Biography
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, blues guitarists Jimmie Vaughan and his younger brother Stevie Ray Vaughan entered the world in 1951 and 1954, respectively. Stevie Ray first picked up the instrument as a child after watching Jimmie play. Before teaming with vocalist and harmonica player Kim Wilson to launch the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1974, Jimmie had performed with several Dallas and Austin outfits. Chrysalis Records signed the band, which issued four albums beginning with its self-titled 1979 debut. Although What's the Word from 1980 and Butt Rockin' from 1981 each charted modestly, the label parted ways with the group following the disappointing sales of T-Bird Rhythm in autumn 1982.
During the same period Stevie Ray Vaughan worked the Texas club circuit, first in the band Triple Threat alongside singer Lou Ann Barton and later, after Barton exited, with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon under the name Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. A 1982 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival secured him a deal with Epic Records, resulting in the 1983 release of his debut album Texas Flood, which reached the Top 40. He followed that success with Couldn't Stand the Weather in 1984 and Soul to Soul in 1985; both LPs earned gold status inside two years and have since been certified platinum.
Stevie Ray's rising profile prompted Epic's parent company CBS Associated to sign the Fabulous Thunderbirds, whose Tuff Enuff appeared in 1986. The title track became a Top Ten single, propelling the album itself into the Top 20; it went gold within six months and eventually reached platinum. That same year Stevie Ray issued the live set Live Alive, which later achieved platinum certification.
The brothers' momentum then cooled. Stevie Ray entered rehabilitation while the Fabulous Thunderbirds' next two albums, Hot Number in 1987 and Powerful Stuff in 1989, failed to replicate the earlier commercial impact. Jimmie left the band on amicable terms in June 1990. Stevie Ray resurfaced after more than two and a half years away with In Step, released in 1989 and ultimately his strongest seller at double platinum. The siblings had long intended to record together, and in 1990 they completed the duo album Family Style. Stevie Ray died in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990, one month before the record's September release; it climbed into the Top Ten and surpassed one million copies sold.
Jimmie later supervised several posthumous Stevie Ray projects, including the two-million-selling Top Ten album The Sky Is Crying in 1991. He began his solo career with Strange Pleasure, issued by Epic in spring 1994.
During the same period Stevie Ray Vaughan worked the Texas club circuit, first in the band Triple Threat alongside singer Lou Ann Barton and later, after Barton exited, with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon under the name Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. A 1982 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival secured him a deal with Epic Records, resulting in the 1983 release of his debut album Texas Flood, which reached the Top 40. He followed that success with Couldn't Stand the Weather in 1984 and Soul to Soul in 1985; both LPs earned gold status inside two years and have since been certified platinum.
Stevie Ray's rising profile prompted Epic's parent company CBS Associated to sign the Fabulous Thunderbirds, whose Tuff Enuff appeared in 1986. The title track became a Top Ten single, propelling the album itself into the Top 20; it went gold within six months and eventually reached platinum. That same year Stevie Ray issued the live set Live Alive, which later achieved platinum certification.
The brothers' momentum then cooled. Stevie Ray entered rehabilitation while the Fabulous Thunderbirds' next two albums, Hot Number in 1987 and Powerful Stuff in 1989, failed to replicate the earlier commercial impact. Jimmie left the band on amicable terms in June 1990. Stevie Ray resurfaced after more than two and a half years away with In Step, released in 1989 and ultimately his strongest seller at double platinum. The siblings had long intended to record together, and in 1990 they completed the duo album Family Style. Stevie Ray died in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990, one month before the record's September release; it climbed into the Top Ten and surpassed one million copies sold.
Jimmie later supervised several posthumous Stevie Ray projects, including the two-million-selling Top Ten album The Sky Is Crying in 1991. He began his solo career with Strange Pleasure, issued by Epic in spring 1994.
Albums
