Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble was an American blues rock band formed in Austin, Texas in 1978, built around one of the most important electric blues guitarists ever recorded. Texas Flood (1983) is the essential debut, and In Step (1989) won a Grammy just before Vaughan's death in a 1990 helicopter crash at age 35. Find Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble formed in Austin, Texas in 1978 around Stevie Ray Vaughan (born October 3, 1954, Dallas, Texas), drummer Chris Layton, and bassist Jackie Newhouse (replaced by Tommy Shannon in 1981). Reese Wynans joined as keyboardist in 1985. Stevie Ray Vaughan is widely cited as one of the most important contemporary blues guitarists in popular music history - blend of Jimi Hendrix-influenced electric blues virtuosity with Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Texas blues traditions. The band's signing to Epic Records happened after David Bowie's Let's Dance (1983) production with Vaughan as guest guitarist, establishing his commercial profile. Their 1983 debut Texas Flood established their distinctive blend of Texas blues, blues rock, and Vaughan's foundational guitar work. Their 1989 album In Step won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Recording in 1990. Vaughan struggled with alcohol and drug addiction during the 1980s before recovery in the late 1980s. He died in a helicopter crash leaving an Eric Clapton concert at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin in early morning of August 27, 1990 at age 35. The crash also killed three members of Clapton's tour staff. His older brother Jimmie Vaughan (member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds blues band) and Double Trouble members have continued parallel work. Vaughan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. His foundational influence on contemporary blues rock is widely cited.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's sound combines blues rock, Texas blues, electric blues, Chicago blues, hard rock, jam band influences, and contemporary blues with Vaughan's distinctive vocal delivery and foundational virtuosic lead guitar work (use of distinctive Fender Stratocaster phrasing with Hendrix-influenced techniques alongside Texas blues traditions), and arrangements drawing on classic 1960s electric blues alongside contemporary rock influences.
Original Epic Records pressings of the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble catalog are foundational items in contemporary blues rock collecting, with collector premiums on rare pressings.
Listeners new to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble typically start with Texas Flood (1983) or In Step (1989).
