Stevie Ray Vaughan Nominated For Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame – Vote For SRV!
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble have been nominated for the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Please cast your vote at RockHall.com. The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a fans’ ballot that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2015 inductees. SRV’s nomination does not include Double Trouble.
The inductees will be announced later this year. Additional nominees for 2015 include The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Green Day, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Kraftwerk, The Marvelettes, N.W.A., Nine Inch Nails, Lou Reed, The Smiths, The Spinners, Sting, War, and Bill Withers.
Legends run deep when memories of Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954-1990) are invoked. David Bowie said, after seeing the 28-year-old Dallas blues guitar sensation for the first time at Montreux in 1982: “SRV completely floored me. I probably hadn’t been so gung-ho about a guitar player since seeing Jeff Beck in the early 60s.” Famed music man Jerry Wexler arranged for Vaughan’s big-time debut at Montreux (which led to him playing on Bowie’s global Number One hit “Let’s Dance”). Equally famed John Hammond led Vaughan to Epic Records. The studio and live LPs released during the last seven years of his life etched SRV into Stratocaster immortality and influenced the next generation of blues guitarists.
From the opening onslaught of “Love Struck Baby,” “Pride And Joy,” and “Texas Flood” on his first LP, it was clear that Vaughan belonged in the highest ranks of guitar greats. His devotion to Jimi Hendrix emerged on his second LP, with a blistering cover of “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” It turned into a staple of nearly every SRV show, along with Hendrix’s “Little Wing.” Vaughan laid out his dedication to the great masters for all to see, especially Guitar Slim (“The Things (That) I Used To Do”) and Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers Buddy Guy (“Mary Had A Little Lamb”), Freddie King (“Hide Away”) and Albert King (“Blues At Sunrise”). During his short-lived career, Vaughan also recorded show-stopping collaborations with B.B. King, Jeff Beck, Paul Butterfield, Dick Dale, Lonnie Mack, Albert Collins and many others. Although he may have had top billing, Vaughan’s meteoric rise and reputation as a brilliant showman had the dynamite backing power of Double Trouble, the unshakeable rhythm section of drummer Chris Layton, bassist Tommy Shannon and later keyboardist Reese Wynans. Taking their name from an Otis Rush song, Double Trouble accompanied Vaughan on his debut Texas Flood through his final album, In Step, injecting each with a Texas-blues swagger that influenced countless artists in its wake.