to is just how much raw soul both conveyed through their music. To me, Jimi was the great innovator, largely because of his own love and respect for multiple genres of music, yet who passed the torch (in a sense) to another visionary (SRV) who was as in love with music (multiple genres) as he was, who had the same level of passion and inspiration for pushing boundaries as he did. And the fire analogy for these two is so apt because like a fire, 'the flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.'
What struck me here, and I must state that as a younger man and Hendrix fan I used to hate SRV or anyone else covering and great song by any great artist/group(especially Hendrix or the Beatles) and Little Wing was my most loved Hedrix piece, but as I got older I realized that SRV completely eclipsed Hendrix in every version of Little Wing he played. But SRV bowed to Hendrix by never singing those words he wrote for the song. Now, listening to this again, I start to wonder that because SRV played completely from the heart, he was never able to allow his heart to use his voice. The song Little Wing was written by Hendrix about a woman that Hendrix never publicly named, so it was a love song and most likely a lamented love song as it was a love he could not keep or a love that was broken by his own hand. SRV also put no words to Lenny, which he wrote for the love/wife at the time as a love song, but even more it was written in a moment at the edge of the bed the first time he played the guitar by the woman, which the guitar and woman shared that same name.
I really didnt used too like covers , not because they aren’t good .. ( some are amazing ) but because I ( like you ) and many others was owning the song for myself .. but in reality it’s not mine to own .. I think we reach the same feeling as we got older my friend 😊👍
Stevie covering Jimi's Third Stone from the Sun is amazing live. No words, just funk. His guitar should have been sent to the Intensive Care Unit after that performance.
One of my favorites is SRV - Ain't going to give up on love .One of his blues songs and Life without you . With Stevie Ray Vaughan each performance was unique , never played a song the same , another mind blowing fact was he couldn't read music .
@@alan-reacts65 no he never learned to read music. His older brother Jimmie played guitar and showed him some things and brought home records from all the great ones. Stevie found if he could make the sounds he was hearing with his mouth he could find it on the guitar. And find it he did! So that is one of the reasons when watching him you can see him making the same mouth moves as the sound he is creating in the moment.
Dan that is one of my most favorites too🎸❣️ I love it because he wrote it and I love his own material and the Capitol Theatre performance is my most favorite concerts (along with Toyko) and performance of this song.
Btw, my favorite SRV moment: Pipeline with brother Jimmy. I didn’t make it to the Alpine Valley concert. It was a long drive and nobody but me could go. It’s the only time I wished I would have gone anyway, even alone. RIP SRV. Nice sharing that memory.
I saw SVR play with Muddy Waters at thing called Chicagofest back in 81( I think). Stevie always played with great respect when he was on stage with all the blues greats and it always seemed to me he would hold back, but that night Muddy really encouraged him to play hard that night. For me it felt more hard rock show than the other times I caught him. Oh also, 13gage was his usual go to.
I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he played with Albert King aside from the fact I’d be happy having just seen and experienced him live 🥹 thank you for sharing your memory it’s always something I’m so grateful for 😊👍
The entire El Mocambo set that night in Toronto was epic. I've had the entire show on DVD for a number of years now and still get excited every time I put it on like it's my first. Some consider that show to be the greatest set of live guitar playing ever captured on film. Myself I just simply say I'm not here proclaiming Stevie to be the greatest guitarist ever, but what I will say is that whoever's #2 has got a fair amount of catching up to do!!
It’s also impossible to compare Stevie and Jimi, because neither really hit their peak. Stevie was 35, Jimi 27 when they each passed. For me, Jimi is the greatest rock guitarist and Stevie the greatest blues guitarist.
"He could drive rivets into metal with his hands"😉😂Yes💯 he had monster hands‼️which is why he was always breaking those piano cables he played on. His guitar techs were like a boss racing car pit crew that could switch out guitars after he broke a string while he was playing live and he almost never missed a beat. The best example of this is from 1989 Austin City Limits, "Look at Little Sister". That's how it's done‼️ I have many pictures of this man's hands as they are just amazing. There is one where he is just a toddler sitting on his Uncle's lap and his Uncle's hands were monstrous as well. He sure put those beautiful hands to the best use🎸🎶‼️
I’m not body conscious ( too much 😂) but I really do wish I’d been born with bigger hands , just to be able to access my guitars better 😎 SRV took what he had and made it a thing of beauty 😊👍
I had the surprising experience of seeing a unknown to me SRV open for someone during this era. He was unlike any guitarist I had seen before him. Such a confidence in his playing, Amazing guitarist and I am with you about ranking musicians. All snowflakes who are individually expressing their talents, we of course all love what we love. Me I love good Music 🎶
BB King played the blues in sentences. SRV played the blues in paragraphs. That's one of the better descriptions I've heard. How did Albert King play the blues?
He used 13 gauge and still could bend and break them. I've read stories about how he'd play till his fingers bled, ripped finger nails off and would use baking soda and superglue to fill the chunks missing from his fingertips.
Well he didn't rip his fingernails off (😅) but he have to super glue his calluses back on and even had a way of harvesting new patches of skin. Interestingly after he got sober he went down to 11's as he said he could feel his fingers again and felt like boxing gloves were taken off his hands. If all that music he made pre rehab was with boxing gloves on only proves his otherworldliness💯
@@harrietmiller3982 I read an article that he pulled his thumbnail off of his strumming hand. Its the article that talked about him gluing baking soda on his fingertips. I didn't write the article just read it. Always loved SRV!!!✌️
A little known album called, Albert King, In Session with Stevie Ray Vaughn, is one you should definitely check out, especially the song, Overall Junction. This might be the best duet I've ever heard!
I saw SRV twice. Once opening for his brother and once where Jimmy opened for him. I’ve know Jimmy since his T bird days. Only time I “met” SRV was in the later show where I was stage left watching Jimmy and SRV walked up beside me and started watching the set. It was too loud and not the right place to say anything so I just nodded my head. SRV nodded back and we enjoyed the show together for a few minutes. I wouldn’t have traded that for anything.
Was in the throws of addiction here. Got himself clean and died. It’s like God said, I gave him to you for a little while and then he is coming with me.
It always amazed me how Stevie Ray Vaughan could do so many crazy things with his guitar play behind his head, backwards, one handed, teeth, tune his guitar while playing, adjust his AMP'S while playing one handed, broken string, switched guitar in the middle of a solo and never missed a beat even using his elbow but he played behind his back longer than anyone ever could. The love and respect he had for all the great Blues players, Stevie Ray always said the biggest influence in his life was his brother Jimmy Vaughan and then all the great Blues players after that like B.B King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Watters and Albert King who was actually Stevie Ray's godfather. Stevie Ray said there is never the best there is the best at what they do. For Stevie Ray having such a short career from the release of Texas Flood in 1983 up to his death August 27, 1990 in a helicopter crash in East Troy Wisconsin at 35 he is in Austin Music Hall Of Fame, Blues Hall Of Fame, he won 6 Grammys,10 Austin Music Awards 5 W.C.Handy Awards, Entertainer Of The Year, Instermental Of The Year and in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame all in only 7 yrs. Stevie Ray played 13 gage strings and his crew couldn't believe he was bending those strings and snapped even 13 gage strings.
Yeah, for a long time he used 13 to 56 or 58 strings, tuned down a half step to E flat. Later on he went down to 12s, and eventually to 11s, due to touring so much, it was tearing up his hands and his guitars, at least according to Rene Martinez.
His guitar tech was interviewed and said the typical set was 13s but he did try some 14's. In the last few months of gigging before his untimely death, he was using some 12s. All thick and very tone rich.
I’ve been to a ton of concerts over my 50 years. So honestly there was quite a few I wish I had my money back on.😏 and some bands redeemed themselves if I saw them more than once…..it happens. I’m being honest, there was only a couple of live performances I’ve seen from SRV and Double Trouble that weren’t great….but even those few were above average. He was SO GOOD
I’m the same , some gigs have been ok some acts kinda ok but my most consistent were Prince and U2 ( pre 1990) and Kasabian and Alterbridge post 2010 ..
@@alan-reacts65 My pleasure. I have the good fortune to live where the man was born. Dallas Texas. To say he is an icon here is a total understatement. If you choose to react to more of his work you will discover the talent of the man. For a great triple play check out the video of Stevie Ray, Stevie Wonder and Jody Wately doing Stevie Wonder's hit Superstition with Stevie Ray playing lead guitar! Unbelievable. The only one still around now is Jody and she's still singing!!
You must be truly experienced to catch where Stevie threw in a little Red House, Are You Experienced, Castles Made of Sand & the Star Spangled Banner. Great analogy between Jimi & Stevie, probably the best I've ever heard when it comes to comparing the two. Can you imagine if both had lived long enough to have played together??? If that doesn't give you goosebumps nothing will
Hi Clay , I can play a little and I’ve got friends musicians and they have made me listen and learn and try to understand what’s happening , I’ve also reacted to Red House , but just look at thier styles it’s obvious if a person takes time to absorb and listen and think , then wow it all becomes so much more enjoyable on a deeper level . Music is a massive part of my life drums at age 10 but never kept it going even though I was told I had a talent to progress ( sports was my life then ) does that help 😊
Little Wing is Stevie for me. I'd never heard it before Stevie played it. So Hendrix doesn't factor in. I'm sure it's great, like Castles, which is my favorite Hendrix tune. But I've never listened to Hendrix play this one. Haven't even tried because Stevie made it his.
Hi Alan, new to your channel. I'm a 68 year old fan of Stevie and have seen him 6 times, 4 were front row seats. The 1st time I heard SRV was when a new 1983 David Bowie's song Let's Dance ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VbD_kBJc_gI.html ) came on the radio except I didn't know who the guitar player was. I'm liking the song because I was a Bowie fan for years, the song has some sweet guitar work going on and then at 1:41 one very strong guitar note played and caught my attention. It is a 4:08 long song and about the 3:27 mark the guitar solo comes on... WOW, The hair on my arms jumped up and I had goosebumps! Now remember I still didn't know who the guitar player was... The next song to come out was China Girl (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_YC3sTbAPcU.html ) again that awesome guitar plays. I saw that Bowie was playing in Syracuse NY which is about 100+ miles from me. I go there, get a speeding ticket, I'm sitting 3/4 of the way back in a huge arena, sound sucks and the MYSTERY guitar player isn't there! So the next day I go to Korvettes which is where I buy my vinyl and read the Lets Dance cover to see if the mystery guitarists name is there. While I'm doing that the store starts playing another new album and it was the mystery guitarist! Album was Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughn! I was hooked! It seems that David also went to see SRV at El Mocambo and liked him so much that he asked SRV to play guitar on his new upcoming album. Right after the album released Bowie planned to tour to support his album. SRV told Bowie 4 days before the tour that he wasn't going to make the tour because he too just released his album. Bowie was royally pissed off. SRV toured to support his own album and it was a life changer for me. A part of me died when I heard he crashed and died in 1990. I also just learned recently that SRV played on a James Brown song Living in America BUT it's only on the 1986 album version, I understand that SRV wasn't proud of his work here but I think he did fine. It took me 6 months of listening to the song at my favorite bar before I heard him! It's towards the end of the song (4:28) . I love this song, makes me proud to be American! Keep up the good work! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_u43wdO75Uw.html
First of all , thank you muthajohn , I loved your insights and feed back and the informative way in which you critique the Bowie / SRV collaboration, I’m with SRV wanting to promote his own album , Bowie would obviously had the genius I’m stage with him but SRV believed in his own path 😎👍 I never got to see Bowie although I could have gone the Tin machine tour but chose not to ! I’m so looking forward to listening to those tracks again , this time with a different reason 👍 thank you my friend and yes I’ve saved the link you sent and I will be doing something with all that you have given here 👍
Hi again Alan👋✌️. I loved your reaction💯 And thank you for remembering my comment about BB King and Stevie's playing style. "plays in paragraphs and never runs out of things to say". He has been described by many, including Eric Clapton, as an open channel that music simply flowed through. He sometimes surprised himself by what came out. It was like he stepped into a river of music and simply got swept away in the current. Fortunately for us he took us with him🎸🎶‼️. There is always comparisons and discussions re: Jimi and Stevie. Stevie never felt any competition at all. Jimi was a huge influence on him and he respected and admired him greatly. I actually saw Jimi at the 1987 Monterey Pop Festival, along with Janis Joplin and other artists that were just breaking out. No one had ever heard or saw anything like it before‼️🤩. The innovator and creator of new sounds and ways of playing. For me, Stevie not only kept that fire hot, he showed us how playing so cleanly was so elevating and next level. Stevie's virtuosity ranged to encompass so many different types of styles and expression that puts him in a category all by himself✌️💙
@@alan-reacts65 one more, the video quality isn't the best but the audio is perfect! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5aS7_QMX_xg.html. This is for the rare one
Saw SRV twice at the Spectrum in Philadelphia... Both shows were incredible...I feel lucky to have seen him play the guitar!! The drummer and Bassist play with Kenny Wayne Sheppard, saw them last November
"Little Wing" isn't my favorite because I'm not crazy about the song itself, but what Stevie Ray does with it is mesmerizing. He does no wrong! I'd love, in particular, to see you react to "Leave My Girl Alone" (Austin, 1989): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vdxF48KfYNA.html That performance is astonishing, his singing and his playing. SRV makes his guitar evoke the very anger of the lyrics, so he tells the story two ways, perfectly expressing the emotion. You'd enjoy some of the music videos SRV and Double Trouble did, too. Their "Superstition," the official music video, is very clever. It even has the song's creator, legendary Stevie Wonder, making a cameo appearance at the end of the video. The "Cold Shot" music video is hilarious, a tongue-in-cheek vehicle about SRV's guitar addiction. In the "Couldn't Stand The Weather" music video, Stevie Ray is playing fast and furious in lashing wind and rain. Thanks for including Stevie Ray Vaughan in your reactions!
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me so much great information and some great ideas 💡. “ Leave my girl alone “ is becoming a staple request from SRV aficionados 😊👍 so I’d be wise to explore 😎👍
When he was young and constantly breaking strings he robbed them from pianos, using the thicker guage. Then Les Paul started to make larger guage for Steve. Purfered 13 guage
If anyone is wondering what it's like to bend a .13 gauge string, go get your wire cheese slicer and push it with your finger tip an inch. Then go to the ER and get stitches.
13 Guage, as always! I have a request, one that most seem to overlook, why, haven't a clue! Then again, it's that way with most things in life ,people tend to stay on the beaten path! Anyway..." LEAVE MY LITTLE GIRL ALONE" Austin city limits '89 you'll be glad you did!
13 Gauge that’s heavy duty strings but it makes sense or he’d have Been changing every 2 minutes .. the request has been written down .. I love to go off the beaten path 😊👍
@@alan-reacts65 I read his biography. He had an entire kit he developed, like a bicycle tire repair kit, that he used to repair the ends of his fingers and glue the calluses back together because of how hard and how much he played on those monster strings. One of a kind for sure.
I was blessed to have seen SRV live twice. Spectacular shows both times, most of all when he just stands and plays. When i heard he had been killed in that stupid accident, it gutted me.
He used a combination of strings starting with a 13 for his high E and a 50 for his low E he also had the action set exceptionally high so his hands had to be really strong to get those magnificent bends and vibrato
Check out John Mayer Trio - wait until tomorrow, everyday I have the blues, or bold as love to see JM carry the torch of srv and jimi into the modern era. You wont be disappointed.
What size strings is Stevie using there? It's funny you asked that. Years ago I overheard some fellas talking at a bar and Stevie was the subject. Both men were huge fans and were just enjoying who and what Stevie was. One of them asked that very question to the other and the other guy answered, "Electric Power line size". I couldn't help but laugh because I understood why he said that. I'll never forget that.👍🏼
Yep. I'll say it over and over. You got Jimi and you got SRV...and you can interchange them seamlessly. What would have been GREAT if we had a chance to see JIMI...covering SRV.....now THAT...would be the shit. Jimi doing Texas Flood ? GFY. I've always thought 'Machine Gun' was Jimi at h is finest and SRV never covered that. Like to have heard that too. I'd like to have heard them just playing together for hours. But god robbed us of that. He's or she...is a tricky dude that god person is. At the same time, he gave us them.
I'm a new sub my first time here ,I'm not sure what SRV songs you have reactions too. If you haven't already, I'd live to suggest (life without you) capital theater NJ 1985 and notice the early guitar swap and later broken tooth .
Greetings Jeff , thank you for joining 😎 on the channel I do have an SRV playlist .. that track I haven’t done ✅ so I’ve made a note .. go check out the SRV , I’ve got him there with Albert king , and a few others 😊👍👍
Stevie Ray used 13 gage string's. He had 1inch holes in his finger's. He would take bakin' powder and Super glue and glue em back on his finger's when he lost his caliseses. He would skin grafted his own finger's back on take a nail file file to take any Rough edges off so they wouldn't get caught on the string's. And keep right on playin'. He played his dues.
E guage strings eventually he special set. The e was killing his fingers to the point he would use super glue the action was high on Stevie's you stick your little finger under the 12th fret.
