It was his older brother, Jimmie who introduced him to the guitar at the age of eleven, and soon Stevie was playing bass in his brother's band, 'Texas Storm'.
Stevie went on to play guitar in 'Krackerjack' around '73, but this group only lasted a short time., whereupon Stevie was contacted by Marc Benno, who had links with A&M Records in Hollywood. Stevie joined 'Nightcrawlers' with Benno, but their subsequent album was rejected by A&M. Stevie returned to Austin, but returned to Beno again in late 1974.
After a year's run with 'The Cobras', Stevie fromed Triple Threat, who, in 1978, became Double Trouble.
They toured for a while, and recorded an album at Los Angeles' "Downtown Studios" in 1982. This album became "Texas Flood", and was released by Epic in june, 1983.
Jimmie, Stevie's brother joined the band for the next two albums: "Couldn't Stand the Weather" in Spring, '84, and "Live Alive" in '86.
The next album, "In Step" won a Grammy Award in 1989. This was to be Ray Vaughan's last recording with 'Double Trouble'
Stevie was always a big fan of Buddy Guy, stating "He plays from a place that I've never heard anyone play. A place inside."
Guy was fortunate enough to play with Ray Vaughan in his last ever live performance.
On August 26th, 1990, Buddy Guy, Jimmie and Stevie, Eric Clapton and Robert Cray played a scorching show at the Alpine Valley Amphitheatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. They finished with "Sweet Home Chicago".
At around 1AM on the 27th, Stevie boarded a helicopter which would take him to Chicago. However, seconds after take-off, the chopper hit a fog-obscured hill, killing everyone on board.
Email me at:
[email protected] or [email protected]