"Stevie was an endless, open channel that music just poured out of. He made people who'd never touched a guitar in their life want to pick one up and start playing, and he made those of us who'd played live onstage with him before want to quit."..................Eric Clapton.
I’m a big fan of Hendrix and SRV. And having heard both versions over the years, I can’t even imagine someone else covering this song better than Stevie Ray. This guy was incomparable in embellishing the true art form of guitar playing. He practically reinvented it through his endearing inspiration of Hendrix.
@josephclarke4244 he tuned down to Eb as a rule in emulation of Jimi from early days on the guitar. Whatever he's doing here, I'll withhold speculation until I've watched again.
@@damonhines8187 if ya watch Texas flood, Life without you...I noticed a clearly lower tone, not a guitar player myself, I love music been listening to Stevie since the early 80's. But was think 🤔 maybe it's just a little easier to relax the strings for behind his back playing... again however it goes without saying 99% of the population could try playing and never to get close to SRV's playing!
I appreciated your reaction🌻. I grew up in Monterey and saw Jimi at the Pop Festival in 1967 along with Janis Joplin and so many others just breaking out. Jimi was a true innovator and we had never seen anything like him before. You never forget🎶. Stevie was a big fan of Jimi's but he had so many influences that you can hear in his playing. He soaked them all up like a sponge and devoted his short life to use those influences he loved so much and weave them into his own unmistakable sound and tone. I do encourage you to explore Stevie's own work as those are my favorites. Riveria Paradise from this same ACL 1989, Aint Gone 'N' Give Up On Love at the Capitol Theatre 1985, Life Without You from Capitol Theatre 1985. These will give you a wider look at who he was as a musician and as a man. Oh and just for grins for yourselves check out Stevie's Voodoo Chile from Toyko 1985. He was just in a free flowing mood, took about 15 minutes really weaving in riffs and runs in and out of the melody and it seemed like he really didn't want to stop playing. I would be curious what you would think.✌️🎶
Stevie and Double Trouble were always cool. Being a huge Hendrix fan wish he took better care of hmself to play at least through the 70's. Both deaths were crushing news.
Hendrix was 'just' a major influence on SRV is all. Different players in different times. That said, he was pretty darn good at channeling Jimi. And every time I hear that solo at the end with the close up on his left hand, I can hear Prince saying "hey man, that's my shit!"
SRV became popular in the 80's, when Rock had lost it's Soul. It was all Over Produced, cookie cutter ,corporate formula Pop! Stevie was a Guitar Slinger in the best sense, like Johnny Winter, Alvin Lee , Duane Allman etc. He turned the kids of the day on to Real Blues
Totally with you on the Jimmie/Stevie comparisons. People are lazy with these comparisons. And its an art, anyway. That being said, you should listen to more Stevie.
S.R.V. was 14 when the Hendrix original came out, and he tuned his guitar down to Eb so he could play along with the records, and learn the songs note for note as a starting point. You can also see how much some specific parts of his playing were influenced by Albert King by watching footage from the 1983 Canadian TV show "In Session" where he and Albert trade blues licks.
Albert was a definite model for his blues playing. He is not an innovator. He just takes his influences and does it as good as, or be!tree than, his models.
Interesting that 2 lefties (Hendrix & Albert King) influenced SRV. Albert played "upside down" with the strings strung for a right handed guitar and flipped over and played leftie. I read somewhere that he used open tunings to make that flip a little easier to deal with.
For anyone who hasn't heard them, there is a band call Arc Angels. Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble) are the rhythm section. The two guitarists are Charlie Sexton and Doyle Bramhall. If you like SRV, you'll probably like Arc Angels. I never had the pleasure of seeing Arc Angels but I saw SRV 3 times. I agree that he pretty much only sounds like Hendrix when playing Hendrix. I've been saying that for years. You want guys that sound like Hendrix try Uli Jon Roth, Frank Marino and Robin Trower. And that's no put down. I love them all!
I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan every year from 1983 up until two months before he died. Every show was phenomenal. My all-time top concert was Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Beck. Maybe the JFK Pink Floyd concert comes near but I don’t know.
I never got into Hendrix, and the reason being, i saw him live in 1969 and late June 1970, and both times he made so many mistakes, rarely was in tune, and his improv had me some of the time he was just lost! The other thing with Hendrix, is on the studio records, it was the Engineer Eddie Kramer that deserves most of the credit. All those guitar over dubs, the sound effects added into the tunes, The multi layering of tracks, made it so 75% or more of the tunes live seemed weak, and empty. Too me SRV was a much more accomplished guitar player, in the sense it was the CLARITY of his playing, left no room for error. I saw SRV 7 times, starting in August of 1983, and the last time in late 1987, and never ever left like i felt i was cheated on the music. He also never played the same solos!...As Eric Clapton, B.B. King, and even Jeff Beck said about SRV he was an open channel who never got lost...When Jimi played clean, more so in the Band of Gypsy's with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles i enjoyed his playing much more, but again, it was nothing that knocked your socks off.
Earlier in his career, Jimi's true talent really rang out. Later on he was pulled in too many directions by others, and his wanting to create, but also party a lot more than he should, diminished his ability to be on top of his game. Jimi's "Machine Gun" with the BOG's still sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it.
I saw Jimi in California a couple months before he passed. And i can agree those studio records had such a BIG SOUND! The trouble was as you said, it couldn't be reproduced live. I watched a recent Doc of Hendrix at the 190 Atlanta Pop Festival, and i'm sorry he sounded terrible. He also had to be asked a few times to go back out there and play more. Seems he played 4 or 5 songs, and just walked off. Yes he did improvise, and play what he was feeling, but it was more NOODLING then creating a good solo...Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, and SRV, really had that mindset, to pull off a great solo, each and every night. All you need to do is listen to different versions of the same tune. I also believe Hendrix had an ear to the YardBirds records, when Jeff Beck joined the band in 1965/1966 Then his first solo record TRUTH in 1968 Hendrix, like others also got many ideas from the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Album, along with Revolver, and Rubber Soul
BTW, I saw Hendrix twice. Transcendant experiences... Would be nice if folks stopped turning this into a contest. It's art. SRV is inspired by...but carves out his own identity. Even Picasso was inspired by others; Matisse in particular.
I understand your not liking the comparison. They are quite different. However, it seems while he’s playing Jimi Hendrix songs he is intending to evoke, pay homage, to Hendrix - not copy him. The respect comes across, to me. I have been a big Hendrix fan since the 60’s, and no one compares to his innovative output of talent, for his time. I feel similarly about Stevie Ray Vaughan. I don’t know (nor how to check while I’m writing…) whether you’ve responded to his performance with Johnny Copeland. It really highlights the breadth of his talent. We are all so lucky to have these amazing videos to view on demand.
People's comparisons have nothing to do with Stevie Ray. He is the best guitar Player. There are better technically sound players but they can't play from within every moment. He had to. It was who he was. His extra appendage was his guitar.
I was at Stevie Ray Vaughn's last concert the night his helicopter crashed after the show at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin August 26th 1990. The fog was so bad that we stopped and got a hotel room on the way home. The next morning when I was checking out of the hotel proudly wearing my Eric Clapton tshirt the clerk said "did you hear that Eric Clapton died in a helicopter crash last night?? On the way home we frantically searched radio stations(no smart phones back then)finally we heard SRV had passed. It was a very sad ride home. The lineup was SRV, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Stevie's brother Jimmie and Buddy Guy. RIP SRV!
Interestingly Stevie talked to Hendrix's family to make sure they wouldn't be offended by his covering Jimi's songs. They said they would he honoured to keep Jimi's music current.
I agree. Jimi was an innovator. SRV is an interpreter of Jimi’s works. I actually like Stevie’s versions of Voodoo Chile and Little Wing better than Jimi’s originals.
That was Dan's tentative point,@@tommccafferty5591... For me, it's that I saw both live (Jimi's was my first concert, age 13), and Jimi's whole guitar god persona (and I don't see that as somehow a bad thing!) was compelling in a way that Stevie's is not.
Great reaction. SRV and Hendrix are two different people like you said and shouldn't be compared. They are both amazing. You talked about SRV bending those strings. He used the heaviest gauge strings available, I think 13 gauge, and bent them like they were dental floss. Amazing!!! "Life Without You", live at the Capital Theater is a great one to react to. Double Trouble is an amazing back up band as well.
Check out "Riviera Paradise" from this performance, which is a masterpiece that Stevie himself composed after his recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol. It showcases not only his stellar technical ability as a guitarist, but his ability to express emotion through his music and build a connection with his listeners. That, IMO, is what sets Stevie above all others and is his greatest legacy.
On the second half of the second solo (5:56) he uses an Octavia pedal, (or a modern equivalent), originally developed by Roger Mayer for Hendrix in 1967, which Hendrix used on "Purple Haze", "Fire", "One Rainy Wish", etc. As far as that long, broken up descending note goes, it might sound different because the effect is being created differently. I always heard it explained that Jimi was toggling the pickup selector back and forth between maybe the bridge pickup and the much quieter in-between position to create it, or that he had it wired so that there was no sound on one of the in-between positions. If you look at Stevie, he was doing it somehow with a stomp box.
Sorry hendrix fans but I like SRV version better he just lays in on those cords better and longer so you can just linger longer in every note and it sounds like 10 guitars on that stage...he is also playing both rhythm and lead...the best there ever was and will be in my honest opinion 😉 good reation
Though SRV regularly performed a couple of Hendrix songs (with Hendrix's father's blessing), he was primarily a blues player. (Check out his cover of Hank Ballard's "Look at Little Sister" or his own "Pride and Joy".) But for a completely different perspective that really shows his level of guitar mastery, listen to his "Riviera Paradise" and "Lenny", a tribute to his wife. By the way, that ugly guitar he's usually playing was given to him by Ray Hennig, who owned a music store, "Heart of Texas Music," on South Lamar in Austin, about a block south of Town Lake. The guitar was too ugly to sell, and SRV was too broke to pay for one, anyway. Ray was well known for helping struggling musicians, often helping them pay rent, traffic fines, or gas to get to gigs. Sadly he passed away a few years ago, and the location is now a strip mall and cinema.
Hendrix very innovative, but....SRV much better,cleaner & faster guitarist overall! Jimi,especially later on was sloppy & just lazy! SRV much more versatile;Blues,rock,jazz,etc,etc
Someone, somewhere must react to the long version of Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix from the Electric Ladyland Album or they are just missing this 20 minute gem by Hendrix ("Voodoo Chile", recorded May 2, 1968, during a studio jam with Steve Winwood on organ and Jack Casady on bass)
SRV good but Jimi the best. This song a much dirtier tone and SRV was way more repetitive than Jimi. Woodstock, Maui, Royal Albert Hall and Berkeley versions are the best.
Exactly, there is no comparison they are both excellent guitarist they’re all right! Think about it is actually pretty homage. Did Jimi Hendrix Rochon guys read text?🔥🔥🔥🔥🤘🏼🤘🏼
Comparisons are inevitable because he was obviously a Hendrix fan, and covered a lot of Hendrix material, but I think you are both right. Stevie was technically a better player, and the "tech" was 20 years more advanced than when Hendrix first made the sounds Stevie was replicating. He took the toolbox Jimi left behind and built something wonderful with it. Something uniquely SRV.
SRV is in my opinion even better on voodoo then jimmy. OK please don,t hate me. BUT what i mean is:SRV plays it with more style. Jimmy always played more like IN THE MOMENT.
Dan, you got it exactly right, Jimi was the creative innovator and Stevie was more technically proficient (he did have 7 more years to perfect his art than did Hendrix) and a hellacious blues guitarist. There doesn't need to be any comparison; both were great and at the apex of their profession.
SRV is one of the best guitarist ever. Concerning this particular song tho, you have to throw as much kudos to the drummer as to Stevie. I dont care who the guitar player is, without that bad ass drummer, this song would not be what it is.
He took Jimi's energy and refined it. He is what Jimi could have turned into and better. Nobody else even comes close to being able to play Jimi in the style that Jimi created.
I believe Stevie tuned his guitar down a half step and used heavy gage strings. This is why some of his bends seem impossible. Then again, I may have dreamed of this.
Well I'm standing next to a statue. It looks like she got something in her hand. I'm standing here right next to a statue? Looks like she has something in her hand? Must of been a number for another man!!!
Stevie went to Hendrix's Dad and approached him about doin Voodoo child and he responded giving him his blessings to do so and gave him a wah wah pedal that was Jimi's to do it with...
It's all about the delivery and feel. There are so many people who try to copy his style (which Stevie derived from a lot of the blues guitarists before him) but he just has such an exceptional feel that it just hits harder. I have yet to hear anyone that can play like him - maybe those 13 gauge strings helped too. Thick as piano wire.
These people talk about comparisons and she is comparing Hendrik again with stevie. Yes Hendrix was an innovator but stevie was a far better guitar player.
Stevie was a God on the guitar. The pedels he hits in the beginning used to belong to Jimmie Hendricks. And as musicians you guys can appreciate that Stevie played with No. 13 strings on this and one other guitar
LOVE the reaction!! :) ♥ Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
Stevie was way better than Jimi Hendrix only for the fact that Stevie Ray Vaughan was able to sober out and be at the top of his game at the time of his death. Jimi Hendrix never got the chance to sober up so he's playing was very distorted. I'll tell you what though I would love to see them both alive and playing today to see how good they became. Also Stevie Ray Vaughan's brother was Jimi Hendrix rhythm guitar player for years.
From what I understand, SRV's level of playing goes up a few notches when you realize that the string gauge and action he used for his guitar made it more difficult to play dynamically than most guitars. This apparently helped him achieve a fatter tone, but made it more difficult to achieve the kinds of bends he regularly performed.
I completely agree with you, Jimi was an inivater and SRV was like his student. You also can't compare the 60's to the 80's as far as quality....they're both legends
Alot of people compared Stevie Ray Vaughan to Jimi Hendrix but they couldn't be more different, Jimi had that rough rock style and it was all over the place with the way he played to where Stevie Ray had more of a controlled flowing style and Stevie Ray was better than Hendrix playing guitar and Jimi was better at what he did. There is a blues artist out there that started the amazing trick playing back in 1964 Eric Clapton went to The Marquee Club and watched Buddy Guy play with his teeth, above his head and picked his guitar which you see Stevie Ray do that alot and no one ever mentions him. On August 24,1990 Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy Robert Clay and Stevie Ray's brother Jimmie Vaughan another great guitarist and got Stevie Ray into Blues music went to East Troy Wisconsin to open 3 shows for Eric Clapton with all 3 shows selling out, 40,000 seats, on August 27,1990 after Eric Clapton finish his show Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy, Robert Clay and Jimmie Vaughan jammed together playing Sweet Home Chicago by Robert Johnson, that would be the last song Stevie Ray ever performed. Stevie Ray boarded a helicopter that crashed into the side of a mountain right after takeoff and everyone on board were killed instantly. Stevie Ray Vaughan was and still is a legend.
