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Stevie Ray Vaughan - Fiery Blues and Fateful Choices · DISGRACELAND

0:00
Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. This is a
0:16
Speaker 1: story about a giant, a guitar god who I think
0:19
Speaker 1: was actually better than God, not the real God, the
0:22
Speaker 1: other one. You'll hear what I mean in a minute.
0:25
Speaker 1: And this is a story about cocaine and booze and blues,
0:29
Speaker 1: and of course it's about a fiery crash, because this
0:34
Speaker 1: is a story about Stevie ray Vaughan, one of the
0:37
Speaker 1: absolute greatest to ever do it, a man who, of
0:41
Speaker 1: course made great music. Unlike that music I played for
0:46
Speaker 1: you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music.
0:50
Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called Liquid
0:53
Speaker 1: YEO MK one. I played you that loop because I
0:58
Speaker 1: can't afford the rights to Let's Dance by David Bowie.
1:02
Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of
1:05
Speaker 1: serious moonlight cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was
1:10
Speaker 1: the number one song in America on May nineteen eighty three,
1:15
Speaker 1: a number one song that would force Stevie rayvaugh to
1:18
Speaker 1: make a choice, be a star in someone else's universe or.
1:23
Speaker 2: Be a god on his own.
1:26
Speaker 1: On this episode, Guitar Gods boos blues, a fiery crash
1:32
Speaker 1: and one of the greatest to.
1:33
Speaker 2: Ever do it.
1:34
Speaker 1: Stevie Rayvon I'm Jake Brennan in This Is Disgraceland. Boobs
2:13
Speaker 1: were now raining down from every direction. In the silence
2:17
Speaker 1: between songs, they were impossible to miss. At first, there
2:22
Speaker 1: was polite applause and then awkward silence until the hecklers
2:27
Speaker 1: started up way in the back of the theater turn
2:30
Speaker 1: it down. Soon others were joining in get them off
2:33
Speaker 1: the stage.
2:35
Speaker 2: With every song, the jeers grew louder.
2:37
Speaker 1: This wasn't Bob Dylan going electric at Newport in nineteen
2:41
Speaker 1: sixty five, but you might have been fooled by the
2:43
Speaker 1: reaction of the blues purists in the crowd. This was
2:47
Speaker 1: Stevie ray Vaughn in Double Trouble at the Montro Jazz Festival.
2:51
Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty two.
2:52
Speaker 1: The world famous festival in Switzerland was hosting Jackson Brown,
2:56
Speaker 1: Talking Heads, Dizzy Gillespie and BB King that year, as
2:59
Speaker 1: well as Stevie Ravaughan's virtually unknown Texas trio. They were
3:04
Speaker 1: there because Jerry Wexler, a guy who produced your favorite
3:07
Speaker 1: Aretha Franklin songs and signed led Zeppelin to their first
3:11
Speaker 1: contract that Jerry Wexler vouched for the band personally with
3:15
Speaker 1: festival bookers after he saw them blow the roof off
3:18
Speaker 1: of Austin's Continental Club. So when Stevie ravaugh in his
3:22
Speaker 1: longtime double trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon on bass
3:26
Speaker 1: and Chris Layton on drums, showed up in Switzerland.
3:30
Speaker 2: They did what they always did, which was plug in, turn.
3:34
Speaker 1: Up the amps, and play the meanest, dirtiest, loudest Texas
3:38
Speaker 1: boogie that anyone had ever heard, and if there was
3:41
Speaker 1: any money at the end of the night, they split
3:43
Speaker 1: it up three ways and do it again the next night.
3:48
Speaker 2: To get the sound right, they needed volume. They needed it,
3:52
Speaker 2: lots of it, because Stevie.
3:54
Speaker 1: Ravan was no normal guitar player. He was short stood
3:58
Speaker 1: just five foot five.
4:00
Speaker 2: Hands were huge.
4:02
Speaker 1: He used strings thick as power lines, I mean massively
4:06
Speaker 1: thick strings for a massively thick tone, and he had
4:10
Speaker 1: the strength to bend them and send notes soaring into
4:13
Speaker 1: the heavens. He knew all the classic tricks. He could play.
4:16
Speaker 2: Behind his head, behind his back.
4:18
Speaker 1: He and his older brother Jimmy even worked out a
4:20
Speaker 1: routine where they could play two parts of the same
4:22
Speaker 1: guitar at the same time. Plus Stevie Ravon had the flash.
4:28
Speaker 1: He had this big black gunslinger's hat, silk scarves, and
4:31
Speaker 1: his weathered Fender Stratocaster guitar. Everyone knew what to expect
4:36
Speaker 1: when he walked onto the stage. Everyone, unfortunately, except for
4:40
Speaker 1: the Swiss crowd of stuffed shirts. The band stuck out
4:44
Speaker 1: like a sore thumb on a night featuring acoustic blues
4:47
Speaker 1: and traditional jazz acts. Compared with everyone else on that bill,
4:51
Speaker 1: their volume was deafening, but not as deafening as the
4:55
Speaker 1: silence when they finished their last song. Stevie Ravan, he
5:00
Speaker 1: wasn't even mad, he was just confused. And maybe they
5:03
Speaker 1: were a bit nervous, but come on, they didn't play
5:05
Speaker 1: that bad, and they took pride in working the crowd
5:08
Speaker 1: into a frenzy. But tonight they'd gone over like a
5:10
Speaker 1: lead balloon. Stevie could only think of one other time
5:15
Speaker 1: that they'd been booed.
5:17
Speaker 2: It was a few months back.
5:18
Speaker 1: They booked a two night gig opening for the Clash
5:21
Speaker 1: the Coliseum in Austin.
5:23
Speaker 2: Even though Austin was their home.
5:25
Speaker 1: Base where they took the stage, they didn't recognize a
5:28
Speaker 1: single face in that crowd and as soon as they
5:30
Speaker 1: started playing with teenagers in black leather and safety pins
5:33
Speaker 1: are screaming fuck you.
5:34
Speaker 2: Stevie Rayvon and STEVEE. Ravon had to tell Joe Strummer
5:38
Speaker 2: they weren't coming back for night too.
5:39
Speaker 1: That just weren't the right fit, and that was exactly
5:42
Speaker 1: the problem. In nineteen eighty three, Stevie Rayvaughn in Double
5:46
Speaker 1: Trouble were too heavy for blues puris, but rock bands
5:50
Speaker 1: wanted a new wave of him. Punk radio wouldn't play them,
5:54
Speaker 1: and no record label would touch a blues band. At
5:57
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old, Stevie Rayvon was already the hottest
6:01
Speaker 1: guitar player in Texas. He'd held the title practically since
6:04
Speaker 1: he was a skinny little teenager, sneaking out the tag
6:07
Speaker 1: along with his older brother Jimmy to his gigs, and
6:10
Speaker 1: Jimmy himself was considered the number one guitar player in
6:12
Speaker 1: the state, at least until his kid brother started plugging in. However,
6:17
Speaker 1: being the hottest guitar player in Texas it didn't pay
6:20
Speaker 1: like it used to.
6:21
Speaker 2: Sure Stevie and Double.
6:23
Speaker 1: Trouble they could pack tiny sweatbox clubs in the Lone
6:26
Speaker 1: Star Estate, but that barely paid the bills.
6:29
Speaker 2: Outside of Texas.
6:31
Speaker 1: They had no real audience, they had no record deal,
6:34
Speaker 1: and after this disaster, they had no hope of things
6:37
Speaker 1: ever getting better. Stevie grabbed a towel and wiped the
6:41
Speaker 1: sweat off his drenched face, and with a towel pressed
6:44
Speaker 1: to his eye, he didn't even hear the dressing room
6:47
Speaker 1: door open. When he lowered the towel, a thin, pale
6:50
Speaker 1: man and materialized next to him. The man wore an
6:54
Speaker 1: immaculately tailored white suit, his hair was perfect, and when
6:59
Speaker 1: he looked down at Steve, one of his eyes was
7:01
Speaker 1: green and the other was blue. Stevie gasped as he
7:06
Speaker 1: realized he was face to face with David Bowie. Let's
7:12
Speaker 1: grab a drink, David Bowie suggested, with a devilish grin.
7:16
Speaker 1: At the musicians barrow backstage, David Bowie fonned over Stevie Rayvaugh.
7:20
Speaker 1: He called him the best electric blues player he'd ever heard,
7:23
Speaker 1: A visionary. The crowd of mere mortals didn't get it,
7:27
Speaker 1: but he, David Bowie knew something special when he heard it.
7:31
Speaker 1: After another drink, Bowie casually mentioned a new album, a
7:35
Speaker 1: dance record, but still maybe Stevie could add something to it,
7:40
Speaker 1: and as the drinks kept flowing, the plan kept growing,
7:44
Speaker 1: and now David Bowie wanted Stevie Ravaughan in Double Trouble
7:46
Speaker 1: to join his world tour as the opening act. And
7:49
Speaker 1: oh yeah, Stevie would play in Bowie's backing band too.
7:54
Speaker 1: David Bowie promised to lift Stevie Rayvaughan out of the
7:56
Speaker 1: tiny Texas clubs and onto the biggest stages in the world.
8:00
Speaker 1: All Stevie had to do was say yes, and David
8:02
Speaker 1: Bowie held out his hand and Stevie shook it eagerly
8:05
Speaker 1: before tipping back his drink, and when he put the
8:08
Speaker 1: glass down, David Bowie was already gone. As amazing as
8:12
Speaker 1: it was to sit and chat with the superstar, Stevie
8:15
Speaker 1: rayvaugh had heard enough offers just.
8:17
Speaker 2: Like this one and know that nothing would come of it.
8:19
Speaker 2: He'd probably never hear from David.
8:21
Speaker 1: Bowie again, and besides, his mind was focused on redemption.
8:27
Speaker 1: The next night, the band was booked into a small
8:29
Speaker 1: after hours club with an atmosphere that was more Continental
8:32
Speaker 1: club and less Carnegie Hall.
8:35
Speaker 2: Back in their usual environment, they put on a barn
8:38
Speaker 2: burner of.
8:38
Speaker 1: A set wowing everyone in the crowd, including Jackson Brown.
8:43
Speaker 1: In fact, Jackson Brown was so impressed he offered to
8:47
Speaker 1: let the band record some songs at his personal studio
8:49
Speaker 1: if they ever made it out to Los Angeles. After
8:53
Speaker 1: returning to the States, the band could barely afford to
8:56
Speaker 1: get from Texas to California.
8:58
Speaker 2: Still, they had together a few gigs and headed west.
9:02
Speaker 1: They spent seventy two hours in La laying down ten songs,
9:05
Speaker 1: including six of Stevie's originals, all of which were recorded live.
9:10
Speaker 1: It wasn't supposed to be an album, just some demos
9:12
Speaker 1: to help them finally land a record deal. After three
9:15
Speaker 1: days of recording in La Stevia, Rayvaughan was just about
9:18
Speaker 1: to pass out when a phone call woke them up
9:21
Speaker 1: at three in the morning. And when he picked up
9:23
Speaker 1: the phone there was a British voice on.
9:25
Speaker 2: The other line. It was David Bowie and he was
9:29
Speaker 2: calling to make a deal. And any good bluesman will tell.
9:32
Speaker 1: You when you head down to the crossroads to dance
9:35
Speaker 1: with that devil.
9:37
Speaker 2: You Unfortunately, you do not get to pick the song.
10:08
Speaker 1: It was hard to tell because the car was moving
10:10
Speaker 1: so fast, but this was in fact God himself, behind
10:14
Speaker 1: the wheel of the Ferrari three sixty five, weaving through
10:17
Speaker 1: humanity in the heavy South London traffic.
10:21
Speaker 2: God pulled the wheel hard to the right as the
10:23
Speaker 2: tires chirped in.
10:24
Speaker 1: Protest, and he flew past a line of slow moving
10:27
Speaker 1: cars before he finally found an open stretch of road
10:31
Speaker 1: and mashed the accelerator.
10:34
Speaker 2: The car shot forward with a force that would have crushed.
10:37
Speaker 1: Any normal human, But ever since he'd gotten clean, God
10:41
Speaker 1: craved the adrenaline rush of fast cars and loud music,
10:46
Speaker 1: speaking of which God leaned forward and jerked the volume
10:49
Speaker 1: knob to the right, and the radio was tuned to
10:51
Speaker 1: a top forty station. And it wasn't exactly God's music.
10:55
Speaker 1: A funky bassline throbbed from the speakers. Tight guitar stabs
10:59
Speaker 1: loaded with echo play over it like a nile Rogers riff. Actually,
11:03
Speaker 1: maybe it was a nile Rogers riff. Even if it
11:06
Speaker 1: wasn't his cup of tea, God couldn't deny it. The
11:09
Speaker 1: song groofed hard, and then he heard a sound that
11:13
Speaker 1: tore through the car like a lightning bulb, a single
11:15
Speaker 1: stinging note that sent.
11:16
Speaker 2: Shivers up his spine.
11:18
Speaker 1: God knew he had to drop everything and find out
11:20
Speaker 1: who the hell this guitar player was. Okay, so, in
11:26
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three, Eric Clapton was a little past this.
11:29
Speaker 1: Clapton is God prime, but he was definitely still on
11:32
Speaker 1: most people's mount Olympus of guitar gods, even if he
11:35
Speaker 1: wasn't on mine. And as a so called guitar god,
11:38
Speaker 1: Eric Clapton had the power to recognize a fellow deity
11:41
Speaker 1: from a single spine tingling note, and he knew what
11:44
Speaker 1: it meant. It meant that he was about to drop
11:46
Speaker 1: everything to find out who the hell was playing lead
11:48
Speaker 1: guitar on David Bowie's Let's Dance, because it had been
11:52
Speaker 1: a while since anyone had sent a shiver like this
11:54
Speaker 1: up his spine, since Clapton heard Dwayne Allman playing in
11:58
Speaker 1: the background of a nineteen sixty nine Wilson to Pick
12:00
Speaker 1: It album, to be specific, and Dwayne stepped out of
12:03
Speaker 1: the background and shot to start him before he died
12:05
Speaker 1: in a fiery motorcycle accident in nineteen seventy one. Ever
12:09
Speaker 1: since then, there had been a giant vacancy at the
12:11
Speaker 1: peak of Mount Olympus of the guitar god's mount Olympus,
12:14
Speaker 1: that is, and at.
12:15
Speaker 2: Least Eric Clapton figured as.
12:17
Speaker 1: He turned the car back toward into town that vacancy
12:21
Speaker 1: was empty, but right about now sure sounded like it
12:24
Speaker 1: might be filled. By the time his guitar playing was
12:29
Speaker 1: making its way to God's Years in London, Stevie ray
12:32
Speaker 1: Vaughan was in Dallas contemplating a deal with the Devil.
12:36
Speaker 1: On April thirtieth, he was camped out in the Dallas
12:38
Speaker 1: Hotel room preparing for rehearsals with Bowie's band when his
12:41
Speaker 1: brother Jimmy called with some news. It was the kind
12:45
Speaker 1: of news that required a cold shot.
12:48
Speaker 2: Muddy Waters was dead.
12:52
Speaker 1: As Stevie tossed went back for the Blues legend, his
12:55
Speaker 1: mind wandered back to his options. On the one hand,
13:00
Speaker 1: after years of struggling, he was suddenly featured on the
13:02
Speaker 1: hottest song of the year. He was rehearsing with a
13:05
Speaker 1: killer band for the biggest tour in the world, and
13:08
Speaker 1: the hype was bigger than anything he'd ever seen. And
13:11
Speaker 1: thanks to that hype, Stevie Rayvaughn in Double Trouble, who
13:14
Speaker 1: he insisted get full billing in his contract, finally landed
13:18
Speaker 1: a record deal and the demos turned out to be
13:20
Speaker 1: good enough for Epic Records to release them untouched, and
13:23
Speaker 1: the album was coming out in just a few weeks
13:25
Speaker 1: to coincide with the start of David Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour.
13:30
Speaker 2: Then that was the rub. Stevie Rayvaugh wouldn't be playing
13:33
Speaker 2: shows to support his own debut album.
13:35
Speaker 1: Instead, he'd be playing on a David Bowie tour, And
13:38
Speaker 1: a David Bowie tour was all about, Well, David Bowie.
13:43
Speaker 1: The musicians in the band were cool. Stevie like jamming
13:46
Speaker 1: on China Girl and the Gene Genie, but what the
13:48
Speaker 1: fuck was he going to play on songs like Life
13:50
Speaker 1: on Mars or Space Ondity. Plus, David Bowie's big plans
13:55
Speaker 1: for Stevie were growing smaller by the day. First it
13:59
Speaker 1: was the opening slot for the whole tour, but then
14:02
Speaker 1: it got reduced down to just opening shows in America,
14:06
Speaker 1: and then further reduced to just opening shows in the South,
14:09
Speaker 1: and then it just got to be that they were
14:10
Speaker 1: only opening for David Bowie for two shows in Texas.
14:14
Speaker 1: David Bowie's PR team suddenly didn't want to help promote
14:18
Speaker 1: Stevie Rayvaugh, and they made him agree to not talk
14:21
Speaker 1: about his own music and interviews. It was ridiculous and
14:25
Speaker 1: the whole thing made Stevie laugh. He looked at his
14:28
Speaker 1: stratocaster leaning against the hotel bed.
14:31
Speaker 2: Holly did for David Bowie was spraying.
14:33
Speaker 1: Albert kinglicks all over a few tracks. It wasn't any
14:35
Speaker 1: big deal. He'd been doing that since he was a
14:38
Speaker 1: teenager back in the nineteen seventies. When Albert King pushed
14:43
Speaker 1: open the door to Anton's, one of the best blues
14:46
Speaker 1: clubs in Austin, Stevie Rayvaughan's eyes went wide. Albert King
14:52
Speaker 1: was Stevie's favorite guitar player, but he was more than that.
14:56
Speaker 2: He was a blues giant. He was also like real giant.
15:01
Speaker 1: Albert King was easily a foot taller than Stevie. He
15:03
Speaker 1: weighed close to three hundred pounds. On stage, his Gibson
15:07
Speaker 1: Flying V guitar looked like a toothpick in his hands.
15:10
Speaker 1: Albert King was a lefty, so he played the guitar
15:13
Speaker 1: on the opposite side of his body, just as Jimmy
15:15
Speaker 1: Hendrix did. But unlike Jimmy, he also played it upside down,
15:20
Speaker 1: with the high strings on the top of the neck
15:22
Speaker 1: in the low strings on the bottom. Albert King had
15:25
Speaker 1: managed to survive three decades in this business because he
15:28
Speaker 1: did everything himself. He didn't trust his career to anybody.
15:33
Speaker 1: He drove his own tour bus because well, other people
15:37
Speaker 1: used house bands. Albert didn't trust whatever half assed collection
15:40
Speaker 1: of local players at a club owner at a place
15:43
Speaker 1: like Antoine's might cobble together. So it didn't matter that
15:47
Speaker 1: the house band in question tonight was Jimmy Vaughn's group,
15:51
Speaker 1: the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
15:52
Speaker 2: They weren't even gonna sniff the stage when Albert King
15:55
Speaker 2: got up there.
15:56
Speaker 1: What Albert King hated even more than those house bands
15:59
Speaker 1: was the want to be white boy lead guitar players
16:02
Speaker 1: who were always sniffing around his sets, always trying to
16:04
Speaker 1: sit in, always talking about how great they were, and
16:07
Speaker 1: they could run their mouths, but none of them could
16:09
Speaker 1: ever hang with Albert King. Stevie ravaugh knew all that,
16:13
Speaker 1: but he also knew how many thousands of times he
16:15
Speaker 1: dropped the needle on an Albert kingriff and played along.
16:18
Speaker 2: Until he got every detail perfect.
16:21
Speaker 1: So he begged clifford Antone, the club's owner, to try
16:24
Speaker 1: to get him on stage with Albert. And then he
16:28
Speaker 1: saw the first set, and when the band kicked in,
16:31
Speaker 1: Albert played sweet, and then he played hard. He made
16:34
Speaker 1: the guitar swing, he made the guitar scream, and he
16:38
Speaker 1: absolutely tore the roof off of Antones. Suddenly, Stevie Ravaugh
16:43
Speaker 1: was shaking in his boots. He was thinking about slipping
16:46
Speaker 1: out the back door.
16:47
Speaker 2: When Clifford tapped him on the shoulder.
16:49
Speaker 1: He muttered in Stevie's ear that Albert King wasn't too
16:51
Speaker 1: happy about it, but he said if Stevie wanted to
16:55
Speaker 1: get humiliated, he could come and take his shot. Stevie
16:59
Speaker 1: pulled this Fender stratocaster out of its case, and lately
17:02
Speaker 1: his guitar was feeling like an extension of his own body.
17:05
Speaker 2: He was in love.
17:06
Speaker 1: He'd even named the guitar first wife. But those feelings
17:11
Speaker 1: of love disappeared when he crawled on stage. Albert King
17:14
Speaker 1: was staring at him like he was about to cut
17:16
Speaker 1: him to pieces with his guitar playing, and the band
17:19
Speaker 1: launched into a Latin groove and Albert let loose a
17:21
Speaker 1: firing lick just.
17:23
Speaker 2: To warm up.
17:25
Speaker 1: Stevie held his breath and answered with a couple Albert
17:27
Speaker 1: King licks of his own and the older man raised
17:30
Speaker 1: his eyebrows, and then he upped the ante with an
17:32
Speaker 1: avalanche of.
17:33
Speaker 2: Lightning fast notes, and Stevie gave it right back.
17:36
Speaker 1: And then it was on. The two were going back
17:40
Speaker 1: and forth. It was like a back alley knife fight
17:42
Speaker 1: on stage. Stevie Rayvaugh wasn't shaking in his boots anymore,
17:45
Speaker 1: he was holding his own. And as the song ended,
17:49
Speaker 1: Albert King turned away from him, but Stevie saw a
17:51
Speaker 1: crack of the small smile. That was the night that
17:54
Speaker 1: Stevie Rayvaugh first felt it like he had passed a test,
17:59
Speaker 1: like he had been into the brotherhood of the Blues.
18:03
Speaker 1: Soon everyone from Buddy Guy to Muddy Waters was showing
18:07
Speaker 1: him their rifts, their tricks of the trade. The masters taught.
18:11
Speaker 3: Stevie Ravan how to bring the blues to life. They
18:15
Speaker 3: taught him how to live the life too.
18:17
Speaker 1: First it was white crosses washed down with malt liquor
18:20
Speaker 1: to stay up all night, But by nineteen seventy nine,
18:23
Speaker 1: Steve Rayvon had moved up to Crown Royal in Cocaine.
18:27
Speaker 1: One night that year, Steve Ravon went backstage after opening
18:30
Speaker 1: for Muddy Waters. He snorted in a line of cocaine
18:33
Speaker 1: just as an off duty cop happened to be walking
18:35
Speaker 1: by a window nearby. The next thing he knew, he
18:38
Speaker 1: was getting hauled off in handcuffs, right near a surprise
18:41
Speaker 1: of Muddy Waters, who was just about to go on stage.
18:44
Speaker 1: Stevie was back the next morning. The mudey didn't give
18:47
Speaker 1: him a hard time about it, but he told Stevie
18:50
Speaker 1: to watch himself. Thinking about Muddy Waters brought a tear
18:55
Speaker 1: to Stevie Rayvon's eye and a reminder of the news
18:58
Speaker 1: that a great one was gone. He dumped the baggy
19:01
Speaker 1: of cocaine into his glass and filled it with Crown Royal.
19:05
Speaker 1: Stevie knew he wasn't going to make it to rehearsal tonight.
19:07
Speaker 1: In fact, he wasn't sure if he was ever going
19:10
Speaker 1: back to Bowie again. He wasn't meant to be a sideman,
19:14
Speaker 1: even for a superstar like Ziggie Stardust. He raised the
19:18
Speaker 1: glass for money, he could still see the powder swirling
19:21
Speaker 1: around inside, and then he knocked it back. Stevie Ravaughan
19:26
Speaker 1: was going to play the blues and.
19:28
Speaker 2: He was going to live the life, for better or
19:32
Speaker 2: for worse. We'll be right back after this We're We're Where.
19:49
Speaker 1: The air was hot and sticky, even at eleven PM.
19:53
Speaker 1: As Stevie Ravaughan slid out of the back of a
19:56
Speaker 1: black limousine, Cameras flashed from every direction as he against
20:00
Speaker 1: the silver walking stick and adjusted his dark sunglasses.
20:04
Speaker 2: He walked past the photographers and fans.
20:07
Speaker 1: Gathered outside the Hard Rock Cafe, and he was immediately swept.
20:10
Speaker 2: Into the building by a handler.
20:12
Speaker 1: The handler tried to direct him to a back table
20:15
Speaker 1: with a Hard Rock Cafe's owner, Isaer Tigger, was chatting
20:18
Speaker 1: with Dan Ackroyd and some of his investors, but Stevie
20:21
Speaker 1: ignored his minder and headed straight for the bar. He
20:25
Speaker 1: managed to get a double crown on the rocks before
20:27
Speaker 1: he was pulled away and towards.
20:28
Speaker 2: The back table.
20:30
Speaker 1: Stevie knew he would need liquid fortification for this, and
20:33
Speaker 1: just a few hours ago his band had bombed on
20:36
Speaker 1: stage at Dallas's Starfest, and now the last place he
20:40
Speaker 1: wanted to be was at this stupid party in a
20:42
Speaker 1: glorified gift shop.
20:44
Speaker 2: It had been three years since Steve her.
20:46
Speaker 1: Yvon left David Bowie's tour, and his debut album, Texas
20:50
Speaker 1: Flood became an instant sensation. It turned out that quitting
20:53
Speaker 1: the tour was great publicity. It gave him a rebellious
20:56
Speaker 1: image that played perfectly with the music, and suddenly radio
21:00
Speaker 1: wasn't so afraid to play his music, even MTV.
21:03
Speaker 2: But the band's video for Pride and Joy in heavy rotation.
21:07
Speaker 1: The follow up hits were harder to come by, and
21:10
Speaker 1: after years of living the life Stevie ray Vaughan was
21:13
Speaker 1: finally starting to show it.
21:15
Speaker 2: On stage. He drifted off.
21:17
Speaker 1: In the long, meandering jams that he couldn't get out of.
21:20
Speaker 1: He played songs in the wrong key or at the
21:22
Speaker 1: wrong tempo, and now if people booed, it felt like
21:26
Speaker 1: they had a right to.
21:28
Speaker 2: There were very few things that could have dragged Stevie
21:30
Speaker 2: out of his hotel.
21:31
Speaker 1: Room that night, But one of those things was a guitar,
21:35
Speaker 1: and not just any guitar, a rare black Gibson Flying
21:38
Speaker 1: V that had been owned by Jimmy Hendricks. So Isaac
21:43
Speaker 1: tigger At, the owner of Hard Rock Cafe, had promised
21:46
Speaker 1: Stevie that if he would make an appearance at this
21:48
Speaker 1: VIP event, then he would let him check out Jimmy's guitar.
21:52
Speaker 1: And now drink in hand Stevie stumbled over to the
21:55
Speaker 1: circle where Isaac was holding court. Isaac tried to bring
21:59
Speaker 1: Stevie in the circle, but Stevie demanded to see the
22:01
Speaker 1: guitar first, and Isaac laughed and motioned to an assistant,
22:05
Speaker 1: and a few minutes later they walked up with a
22:07
Speaker 1: brown guitar case and handed it to Stevie. His heart
22:11
Speaker 1: was hammering, and not just from the cocaine. Stevie could
22:15
Speaker 1: feel the mojo coming off of the instrument before he
22:17
Speaker 1: even opened the case. He flipped open the latches and
22:21
Speaker 1: lifted the left handed guitar out of the case and
22:23
Speaker 1: flipped it upside down and backwards, like a reverse image
22:27
Speaker 1: of his mentor, Albert King. Then he started picking up
22:31
Speaker 1: the Hendrick song Little Wing. Isaac smiled and leaned in
22:35
Speaker 1: close next to Stevie as a photographer snapped a handful
22:38
Speaker 1: of pictures, but Stevie didn't even notice. He just played on,
22:43
Speaker 1: lost in his own world. But while Stevie was playing,
22:46
Speaker 1: he heard Isaac mention something about taking the guitar for
22:49
Speaker 1: a session sometime, But with cocaine and Jimmy Hendrix on
22:53
Speaker 1: his brain, all Stevie y Vaughan heard was take the guitar. Yeah,
22:58
Speaker 1: that sounds great, Stevie replied Isaac, and then he asked
23:01
Speaker 1: for the case, and they could just pop the guitar
23:03
Speaker 1: in there and then Stevie would be.
23:05
Speaker 2: On his way.
23:06
Speaker 1: He watched as the smile melted off of Isaac's face,
23:10
Speaker 1: and as the assistant reached for the guitar, Stevie tightened his.
23:13
Speaker 2: Grip on it.
23:14
Speaker 1: Isaac tried to explain he only meant that Stevie could
23:17
Speaker 1: borrow the guitar at some point in the future. Stevie
23:20
Speaker 1: thought about making a run for it, but quickly realized
23:23
Speaker 1: it was hopeless. Finally, he shoved the guitar into Isaac's hands,
23:27
Speaker 1: and he swore at the crowd of onlookers who were
23:29
Speaker 1: staring at him, knocked over.
23:30
Speaker 2: A tray of drinks, and stormed at the front door.
23:35
Speaker 1: It was nineteen eighty six and Stevie Ravaughan was in
23:38
Speaker 1: such bad shape that he was losing touch with reality.
23:42
Speaker 1: Even fellow blues men were starting to notice. Buddy Guy
23:45
Speaker 1: pleaded with him to slow down. Albert King said a
23:48
Speaker 1: drinker or snort at home was fine, but the gig
23:50
Speaker 1: was no place.
23:51
Speaker 2: To get high.
23:53
Speaker 1: Nothing worked, even the voice of God didn't affect Stevie.
23:57
Speaker 1: Eric clapped and finally caught up with Stevie Rayvaugh Hotel
24:00
Speaker 1: while they were both on tour in Australia. Stevie was
24:04
Speaker 1: pouring shots down his throat with shaky hands and jabbering
24:07
Speaker 1: like a crazy person. Sadly, Eric Clapton just patted him
24:12
Speaker 1: on the back and said he hoped Stevie would make
24:14
Speaker 1: it through.
24:16
Speaker 2: Let fall in Germany. He almost didn't.
24:19
Speaker 1: Stevie, Yvonne and his band made Tommy Shannon went out
24:22
Speaker 1: on a Sunday night looking for an after show drink,
24:25
Speaker 1: and every place was closed, so they kept walking further.
24:28
Speaker 1: But the more they walked, the more Stevie's stomach started
24:31
Speaker 1: killing him. He figured he just needed a drink to
24:34
Speaker 1: straighten himself out, but then he started puking up blood,
24:39
Speaker 1: and the next thing he knew he was somehow back
24:42
Speaker 1: in his hotel. Blood and vomit were covering his chest.
24:45
Speaker 1: Tommy was screaming in English while three men were screaming
24:48
Speaker 1: back in German, and Stevie didn't know what the fuck
24:51
Speaker 1: was happening until one of them finally stuck an IV
24:53
Speaker 1: in his arm and they rushed him to the hospital. There,
24:57
Speaker 1: the doctors found the cause of the blood are caused
25:00
Speaker 1: by years of drinking cocaine Steve, who was almost suffering
25:04
Speaker 1: from near fatal levels of dehydration, and this brush with
25:09
Speaker 1: death was enough to convince Stevie Rayvon that things had
25:12
Speaker 1: to change. And for so many years he'd been all
25:15
Speaker 1: about playing the blues and living the life, but it
25:18
Speaker 1: was becoming impossible to do both, so he would have
25:21
Speaker 1: to choose. And when Stevie Ravon checked into rehab, no
25:26
Speaker 1: one expected it to stick, not his bandmates, not his crew,
25:30
Speaker 1: not even his brother, but he surprised everyone by attacking
25:34
Speaker 1: sobriety with the same passion he tackled Albert King Records
25:37
Speaker 1: with as a teenager.
25:39
Speaker 2: After his forty days in rehab, Stevie Ravon dove into
25:42
Speaker 2: alcoholics Anonymous and became his new ritual on tour.
25:46
Speaker 1: Instead of roaming town looking to score drugs, he would
25:49
Speaker 1: find the hook out for AA meetings, and with his
25:52
Speaker 1: head clear and his body clean, his playing returned to
25:55
Speaker 1: form and he was finally able to step fully into
25:58
Speaker 1: his own sound on songs like Crossfire, which blended soulful
26:02
Speaker 1: horns with great rhythm and blues and Stevie's signature searing
26:06
Speaker 1: guitar work. It was still the blues, but it sounded
26:10
Speaker 1: completely modern. The song became his first to top the
26:14
Speaker 1: rock charts.
26:16
Speaker 2: Hostage.
26:17
Speaker 1: His new way of living the life was inspiring other
26:19
Speaker 1: musicians too. First his bandmates got clean, then stars like
26:25
Speaker 1: Bonnie Rain and even Eric Clapton, who, after four years
26:27
Speaker 1: clean had relapsed himself.
26:30
Speaker 2: And maybe that's why Eric Clapton.
26:31
Speaker 1: Was thinking about Stevie ray Vaughan when he was looking
26:33
Speaker 1: for an opener for a pair of shows in the
26:35
Speaker 1: summer of nineteen ninety. They're at a gorgeous venue called
26:39
Speaker 1: Alpine Valley in Wisconsin.
26:42
Speaker 2: They had a great.
26:42
Speaker 1: Sound system, they could hold over thirty thousand fans. The
26:46
Speaker 1: only problem with the place was that it was only
26:49
Speaker 1: one road in and one rode out. Most bands headed
26:53
Speaker 1: north or just waited the four or five hours it
26:55
Speaker 1: took for the crowd to clear up. And of course,
26:57
Speaker 1: some adrenaline junkies like to fly. A helicopter could make
27:01
Speaker 1: it to downtown Chicago in less than an hour, and
27:04
Speaker 1: the All My Brother's band refused to do it. They
27:07
Speaker 1: thought it was too dangerous, but Eric clapped and loved
27:10
Speaker 1: the rush.
27:11
Speaker 4: And he bet that Stevie Rayvaugh would love the view.
27:37
Speaker 1: Stevie Rayvaugh pulled on his guitar string and sent the
27:40
Speaker 1: note soaring into the heavens. The guitar felt like an
27:45
Speaker 1: extension of his body as he played with every bit
27:47
Speaker 1: of fire and passion left inside of him. It had
27:51
Speaker 1: been an exhausting evening, but he didn't want it to end.
27:55
Speaker 1: Here he was standing on the summit of Mount Olympus
27:58
Speaker 1: with some incredible guitar gods, and there was Robert Cray
28:02
Speaker 1: looking regal and black and gold, Stevie's old friend Buddy
28:05
Speaker 1: Guy wailing on his signature black and white polka dot stratocaster,
28:09
Speaker 1: and Stevie's brother Jimmy.
28:11
Speaker 2: Was by his side. And of course Eric Clapton, the
28:14
Speaker 2: man who was hosting this Olympic level jam, he was there.
28:16
Speaker 1: Too, and they had already been playing the blues classic
28:20
Speaker 1: Sweet Home Chicago for close to twenty minutes. But Stevie
28:23
Speaker 1: felt like he could go all night these days. It
28:25
Speaker 1: wasn't the pills or the powder or the booze that
28:27
Speaker 1: were energizing him. It was nothing but just the music,
28:31
Speaker 1: blues music. When the song ended, Steve Rayvaughan stood there
28:35
Speaker 1: an extra few minutes while everyone else shuffled off into
28:37
Speaker 1: the wings like he was trying to soak up every
28:40
Speaker 1: last bit of the night. Later, he was supposed to
28:43
Speaker 1: take the bus back to Chicago after the show, and
28:46
Speaker 1: that man he wouldn't arrive until around four am, and
28:49
Speaker 1: it was a busy travel day ahead after that. Eric
28:52
Speaker 1: Clapton had chartered three helicopters to take him and his
28:55
Speaker 1: crew back to Chicago after the show, and when a
28:57
Speaker 1: spot opened up in one of them at the last minute,
29:00
Speaker 1: he offered it to Stevie Stevia ravonn never thought twice
29:04
Speaker 1: about him. The extra hours of sleep sounded great, so
29:08
Speaker 1: he hugged his brother and jumped into the chopper. And
29:11
Speaker 1: as they lifted off away from the crowds, the lights
29:14
Speaker 1: of the parking lot were blinding. Fog was rolling in
29:17
Speaker 1: from the Great Lakes, but no one was worried. They
29:20
Speaker 1: just needed to clear a single hill and then the
29:22
Speaker 1: lights of downtown Chicago would come rushing into view. The
29:27
Speaker 1: pilot said they would see those lights in fifteen minutes.
29:30
Speaker 1: Max Stevie Rayvan's eyes fell blurry from the fog and lights.
29:34
Speaker 2: He tried to look out the.
29:35
Speaker 4: Window, but his eyes hadn't adjusted yet.
29:37
Speaker 2: All he could see was blackness, and as the.
29:41
Speaker 1: Helicopter climbed upward, what neither he, nor the pilot, nor
29:45
Speaker 1: anyone on board knew was that the craft was slipping
29:48
Speaker 1: just a tiny.
29:48
Speaker 2: Bit off course.
29:51
Speaker 1: The pilot had made this trip dozens of times, but
29:54
Speaker 1: he was used to flying in the daytime.
29:56
Speaker 3: Used to using his eyes rather than his instruments to
29:59
Speaker 3: help him stay of course, so the pilot never noticed
30:03
Speaker 3: as the helicopter drifted closer and closer to an oncoming hill,
30:08
Speaker 3: and just moments before the lights of downtown Chicago were
30:11
Speaker 3: supposed to come rushing into view.
30:14
Speaker 1: The helicopter exploded into a giant fireball. Stevie Ravaugh and
30:20
Speaker 1: everyone else on board were killed instantly. After his tragic death,
30:26
Speaker 1: Stevie Ravan's legacy only continued to grow. There were tribute
30:31
Speaker 1: concerts and posthumous album releases, and within a few years,
30:35
Speaker 1: the Hard Rock Cafe in Austin even bought one of
30:37
Speaker 1: his guitars and encased it in glass and stuck it
30:40
Speaker 1: on the wall next to one of Jimi Hendrix's guitars,
30:43
Speaker 1: and the guitar hung there for years. Undisturbed until two
30:47
Speaker 1: thousand and one.
30:48
Speaker 2: That's when a.
30:49
Speaker 1: Hardcore band called the Icarus Line launched into a chaotic
30:52
Speaker 1: live set at the hard Rock Cafe during the south
30:55
Speaker 1: By Southwest Music Festival. The band crushed it, the crowd
31:00
Speaker 1: went berserk. Security was screaming at them though to turn
31:05
Speaker 1: the volume down, and as a set reached its climax,
31:09
Speaker 1: Aaron North, Icarus Lines guitar player, launched his mic stand
31:13
Speaker 1: like a javelin through the glass surrounding Stevie Ravan's Fender Stratocaster.
31:18
Speaker 2: Aaron North then snatched Stevie's.
31:20
Speaker 1: Guitar off the wall, plugged it in in the middle
31:23
Speaker 1: of a set, and attempted to start playing it before
31:25
Speaker 1: he was tackled by security, nearly starting a riot in
31:29
Speaker 1: the process. Because in Texas, you don't fuck with Stevie
31:32
Speaker 1: Ravon and you don't fuck with his guitars, not in
31:35
Speaker 1: the hard Rock Cafe anyway. In the lone Star State,
31:38
Speaker 1: Steve Ravan is considered a deity, not to mention, the
31:41
Speaker 1: best guitar player of all time, the guy at the
31:43
Speaker 1: top of the mount Olympus of guitar gods.
31:46
Speaker 2: You don't bust open a.
31:47
Speaker 1: Glass case grabbed Stevie Ray's guitar, plug it in during
31:51
Speaker 1: your set, and start rocking out with it like it's
31:53
Speaker 1: nobody's business but your own, unless, of course, you have
31:57
Speaker 1: balls as big as Aaron North from the Icarus Line.
32:00
Speaker 1: And personally, I'm telling you this story because I think
32:03
Speaker 1: Stevie Ravon.
32:04
Speaker 2: Would have appreciated the move.
32:07
Speaker 1: He would have understood it even if the security guards
32:10
Speaker 1: at the Hard Rock Cafe and the locals didn't. But
32:14
Speaker 1: we can't ask Stevie Ravon that. We can't ask Stevie
32:18
Speaker 1: Ravon anything because Stevie Ravon was killed in a helicopter
32:21
Speaker 1: crash on August twenty seventh, nineteen ninety as he was
32:25
Speaker 1: making some of the best.
32:26
Speaker 3: Music of his life. He was dead at just thirty
32:31
Speaker 3: five years old, and that is a disgrace.
32:37
Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Hard Guys, thanks
32:54
Speaker 1: for checking out this episode of Disgraceland.
32:56
Speaker 2: Listen the question of the week this week, because we're
32:58
Speaker 2: talking about Stevie Ravon.
33:00
Speaker 1: Obviously, who is on your Mount Rushmore of guitarist You
33:03
Speaker 1: can only pick four, okay, And if poison Ivy from
33:08
Speaker 1: the Cramps isn't on that list. I don't know what
33:10
Speaker 1: to tell you, but get at me six one seven
33:12
Speaker 1: nine oh six six six three eight, leave a voicemail,
33:15
Speaker 1: send me a text, Let me know who's on your
33:16
Speaker 1: mount rushmore of guitar players all right? You can also
33:20
Speaker 1: hit me up at Disgrace lampod on the socials Disgrace
33:23
Speaker 1: lampod at gmail dot com.
33:25
Speaker 2: You want to email me again six one.
33:27
Speaker 1: Seven nine oh six sixty six three eight, voicemail and text.
33:31
Speaker 2: Here comes from credits.
33:35
Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in
33:38
Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis, the Exactly Right Network.
33:41
Speaker 2: In iHeart Podcasts.
33:43
Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show
33:45
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33:49
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33:51
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33:54
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