The Life of Stevie Ray Vaughan

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The Life of Stevie Ray Vaughan

This paper is about how a small time boy from Oak Cliff, Texas with a dream, revolutionized the way blues guitar was played. By 17 he new what he wanted to do with his life, thus dropping out of school to become a blues guitarist. All throughout Stevie's career he was loved and adored for his gentle touch and majestic rhythmic guitar playing. Throughout his life he led three bands to hitting it big, released five albums with "Double Trouble". Most importantly, Stevie became sober. He turned away from the substances, even though he believed they gave him the drive to play the way he did.

By age eleven Stevie Ray Vaughan was an impressionable boy, whose brother's rhythmic guitar playing inspired him to pick up his first guitar. In 1963, he would begin an era of guitar playing that would revolutionize the way blues was done. As early as 1961, Stevie was already sneaking into his brother's room just to sneak a strum on Jimmie's guitar before he came home. "I just felt like I was destined to play blues guitar. Whenever I picked it up I just felt this surge of adrenaline over take my nine-year-old body", implied Stevie (Patoski 4). In 1963, Stevie had taken up guitar playing and had apprenticed himself to Jimmie (Patoski 1-20).

By 1972, he was an ambitious blues guitarist with only one thing on his mind, his guitar. Stevie felt it was pointless to stay in school, when what he really wanted to do with his life had nothing to do with school. So by his junior year Stevie had dropped out of high school to play his guitar full-time in his band, "The Cobras". "The Cobras" consisted of five members; the drummer, John Turner, singer, Bruce Bowland, bassist, Tommy Shannon, keyboardist, Mike Kin...

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...blues artists across America. In 1990, when this great legend was tragically killed in a fatal helicopter accident, those who have come to know and love Stevie for his music and his genuine kindness, mourned his passing. This is a legend that for sure will never be forgotten and will always live on in the hearts of blues artists everywhere.

Bibliography:

Work Cited

Patoski, Nick. Caught In The Cross Fire.Little Brown and Company: Canada, 1993

Cherry, Steven. "Stevie Ray Vaughan, October 3, 1954 - August 26, 1990". www.uark.edu/~scherry/srv. 23 Feb, 1994. Online. Aol

Fushay, Sheri. "The Sky Is Cryin'". www.aramisgraphics.com/srv/index.htm. 24 Apr. 1997. Online. Aol

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