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1954
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Stephen Ray Vaughan was born October 3 in Dallas, Texas. To Jim and Martha Vaughan.
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1963
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Under the guidance of his brother Jimmie (b. 1951), Stevie Ray begins to play the guitar. Before long, Stevie is playing inlocal bands. |
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1972
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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. |
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1976
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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. |
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1979
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Lenora (Lenny) Bailey and Stevie Ray Vaughan are married on December 20. |
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1980
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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. |
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1981
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Tommy Shannon replaces Jackie Newhouse on bass. |
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1982
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The new Double Trouble performs at the Montreaux Festival in Switzerland, the first unsigned and unrecorded band to
doso. David Bowie, who was in the audience, asks Stevietoplay 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. |
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1983
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The new Double Trouble performs at the Montreaux Festival in Switzerland, the first unsigned and unrecorded band to
doso. David Bowie, who was in the audience, asks Stevietoplay 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. 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!). |
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1984
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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. |
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1985
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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. |
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1986
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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. |
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1987
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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. |
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1988
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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.
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1989
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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. |
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1990
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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.
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