Was Stevie Ray Vaughan the Greatest (Blues) Guitarist Ever?

Some things in life won’t be done any better. Ever. One of those things is the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan playing blues guitar. It doesn’t get any better. This can’t be topped.

Yeah, Hendrix and Clapton and King and Van Halen and Slash and Young and Bonamassa and Beck and Smear and Trucks others belong in a conversation of greats, and who can really insist that one is better than the other? But when comes down to flawless, effortless perfection on the ax, show after show, and year after year, no one played quite like SRV.

SRV grew up in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas (he went to Kimball High School, and I attended T.W. Browne Middle School, which was next door). I never knew nor met SRV, but I did see him perform once many years later at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC in 1985. He didn’t just play the guitar. He shredded it. He made the guitar sing. He made it wail. He made it weep. He tore it up and spit it out, and made playing look absurdly natural. Effortless. I remember just sitting there speechless in my seat after SRV performed. It was like some religious revival. I’d just seen the messiah.

SRV died way too young at age 36 in a helicopter crash. It’s sad we didn’t get another 20 or 30 years of his guitar and his energy. But at least we have memories and YouTube.

Check out this classic performance from Austin City Limits where he does his trademark guitar solo behind his back. SRV played the guitar better behind his back than 95 percent of guitarists doing it straight. For those who want to jump ahead go to about the 6-minute mark. Crank it up. Pure magic.

What a joy to have this music left behind to treasure.

More sick greatness.  I couldn’t decide which video clip is better, so here’s an encore.