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My Sweetheart When you say you love me, the world stops for a moment, the stars stop shining, the moon stops glowing, the earth stops breathing, all that's alive is our love ... let those words not only touch your eyes, let it travel through your soul, and let it rest in your heart, as you rest in mine... I LOVE YOU DEB xxx

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Add to My Profile | More Videos Stevie Ray Vaughan,Jimi Hendrix,Jeff Beck,Gary Moore,Joe Bonamassa,Walter Trout,Eddie Van Halen,Buddy Guy,B.B. King,Eric Clapton,Elmore James,Robert Johnson,Ry Cooder,Steve Vai,Joe Satriani,Frank Marino,Frank Zappa,Howlin' Wolf,Dimebag Darrel,Jeff Healey,Jimmy Page,Zakk Wylde,Randy Rhoads,George Lynch,Yngwie Malmsteen,Wes Jeans,Vito Bratta,Nuno Bettencourt,Angus Young,Ted Nugent,Roy Buchanan,Robin Trower,Rory Gallagher,Kenny Wayne Shepherd,Santana,Ritchie Blackmore,Brian May,Muddy Waters,Keb Mo,Julian Sas,John Lee Hooker,Joe Perry,Andy Timmons,Vivian Campbell,Alice Cooper,Led Zeppelin,Lynyrd Skynyrd,AC/DC,Whitesnake,Deep Purple,Dokken,Cinderella,Etta James,Heart,Bad Company,Free,Ozzy Osbourne,Metallica,Van Halen,White Lion,Black Sabbath,Scorpions,Blackfoot,ZZ Top,Bo Diddley,Bryan Adams,Bon Jovi,Dio,Buddy Guy,Buckcherry,Slayer,Pantera,Thin Lizzy,Janis Joplin,Meatloaf,Bonnie Raitt,Kiss,Winger,Mahogany Rush,Pink Floyd,Magnum,Megadeth,Motley Crue,Poison,Norah Jones,Queen,Rainbow,Red Hot Chili Peppers,Status Quo,UFO,Tom Petty,Thunder,Black Label Society,The Wildhearts, etc.... xxx THIS ONES JUST FOR YOU DEB,I LOVE YOU SWEETHEART xxx ..

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"Number One", also called "First Wife" is the beat-up mongrel Strat that we all know and love. Constructed of a 1959 body, and (originally) a 1962 neck, it possessed a deep, dark growl of a tone that was immediately identifiable. Even though it used all "stock" Fender Strat parts, about the only "original equipment" parts it possessed by 1990 were the body and the pickups. Over the years, Stevie and Rene Martinez, his guitar tech, replaced the pickguard, vibrato unit, saddles and neck. Some modifications were purely cosmetic, some were functional (to derive a particular feel or tone), and others were out-and-out repairs.Number One was obtained in 1973 in a trade-in of his first Strat, the 1963 he purchased in 1969. According to Stevie, he saw the Strat in Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas Music, in Austin. He said he knew that this tobacco-sunburst, used Strat was, just by looking at it, the guitar for him. The neck was an oddly-shaped rosewood D-neck, very large, which fit Stevie's large hands like a glove. The body was stamped "LF-1959", but the neck was stamped "1962". Stevie surmised that Leo Fender probably assembled this guitar from left-over 1959 production parts in 1962. It was rumored that the "LF-1959" actually meant "Louis Fuentes" and not Leo Fender. Neither was ever truly verified.In interviews, Rene sometimes took issue as to the date of manufacture of Number One. Rene claims he has found that the pickups are 1959, while both the neck and body are 1961. In Stevie's mind, the guitar was a factory-cobbled-up 1959, so all discussion ended there.The guitar originally came with a stock, early-sixties style white pickguard, a right-handed vibrato unit, and 1959 pickups. It is rumored that sometime during the life of the guitar, either Stevie or a previous owner had the pickups rewound at the Fender factory. The result was a slight overwind from original, which is duplicated in the SRV Signature Strat. I cannot find proof of the pickup rewind.Over the years, Stevie replaced the pickguard (several times) with a black pickguard and added his "SRV" initials in iridescent lettering of several styles. Rene Martinez remarked that he would prowl truck stops to obtain letters to replace the ones that wore away. Eventually the iridescent "SRV" was replaced by Letraset script-style lettering, first seen during his appearance on the "Tonight Show" in 1989. This show introduced the SRV Signature Strat prototype. Stevie was to play this prototype, but it did not sport his trademark initials. The "Tonight Show" art department came up with this new lettering style at the last minute. These script letters are what is engraved in outline form on the SRV Sig Strat.The vibrato was replaced with a gold left-handed unit sometime around 1977. This was the beginning of Stevie's "Hendrix period". Since Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush played a right-handed guitar turned "upside down", therefore putting the vibrato bar on top, Stevie emulated this by installing a left-handed vibrato unit in Number One. He also felt it gave him better access to the bar, but did remark that several times, during especially manic performances, it fairly well tore half his sleeve off when he got caught-up on it. Stevie normally used four or five springs in this unit, and had the pivot plate pulled tight against the body. This meant he could only push the bar, and not pull up on it.Another significant change from stock were the installation of jumbo bass-style frets. This added to the sustain, and gave Stevie added ability to bend the strings with the enormous strings that he used. He gradually went to smaller strings as he got older, but they were still heavy by modern standards. His string sizes in 1984 were generally .013, .015- .016, .019, .028, .038, and .056-.060. In the 1970s, his high E string would sometimes go as high as a .018! By the time 1989 rolled around, Rene convinced him to use a .011 or .012 to save his fingers. His fingers would get torn up so badly that he would actually use super glue to re-attach torn callouses.The finish of Number One became progressively more beaten up as the years went by. Stevie would pound, scrape, kick, stand on, and otherwise torture the guitar during his performances. Eventually it developed a quarter-inch gouge just above the pickguard where Stevie's manic strumming continually bashed it. There probably was not a square inch of lacquer remaining by 1990. That certainly did not detract from the wonderful sounds it made.It is not known when the original neck was replaced. Number One had many repairs throughout Stevie's career. An early mishap can be seen on the liner photos for the IN THE BEGINNING album. Stevie had watched how his brother Jimmie would bounce his guitar off the wall, and he thought it was a cool trick. During an early performance of "Third Stone From the Sun", he recalled, he tossed Number One a little too hard. It hit the wall at a bad angle, and severely split the headstock. The photos in the album show the taped-up headstock. Either Rene Martinez or Charley Wirz eventually repaired this damage, as Rene has said that Stevie used the original neck until 1989.Stevie briefly considered retiring Number One by late 1989, when the neck became unusable. It had gone through so many re-frets and repairs that it just could not hold another re-fret, and its playability was near impossible. So, Rene swapped the neck from "Scotch", a 1963 Strat, onto Number One. This was the neck that was snapped on July 9, 1990 at the Garden State Art Center in New Jersey, when a heavy piece of stage scenery fell on several guitars. This prompted Stevie to beg Rene to try and get one more life out of the old neck. Rene ended up ordering a replacement vintage neck directly from Fender, and received (according to Rene) a 1963 copy, similar to what was destroyed in the accident. Stevie was without Number One for only one show.Number One was originally rumored to be buried with Stevie at Laurel Land Cemetery, near Dallas. Current reports indicate that Number One actually "resides" with one of the Vaughan family members, either Jimmie or his mother. Rene Martinez swapped the original neck back onto Number One and gave it to the Vaughan family. However, Number One is located in a secured vault, in the possession of Jimmie Vaughan (verified by Vaughan himself during a 2000 interview), despite persistent rumors that it is buried with Stevie. "Charley" was a Strat-style guitar assembled from spare parts by Charley Wirz in 1983. Charley Wirz was a close friend of Stevie's, and he regularly worked on Stevie's guitars in the early years. Charley owned Charley's Guitar Shop in northwest Dallas. "Charley" is an all white guitar, with a rosewood neck, and a white headstock imprinted with the "Charley's Guitar Shop" logo. Charley Wirz installed three Danelectro "lipstick tube" pickups, and wired it using his own custom, non-Fender configuration. The guitar had a tone similar to Number One, with a little more top end, and a slightly more "bell-like" quality. Stevie liked to play it rather clean, sometimes with an Echoplex and the Vibratone unit. You can hear it on the album versions of "Tin Pan Alley", "Life Without You" (which was written as a tribute to Charley), and "Couldn't Stand The Weather". "Charley" was a Stratocaster-style guitar that was assembled from spare parts by Charley Wirz, owner of Charley's Guitar Shop in Dallas. Charley Wirz often worked on Stevie's guitars and remained a close friend until he died in 1984. Charley is all-white with a rosewood neck. On the back is a girlie-style pinup caricature and carved into the neck's heel plate are the words "To Stevie Ray Vaughan, more in '84." Wirz installed three Danelectro pickups and rewired them to his own configuration. This gave Charley a dark tone like Number One, but with a clearer, bell-like "ringing" tone. Stevie used Charley for songs like "Couldn't Stand The Weather", "Tin Pan Alley", and "Life Without You" (which is actually a tribute to Charley Wirz). Charley was also given to Jimmie Vaughan following Stevie's death. "Red" was a 1964 Strat with a rosewood neck. Red actually started out as a black guitar, but was repainted by Fender in a deep red hue. In the mid 80's, Rene Martinez installed a left-handed 1964 rosewood neck on Red. Since Stevie was right-handed, this allowed him to emulate the styles of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush. Besides the left-handed neck and paint job, not many changes were made to Red. Stevie did add heavier gauge strings and "SRV" initials to the guitar. Red had a tone that was somewhere between those of Number One and Lenny; a little bright, but still growly. Stevie liked to use Red for "Love Struck Baby" and Pride and Joy". He also used sometimes used Red instead of Number One for "Rude Mood". Red is in the possession of Jimmie Vaughan "Scotch" was a semi-mongrel 1963 Strat, a sort of a dark cream-colored ("butterscotch") body with a rosewood neck, and a "tiger-stripe" pickguard custom-made by Rene Martinez. Stevie favored this Strat once Number One began having serious neck problems. A notable change to this guitar was the installation of a brass nut, rather than the bone nuts that Stevie used on his other guitars. In late 1989, Stevie swapped the neck from Scotch onto Number One, and installed a left-handed neck onto Scotch. This is the guitar that Stevie played on "Leave My Girl Alone" on the 1990 ACL show. It used to have a white pickguard, but he changed it to one of those, well, "tiger stripe" pickguards that Buddy Guy also was fond of. This might be "Scotch", since it's that creamy yellow color. Stevie regularly played this guitar on "Leave My Girl Alone" on stage, and it was well on its way to becoming the "replacement" for Number One. I'm not sure why he favored it over at this time, I can only guess it was because 'Number One' was beginning to have the neck problems so often discussed. In late 1989, Stevie swapped the neck from Scotch onto 'Number One', and installed a left-handed neck onto Scotch. JLV currently owns this guitar as well yellow That wasn't really it's name, but this Strat didn't really have a name. Yet, it had a very distinctive tone that is worth noting. This was a yellow 1964 Strat that was originally owned by the lead guitarist from Vanilla Fudge. Stevie received it as a gift from Charley Wirz in 1981. Charley once again worked his magic to resurrect this guitar from the graveyard. By the time Charley received it, the body was hollowed out to accept four humbuckers. Charley removed the humbuckers, and fashioned a new pickguard in which he placed a single Fender Strat pickup in the neck position. Stevie placed his "SRV" stickers directly under the strings, where normally the other two pickups are installed. Not only was this a distinctive looking guitar, but it had a very unique, "ringing" sort of tone due to the hollowed-out body. This was supposedly the guitar played on the album versions of "Honey Bee" and "Tell Me". It was stolen in 1985 and never recovered. Rumor has it that it was recovered and is now on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are many reports that both dispute and support this claim. Another of Stevie's well-known guitars was "Lenny". Lenny was an brownish-orange 1963 maple-neck Stratocaster. Its tone was brighter than Number One's and more jazz-like in feel. The guitar is named after Lenora Bailey, Stevie's wife from 1979 to 1988. Supposedly, Stevie found this guitar in a pawnshop, but couldn't afford to buy it. One of Stevie's roadies, Byron Barr, bought it and he and Lenora presented it to Stevie for his birthday in 1976. According to the story, Lenny was supposed to pay Byron for the guitar; she started a pool with her friends to collect the money, but it was Stevie who eventually settled the debt with cash and a leather jacket. Lenny was spared much of the conversion that Number One endured. Its neck was originally a thin rosewood, but Stevie replaced it with a thicker non-Fender maple neck (which was better suited to his large hands). This neck is said to have been given to him by ZZ Tops' Billy Gibbons. Stevie kept the tremelo arm, pickups and frets in their original condition. He did add a filigree-style decal to the bridge and put his "SRV" initials to the pickguard sometime in 1986. With Lenny, Stevie used lighter gauge strings than he did with Number One. This, combined with the pickups and the maple neck, gave Lenny a bright, sweet, clear tone that is the trademark of Stratocasters. Stevie sometimes used Lenny for his slower, mellower songs, such as "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise". He would often finger-pick these songs instead of using a plectrum (pick) for a nice soft tone. Lenny was given to Jimmie Vaughan following Stevie's death. Jimmie donated Lenny the 2004 Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Auction. Bidding for Lenny ended at $623,500. Stevie's 1928 National has been rumored to once being belonged to Blind Boy Fuller It was given to him by his former roadie, Byron Barr. By most credible accounts, this was one of Stevie's prized posessions. The 1928 National Doulian, like all of Stevies guitars, was well worn and well loved. Stevie referred to this guitar as a '28 though it may actually be from 1931. The only "known" recording of SRV using this guitar was on "Oreo Cookie Blues" on Lonnie Mack's "Strike Like Lightning" cd. I am not sure what became of this guitar, but it is probably a safe bet to assume Jimmie has this one as well

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1954 Stephen Ray Vaughan is born October 3 in Dallas, Texas to Jim and Martha Vaughan. 1963 Under the guidance of his brother Jimmie (b. 1951), Stevie Ray begins to play the guitar. Before long, Stevie is playing in local bands. 1972 Stevie Ray drops out of high school and moves to Austin to pursue a full-time musical career. Soon after, he joins a band called The Nightcrawlers with his friend Doyle Bramhall. He later plays with another band, Paul Ray and The Cobras. 1976 Stevie forms a blues/R&B band called Triple Threat Revue. The line-up stars Stevie Ray, W.C. Clark, Lou Ann Barton, Freddie Pharoah, and Mike Kindred. Pharoah and Kindred later leave and are replaced by Jackie Newhouse and Chris Layton. The band renames itself Triple Threat. 1979 Lenora (Lenny) Bailey and Stevie Ray Vaughan are married on December 20 between 2 sets in the Rome Inn. 1980 Lou Ann Barton leaves Triple Threat to join Roomful of Blues. W.C. Clark also leaves. Stevie Ray renames the group Double Trouble. The group performs at the Steamboat club in Austin. This famous performance will later be released as the 1992 album In The Beginning. 1981 Tommy Shannon replaces Jackie Newhouse on bass. 1982 The new Double Trouble performs at the Montreaux Festival in Switzerland, the first unsigned and unrecorded band to do so. David Bowie, who was in the audience, asks Stevie to play on his Let's Dance album. Jackson Browne, who was also in the audience in Montreaux, gives Stevie studio time at his Downtown Studio in Los Angeles. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble are signed to Epic Records by John Hammond. 1983 Texas Flood, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's first album, is released. It is nominated for two Grammy awards: "Best Traditonal Blues Recording" and "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" (for "Rude Mood"). The band appears on Austin City Limits. Stevie wins three categories in the Guitar Player's Readers Poll: "Best New Talent", "Best Blues Album", and "Best Electric Blues Guitarist" (beating out none other than Eric Clapton!). 1984 Couldn't Stand The Weather is released. Stevie wins his first Grammy: "Best Traditional Blues Recording" for his live version of "Texas Flood" (this song appears on Blues Explosion from Atlantic Records). "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" from Couldn't Stand The Weather is nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental Performnce". Stevie again wins the Guitar Player's Best Electric Blues Guitarist award. 1985 Keyboard player Reese Wynans joins Double Trouble. Epic releases Soul To Soul. This becomes Double Trouble's third gold album. Stevie receives his fifth Grammy nomination: "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" (for "Say What!" from Soul To Soul). He also produces Lonnie Mack's comeback album Strike Like Lightning and plays in several of its songs. Stevie is voted Best Electric Blues Guitarist by Guitar Player magazine for the third straight year. He would go on to win this award every year until 1991. 1986 Live Alive is released. Stevie becomes the first musician in history to be nominated twice for the same Grammy in the same year; "Best Rock Instrumental Performance", first for his recording of "Pipeline" with Dick Dale (from the movie Back To The Beach), and again for "Say What!" from Live Alive (for which he wins the Grammy). While on tour in Germany, Stevie collapses and later enters a London drug rehabilitation clinic. Stevie's father Jim dies of Parkinson's disease on August 27. 1987 Stevie appears on the Cinemax special "Blues Session" with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, B.B. King, and Albert King. He and Tommy Shannon emerge clean and sober from an Atlanta detox center. Double Trouble makes a highly regarded North American tour. Later that year, Stevie files for divorce from Lenora Bailey Vaughan. 1988 Stevie Ray appears on the MTV special "Stevie Wonder's Characters" and headlines a concert at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The performance (including a jam with B.B. King, Albert Collins, and Katie Webster) is filmed for inclusion in the Showtime special "Coast To Coast". Stevie's divorce from Lenora is finalized. 1989 In Step is released. This is the first album that Stevie makes without the aid of drugs. "Crossfire" becomes Stevie's first #1 album radio hit and earns Stevie another Grammy ("Best Contemporary Blues Recording"). Double Trouble tours with Jeff Beck and appears on Austin City Limits for the second time. 1990 Stevie and Jimmie record Family Style in March-April. In June, he embarks on a two-month tour with Joe Cocker. On August 25, Double Trouble performs at a concert at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. The line-up includes Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and Buddy Guy. After a rousing final encore on the 26th, Stevie boards a helicopter on its way to Chicago. Shortly after midnight on August 27, Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed, along with the pilot and three other passengers, when the helicopter crashes into a fog-shrouded hill. He is buried in Dallas, Texas on August 31.ERIC CLAPTON:"I don't think anyone has commanded my respect more, to this day.The first time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought, "Whoever this is, he is going to shake the world."I was in my car and I remember thinking, I have to find out, before the day is over, who that guitar player is.I remember being fascinated by the fact that he never, ever seemed to be...lost in any way...It was as though he never took a breather...or took a pause to think where he was gonna go next, it just flowed out of him.It's going to be a long time before anyone that brilliant will come along again.I didn't get to see or hear Stevie play near often enough, but every time I did I got chills and knew I was in the presence of greatness. He seemed to be an open channel and music just flowed through him. It never seemed to dry up.I have to tell this story: We played on the same bill on his last two gigs. On the first night, I watched his set for about half an hour and then I had to leave because I couldn't handle it!.I knew enough to know that his playing was just going to get better and better. His set had started, he was like two or three songs in, and I suddenly got this flash that I'd experienced before so many times whenever I'd seen him play, which was that he was like a channel.One of the purist channels I've ever seen, where everything he sang and played flowed straight down from heaven. Almost like one of those mystic Sufi guys with one finger pointing up and one finger down. That's what it was like to listen to. And I had to leave just to preserve some kind of sanity or confidence in myself".BONNIE RAITT;"The most lasting memory of Stevie was his passion.I don't think there is anyone who tears into a song like the way he did.I think Stevie Ray was coming from some place so deep and so beautiful that there's no one you can compare to him.I saw him play on Saturday night. He played unbelievably. To me Stevie Ray Vaughan was the greatest blues guitarist.For fire and passion and soulfulness, he was untouchable. He was scary to those of us who watched him.But he was so humble and gracious as a friend, and he wasn't stuck up about his playing".ROBERT CRAY;"The first time Stevie and I played together was in 1979 at the San Francisco Blues Festival. We did four or five dates together in the bay area and Santa Cruz, switching opening slots, and we became pretty good friends. We had barbeques together down in Santa Cruz.We went to pick him up one afternoon for a barbeque, and he was dressed up like Jimi Hendrix - had a Jimi Hendrix wig on and a little short kimono.We were just rowdy youngsters then; we were all between twenty and twenty-five. We'd always run across one another on the road here and there. There was always a big hug and "How ya doing?" and stuff like that. This past weekend, I hadn't seen him for a while, and he gave me a big hug.Saturday [two days before the accident] was a great day. His brother, Jimmie, came down to the show. We were all taking photos, just clowning around. He was really happy. I'll always remember how he kicked my ass all the time on the guitar. It was inspirational, you know?".JOHN LEE HOOKER;"The first time we met was in Austin, Texas at Antone's, and it was him and his brother, Jimmie. That was fifteen or twenty years ago, and at that time he could play tremendously. And I said, "Someday this kid's going to shake the whole world up".He was one of the nicest people. You couldn't help but like him, you couldn't help but love him.I never cry, but yesterday, when I heard the news, I sat down on my bed and cried like a little baby".GREG ALLMAN;"I remember when he first came out, he was doing that Hendrix song [Voodoo Chile], and I heard all these people going, "Ah, he's just trying to do Hendrix.But he went a lot further than that. He was absolutely 100-proof, pure blues. Albert Collins, Muddy Waters - the essence of that was in everything he played. More than the Allman Brothers, he was straight-down-the-line blues.Stevie was always playing. After he'd get offstage, he'd get on his bus. And he had all these Stratocasters hanging there. He'd grab one and start goin'".STEVE WINWOOD;"If there's a difference between a musician and a performer, Stevie was a musician. He was interested in the purity of his sound.He thoroughly mastered the intricacies of his instrument, and he really knew how to make his guitar speak. But when we jammed, he wouldn't try and hog all the solos. He was a very generous player". LOU ANNE BARTON;"We first met in around 1975 when Jimmie saw me singing in Dallas and said, "I want you to be in my new band," which was the Fabulous Thunderbirds.Stevie was playing in a band called the Cobras, and after the Thunderbirds and I decided not to work together anymore, I asked Stevie if he wanted to do something with me. We put together a band called Triple Threat.When that band dissolved, we decided just to call it Double Trouble, because he and I were both featured. So that was the original Double Trouble.This is just too close to home - this is family. He and Jimmie couldn't be any closer to me than my own brothers. We've lived together for almost twenty years, lived in the same neighborhood and actually raised each other.We came up from the depths when we were getting fifty cents a night per head to play R&B, which nobody liked, and being white kids as well - He really worked hard to make his success possible. He was just so damned talented".NILE RODGERS; (Producer"Family Style")"There was one song on Family Style called "Brothers", and the basic concept was, I guess when Stevie and Jimmie were younger, there may have been just one guitar between them, or just one good guitar. So the way the record works is, they're switching off on the guitar.They insisted on doing it live, with Stevie actually taking the guitar out of Jimmie's hands and Jimmie taking the guitar out of Stevie's hands. And when we finished the first take - the one that appears on the album - Stevie pulled me aside while Jimmie wasn't looking.He says, "Nile, I know we thought of this... but I tell you, man, it hurts me to snatch the guitar out of my brother's hands, 'cause I love him so much." I just looked at him. I was really touched.I remember when he came to the Power Station to do Let's Dance, he had this certain aura about him. He had this certain vibe. He and I hit it off right away. He picked up some of the guitars and started playing and making his comments.Then he noticed that we were eating barbeque. He says, "Nile, man, I know where the best barbeque in the world is." I said, "Yeah, where, Stevie?". He says, "A place called Sam's Barbeque, down in Texas." And he gets on the phone, and within a few hours there's a box of ribs on its way to New York. That's the kind of guy he was.Another time, when I wasn't around, he was playing with some of my guitars, and he broke one of the strings. He wrote me the sweetest little note - it was just very Stevie Ray Vaughan. It said, - I'm doing his voice, you know, 'cause he's got this accent - it said, "Nile, I love your guitars. Sorry, brother, didn't mean to break no straaang".JOE SATRIANI; "As a guitar player, he had an incredible signature tone and an extreme intensity. He played one of the most difficult guitars to play - the Fender Stratocaster - and he played with really heavy strings. And he strung it with high action, which means you have to really work harder than anyone to try to get a sound out. But if you've got what it takes, then what comes out is something very big and bold and original.In August of 1988, we opened two shows for him at the Pier in New York, and I got to really listen to him up close. You could tell he was always striving to find that magical point. He was good at reaching for the magic and finding it.I think what I'll really remember is the way he stood, you know? Sweat-drenched, with his eyes closed, grabbing some incredible note. Someone has to be totally absorbed to play like that.To play that intensely sort of wreaks havoc on the body - it's sort of a painful ecstasy. He played the blues, you know? I guess I'll remember that most of all".LONNIE MACK; "I first heard Stevie at a little club around the corner from Antone's. He was just a really good player.He had his own thing, but you could hear bits and pieces of other things. I could hear some of my things in there. His brother told me that Stevie listened to a lot of my old records. He particularly liked the lick on "Chicken Pickin'" and the riff on "Wham!".As I got to know him better, it was easy to see that he had a really good spirit. Stevie was a giver, man - not only to his friends but to everybody. He was a very spiritual person. I used to tease him that he was the only guy I knew that had an old head on a young body.He played his complete self through that guitar. And he knew that playing music wasn't about who sounded better than who else. It was the style that counted, and it was about having a good time".HUBERT SUMLIN;"[Stevie] was a friend of mine, partner - one of the best. I been knowing Stevie a long time, since he was a kid - him and Jimmie. I played with them so many times in Austin when Antone's had the first club on 6th and Brazos.I'll tell you the truth: That boy was something else, man. I feel like he was one of the greatest guys and guitar players who ever lived. And he was really just getting to do his thing.He bought a Rickenbacker for me about 10 or 12 years ago, but somebody stole it. Then he found the guitar somewhere in New York, years later. I was playing at Antone's, and here comes Stevie with the same guitar". ALBERT COLLINS;"We jammed many times, and I had so much fun. I really miss him.He did some Jimi Hendrix, some Albert King, a little of me, but he had it together for what he wanted to do. He had a direction, and he made it work. The kids really liked his fire".BUDDY GUY;"Stevie told me how his brother Jimmie had learned a bit before him, and he kept hearing this record of mine.His brother wouldn't let him listen to it, so he went and stole it. He said,'These are the licks I want.' We laughed about that the night of his tragedy. I'll never forget some of the licks he was playing the last night. I think it was one of his best nights ever.It was an honor to have him do [my] tunes, because just like I went to Muddy Waters and paid tribute to him, everyone pays tribute to someone they admired a lot.Music is handed down to the next generation. And he wasn't just some white kid saying,'I got it.' He told the truth.'I got this from Buddy Guy or Albert Collins,' or whoever he wanted to talk about. That was some of his greatness.All of us have a certain God-gifted talent. Blues was locked out with a skeleton key, but Stevie was the type of person where they gave this guy the key, he opened the door, and threw the damn key away and said, 'All of y'all come in here. Let's play and show people how this shit's supposed to be done.'He was like a brother to me. This year I won three W.C. Handy awards in Memphis, and I had to dedicate them to that kid, because that kid woke blues back up".BERNARD ALLISON; (Son of Luther Allison)"What amazed me most was his attitude.Most of the guitar giants, they kinda block themself off from the public or they're not willing to talk about it. He was wide open, very similar to B.B. King and my dad.He would speak and share his ideas, or give his thoughts and say, 'Hey, try this; that's wrong the way you're playing it.'Guitar players don't like to tell their secrets, but it wasn't a secret to him because he had learned it from somebody else, and for him to pass it down to an even younger generation, I respect him so much for that".B.B. KING;"Any time we played together it was exciting.At first, he would always pull punches a bit. So one night I told him, "Play your thing. Go ahead, don't worry about me." And he did. His ideas were limitless. He flowed. He was like water, constantly drippin' with rhythm.It's a loss not just to the music - it's a loss to people as a whole. He was just such a nice man.I tell you the truth, it really hurts. The only thing that keeps me from crying is knowing the joy that he brought to us. I can see his smile right now, him sitting there with his Mexican hat on, going, "Hey, it's all right."He was always quick to show gratitude to me and other artists who have been around. But when it came to playing the blues he earned plenty of respect himself.The fact is that he affected the way blues will be played and heard forever. I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie missed on both counts, but I never noticed".