The dates listed above are dates where a prominent figure was killed by an assailant. Stevie wasn't assassinated. He didn't die of a drug overdose. Stevie was killed in a helicopter accident after playing a gig with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray in East Troy, Wisconsin. I had just seen Stevie Ray Vaughan and Joe Cocker at Fiddler's Green in Denver only a month and 11 days before. It was a great gig. Stevie played awesome and I was on a musical high.
I had been working at Dustys that summer and I was also doing an airshift at the college radio station on the Kearney State College (now UNK) campus. In fact, I had asked one of my fellow college DJs(Rufus) to cover my shift the day after the concert because I would be getting back late(or early the next morning). Rufus(on air name) and I graduated from college on the same day in early August 1990. But, we were still committed to our college radio station. In fact, we both volunteered to man the board when classes resumed in late August. I believe that this was the Monday morning that classes had resumed. I was running the board when Rufus walked in and asked me if I had heard about Stevie dying. I believe I looked at him and probably said, "Shut the fuck up!....don't joke about stuff like that!" or something along those lines. He was quick to inform that he wasn't joking and he was serious. He either showed me the Associated Press wire or I went and found it myself. Soon my music and blues loving buddies were calling me to see if I had found out.
I was scheduled to work at Dustys at noon that day. I quickly grabbed all of my SRV LP's and went to work just wanting to the play music that had given me so much joy. But, unfortunately, Dusty had decided that day to finally get rid of the turntable that we had for in-store play. He had decided to get a check/credit card reader....and since we had closed out LPs about a year before there was no use for LP's any more in the store. I hadn't made the change to CDs yet. So, what would I listen to all afternoon? Well, I think we had a copy of Stevie's final album In Step on CD for in-store play. My friend Matt had stopped in the store for a bit. He may have asked me if I had heard about SRV or something along those lines etc. He told me he would be on the college radio for the evening shift. So, I gave him my handful of Stevie Ray LPs to play for his evening air shift as a tribute show. I called Jayson at the Grand Island store to see how he was doing. Jayson and I had gone to Denver together to see Stevie and had bonded as friends after the event. As most of us who had grown up in the 80's would say...we were just "Bummed"!...
My friends Jake and Kevin invited me over to their place for a beer in honor of Stevie. Stevie had overcome drug and alcohol addiction a few years earlier. So, it did seem a little odd. But, Kevin is from Texas and he had brought back some Lone Star beer. So, it seemed okay with Texas beer. Later that night, we went to see the back to school concert with the band(our friends) the Untold. I think the band wanted (or was asked) to play a song in honor of Stevie. But, they really didn't know any of his songs. So, they may have played either Hendrix's Red House or Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. Once again, an odd choice for an artist who had overcome addiction.
For me, Stevie had brought me a lot of joy through the grooving blues from Texas. I had grown in my drumming by playing SRV and Jimi Hendrix with Carl Hanson only a couple years earlier (see my blog on Jimi Hendrix). The fact that Stevie had been at the end of his rope through drugs and alcohol and had come back sober was an incredible accomplishment. The real tragedy was that he only recorded one album clean and sober.(1989's In Step) For me, I miss that there will never be any more "new" music from Stevie. If you've ever seen the Austin City Limits performances of SRV, It's obvious that with his sobriety, he gained a whole new confidence and performed so much better and I am sad that we won't see any more. Of course, there have been bluesy guitarist out of Texas that people have wanted to say "he's the next Stevie Ray Vaughan". But, he was one of a kind and they'll never be another.
About 11 years ago, I came across the "official Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble" website. One of the things that was listed on the website was "an open letter from Martha Vaughan". It was a note that Stevie's mom wrote about his struggles with addiction and how his Christian faith was instrumental in his recovery. I was moved by the note. There was an email address to email her. So, I did and she actually replied to it. I was down on myself at the time. She basically told me to keep faith. I sent her a thank you and wished her a Merry Christmas (1999) and she replied with
Dave,
Thank you for the beautiful card and the words! I really appreciate knowing that my letter touched your life! That is an answer to my prayers! And I know that Stevie is smiling that big smile knowing his life has touched another person, for I know that was his goal in life! Have a Happy and Prosperous and Blessed New Year and Millennium! Sincerely,
Martha Vaughan
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