Stevie Ray had been in numerous bands before joining blues rock combo Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble in the late 1970's.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's debut album was released in 1983. The critically acclaimed Texas Flood (1983) featured the top-20 hit Pride and Joy and sold well in both blues and rock circles.
Stevie Ray Vaughan died August 27th, 1990 when his helicopter crashed into the Alpine Valley ski hill. He was on his way back from playing a guest appearance at an Eric Clapton concert at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin.
Adult life and career
Vaughan's first recording band was called Paul Ray and the Cobras. They played at clubs and bars in Austin during the mid-1970s, and released one single.[2] Vaughan later recorded two other singles under the band name The Cobras.[3] Stevie left the Cobras, leaving Denny Freeman still in his role of original lead guitarist, and formed Triple Threat in late 1975, which included bassist Jackie Newhouse, drummer Chris Layton, vocalist Lou Ann Barton, and sax player Johnny Reno. Barton left the band in 1978 to pursue a solo career, followed by Reno in 1979. The three remaining members started performing under the name Double Trouble, inspired by an Otis Rush song of the same name. Vaughan became the band's lead singer.
Tommy Shannon, the bass player on Johnny Winter's early albums, replaced Newhouse in 1981. A popular Austin act, Vaughan soon attracted the attention of musicians David Bowie and Jackson Browne. Both Browne and Bowie first caught Vaughan at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival, where some members of the audience booed the band because they disliked Double Trouble's hard blues sound; the crowd response was quite different when they were subsequently invited to headline "Blues Night" at the festival in 1985.
In November, 1982, Vaughan recorded in Jackson Browne's studio in downtown Los Angeles. The recordings were brought to the attention of A&R man John Hammond and became Double Trouble's critically acclaimed first album, Texas Flood (1983), produced by Hammond; it featured the Top 20 hit "Pride and Joy" and sold 500,000 copies, earning the band a gold record. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award, and its song "Rude Mood" was nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental". Vaughan won three categories in Guitar Player's readers poll: "Best New Talent", "Best Blues Album", and "Best Electric Blues Guitarist". He became the second guitarist to win three Guitar Player awards in one year (the first is Jeff Beck). Vaughan won the "Best Electric Blues Guitarist" award every year until 1991.
Also in 1983 Bowie featured Vaughan on his 1983 album Let's Dance.[4] Vaughan was asked to go on tour with Bowie, but declined so he could continue to play with Double Trouble. Reportedly, Vaughan, who was still driving a delivery truck to support himself, was furious when he saw Bowie pantomiming over Vaughan's guitar solo in the video for "Let's Dance".
The band's next album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, was recorded in January 1984. During mid-1984 Vaughan and Double Trouble made numerous TV appearances, performing on Rockpalast, MuchMusic, and Solid Gold.
During the Grammy Awards of 1984, Vaughan and George Thorogood presented Chuck Berry with a lifetime achievement award. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" from Couldn't Stand The Weather was nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".
The band played Carnegie Hall in New York City on October 4, 1984. The show featured one Double Trouble set, and a second with guests Dr. John on keyboards, George Rains on drums, Jimmie Vaughan on guitar, Roomful of Blues Horns, and singer Angela Strehli. The group rehearsed in September 1984 at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas.
In November, Vaughan won two W.C. Handy National Blues Awards: "Entertainer of the Year" and "Blues Instrumentalist of the Year". It was the first time a white person won either award. During this time, he also began recording with one of his earliest idols, blues-rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack, to produce the album Strike Like Lightning on the Alligator label.
In late January 1985, the band went on a six-night Japanese tour with various interviews and performances. In March, the band started to produce their third album Soul to Soul. Reese Wynans, a former keyboardist with Captain Beyond and Delbert McClinton's band, was added to the band not long after. The album's production lasted for two months. On April 10 Vaughan played "The Star Spangled Banner" for opening day of the National League baseball season at the Houston Astrodome (supposedly he didn't get a good audience response from that crowd; he did, at least, get to meet former New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle afterwards). Soul to Soul was released on September 30, 1985; Vaughan received his fifth Grammy nomination: "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for one of its songs, "Say What!".
In the following months of 1986, Vaughan and Double Trouble went on tour in New Zealand. It was around this time that he met Janna Lapidus, a touring model in New Zealand.
In mid-1986, the band was considering ideas of a new album, particularly a live album. Shows were set up at the Austin Opera House and at the Dallas Starfest. Audiences saw Vaughan struggle through these shows, as some of the original recordings were filled with technical difficulties.
On August 27, 1986, the Vaughan brothers' father, Big Jim, passed away of heart failure. A funeral was arranged two days later. The boys rushed home to comfort their mother, yet had little time to mourn. After the funeral was finished, a jet rushed Vaughan to Montreal, Quebec, where he played the "Labatt Blues Fest" (in Quebec, so named for their flagship beer "Labatt Blue"), known elsewhere as the "Miller Beer Festival" in Jarry Park.
The recordings in both Dallas and Austin, as well as the Montreux Jazz Festival, were edited and later released on Live Alive in November 1986.
Studio Albums:
Texas Flood (1983)
Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984)
Soul to Soul (1985)
In Step (1989)
Family Style (with Brother Jimmie Vaughan as "The Vaughan Brothers", 1990)
The Sky Is Crying (posthumous release) (1991)
Official live audio releases:
In the Beginning (Live, recorded 1980)
In Session (Live, with Albert King, recorded 1983)
Live at Carnegie Hall (Live, recorded 1984)
Live Alive (Live, recorded 1986)
Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985' (Live, recorded 1982 & 1985)
Wolfgang's Vault releases: http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/stevie-ray-vaughan
Compilations:
Greatest Hits (1995)
The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (1995)
The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1999)
Blues at Sunrise (2000)
SRV (box set, with early recordings, rarities, hits, and live material) (2000)
Blues at Sunrise
Stevie Ray Vaughan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It set deeply in the west
Yeah, the sunrise in the east
It set deeply in the west
I've been lookin' for my lover
An' I haven't found her yet
An' see if my woman's over there
Well, I'm gonna call up China
An' see if my woman's over there
You know, I've searched the whole world over, Lord
I can't find my lover, nowhere (hey-ya)
She won't write me no letter
She won't even call me on the telephone
No, she won't write me no letter
She won't even call me on the telephone
You know I haven't had no real good lovin'
Since that gal-a mine been gone
(Spoken:
I can't see my, engineer
Hey, somebody! (hey, hey)
Where's Mister ...
Well, Ooh!)
Someday baby, hahahaha
You're gonna want me, like I want you
Oh, someday baby, you're gonna want me, like I want you
But when you call me long distance, darlin'
I'll say I have nothing for you to do
Someday baby, you're gonna want me, like I want you
Hey, someday baby, you're gonna want me, like I want you
Oh, but when ya call me on the phone, angel
I'll say I have nothin' for you to do
Woo, thank you!
In Stevie Ray Vaughan’s song “Blues at Sunrise”, the singer seems to be finding comfort in the cyclical nature of time and the inevitability of the sunrise and sunset. He talks about the sunrise in the east and how it sets in the west, just like love sometimes sets and disappears. Vaughan then talks about how he’s been searching for his lover but hasn’t been able to find her yet. He even talks about calling up China, suggesting that he’s willing to go to great lengths just to find her.
The singer then talks about how his lover won’t even write him a letter or call him on the phone, leaving him without any real good loving since she’s been gone. However, he seems to hold a grudge and declares that when she finally wants him back, he won’t have anything for her to do. The song ends on a high note, with the singer declaring that someday, the tables will turn, and his lover will want him back just as much as he has wanted her.
Overall, the song is about the ups and downs of love, how it can come and go just like the sun rises and sets. The singer seems to be holding on to hope that his lover will come back to him, but he also acknowledges that he’s been left alone without any good loving in the meantime.
Line by Line Meaning
When the sunrise in the east, lover
As the sun rises from the east, my love, I realize that it will set deep in the west.
It set deeply in the west
Just as the sun sets in the west, my heart is sinking as I am unable to find my lover.
Yeah, the sunrise in the east
The day begins with the sunrise from the east, but for me, it's a constant reminder of my lover who is not with me.
I've been lookin' for my lover
I'm on a constant search for my lover, but I haven't found her yet.
An' I haven't found her yet
Despite my tireless endeavors, I'm still unable to find my lover.
I'm gonna call up China
I'll go to any length to find my lover, even if it means calling China.
You know, I've searched the whole world over, Lord
I've searched every corner of the world, but she seems to have disappeared into thin air.
You know I haven't had no real good lovin'
Ever since my lover has been gone, I haven't experienced any true affection.
Since that gal-a mine been gone
My life turned bleak ever since my lady love walked away from me.
She won't write me no letter
My lover doesn't care to keep in touch with me by writing, despite my constant longing.
She won't even call me on the telephone
Not only does she refuse to write, but she also doesn't pick up calls which makes me ache for her even more.
Someday baby, hahahaha
Someday, my baby, you'll realize how much I long for you and want you as you do for me.
Oh, someday baby, you're gonna want me, like I want you
You'll understand the depth of my love when you yearn for me the way I yearn for you someday.
But when you call me long distance, darlin'
However, when you end up calling me while you're away, I'll disappoint you by saying that there's nothing you can do to ease my longing for you.
I'll say I have nothing for you to do
Despite feeling miserable without you, I'll pretend that I don't need you when you call me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: ALBERT KING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Firelord360
How can anyone dislike this?!? This is golden and I listen to it all the time
TGregers
In my humble opinion, this is the best blues track that has ever been created.. Both Albert and Stevie performs to their maximum potential here. Stevie is just..... I have no words, the voice-leading, the soul. Im absolutely breathtaken by this!
markuzugo
Yeah... It is!!!
Dude Dude
So epic....you can hear Albert urging Stevie “come on” over and over to let it loose and he absolutely destroys it. This is student graduating way past teacher. It’s one of those blues songs that when you hear it you’ll always come back multiple times. It’s fucking epic and nothing else needs said!
Black J R Ewing
Dude Dude he knew Stevie had it, and he was pushing him👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
Tim Quesenberry
Albert sounds like he’s ripping meat off the bone literally with his hands. He shreds his shit into cat food.
Banana Bana
@Tim Quesenberry 😂🙏
Viviane Buelens (Hopeaprazska2 &)
What about Santana ?😊 1:50
Leslie Galloway
This is the last song my Dad was listening to before he died... 1.9.11
5 years ago today. He paused the song on his Ipod while he was jamming to it and told me I had to listen to it. He put the IPOD down walked into the kitchen and had a heart attack. The last thing he did was what he loved best.. Listening to the blues.. (He was a founder of Sonny Boy Blues Society and King Biscuit Blues Festival. He was the main stage manager for 25 years until his death)... It snowed 7-8 inches that day.. I walked in the back yard, put the Bose earbuds in and finished the song.. I wrote a song called My Blues Angel about that morning.. Reba Russell recorded it. "Woke up early Sunday morning to a troubled red sky, unaware it was a warning we would soon be saying goodbye. The last thing you told me before the Angels took you home was to listeni to "Blues at Sunrise" by Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn."
Diane Wells
I'm sorry you lost your dad, but that's a great story of his final hours! And congratulations on having Reba Russell record your song. She's great!