leatherbird said:
One of Jimmy's friends,Doyle Bramhall,Jimmy was Stevie's older brother and driving force of the Fabulous Thunderbirds,stopped over to pick up Jimmie and heard the most amazing note for note rendition of Hendrix's Little Wing,not being able to find Jimmy,he went upstairs to find a cable running to the closed closet door,Stevie had borrowed one of his brothers Strats and was wailin' Little Wing.Doyle opened the closet door and said,how old are you?
Little Stevie slowly looked up and replied,'leven.You ain't gonna' tell Jimmy I was playing his guitar are ya?
At the age of 13 a self-taught New Orleans blues guitarist named Kenny Wayne Shepherd was invited on stage to play with SRV. Stevie's influence led Kenny Wayne to decide on a career in music and many considered KW Stevie's protege and heir apparent. Kenny Wayne recorded and released
Ledbetter Heights while still in high school.
Trouble Is and
Ledbetter Heights remain Kennys best releases so far and I hope he returns to his blues roots soon.
Chris Duarte, a San Anotnio blues guitarist, has also been compared to SRV. He blends more jazz riffs into his recordings but on his debut album,
Texas Sugar/Strat Magic, you can hear Stevie's guitar influence on cuts like
Shiloh and
C-Butt Rock.
Corey Stevens, a Centralia, IL guitarist who studied classical music had a band Called Texas Flood that limited itself to SRV covers. His early work on
Blue Drops of Rain includes an errie rendition of SRVs
Lenny.
Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton (Double Trouble) teamed up with Charlie Sexton and Doyle Bramhall II to form Arcangels three months after Stevie's death. The band hung together for only two years and produced a self-titled album that earned a host of Austin music awards. After the breakup, Layton and Shannon teamed with members of John Meloncougar's band to form Storyville and released 3 albums before disappearing from the scene.
The Bluest Eyes was highly acclaimed in Austin and landed them a national recording contract. Their next album,
A Piece of Your Soul" included their only hit single
Good Day for the Blues. Don't know what's happened to them since.
The Zone, an old FM station in Fort Worth claimed SRV as their patron saint and dedicated an hour a day to Stevie. They would dig up oldies and bootlegs like
Stilletto Rain (recorded live at Red Rock Ampitheatre in Denver) and
Guitar Boogie (recorded at live in Austin). It was here I first heard about Lonnie Mack being one of Stevie's guitar idols and the SRV co-produced Lonnie Mack album
Strike Like Lightning. Stevie and Lonnie rip on cuts like
Double Whammy, Strike Like Lightning, Satisfy Susie, and
If You Have to Know and then Stevie plays a cool National steel guitar background to Lonnie's
Oreo Cookie Blues. This is a must have CD for any true SRV fanatic.
The Zone also sponsered Stevie's Bath Day. Every October 3rd they would sponsor a bus ride to Austin where we would gather around Stevie's statue in Zilker Park on Town Lake to clean the bird deposits and put the spiff back on Stevie. Great party time and great tunes.
The SRV 4 disc set is probably the best compillation out there......unless you can find the white unlabeled set.
Live at the El Macambo and the
Live from Austin - with both Austin City Limits appearances - are, IMO, his best DVDs. I also enjoy his
In the Beginning CD for raw uncut SRV.
Sorry if I ramble but damn I miss Stevie........
J
to hear you dig Stevie.
