"Remembering Stevie Ray" - August 27, 1995

"Remembering Stevie Ray"
August 27, 1995

To follow is the transcript for "Remembering Stevie Ray," which I hosted August 27, 1995. Thank you to America Online for giving me permission to reprint this for y'all. Please do not quote from this without using the transcript in its entirety and remember, it is copyrighted by AOL. Please contact me for permission to reprint.

Regards,
Beverly Howell, Host
Blues Chat :)

OnlineHost: Good Evening, and a warm "Welcome" to this very special edition of "BLUES CHAT." My name is Beverly Howell, AKA "BevBlues," and I'm very honored to be hosting this forum tonight in remembrance of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

OnlineHost: Tonight marks the fifth year since Stevie's passing. While hearts are heavy from his absence, it should be remembered that Stevie gave us many gifts through his talent, sense of humor, and warmth.

OnlineHost: My guests have not joined us tonight to mourn Stevie's death...but to celebrate his 35 years of life. Stevie accomplished many great things in a very short time, and his friends have many wonderful memories to share with us tonight.

OnlineHost: Tommy, Chris and Margaret are all joining us live from Austin, Texas, while Reese is joining us via telephone from Nashville, Tennessee.

OnlineHost: Unfortunately, Dan Forte had to cancel his appearance here tonight due to illness, but he sends his thoughts to you all.

OnlineHost: PLEASE NOTE: It is VERY IMPORTANT when you send your questions in to our guests tonight via the INTERACT Button, that you specify WHICH of our guests you are addressing, since we have one typist interfacing for all. For that reason, please remember to include the guest's name or initials with your question or comment.

BevBlues: Welcome, Tommy, Chris, Reese, and Margaret! Ready for a few questions?

Chris, Tommy, Reese, Margaret: Thank you for having us. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here. Yes!

Question to All: Could each of you tell us about your earliest remembrance of Stevie? When and how did you meet?

Tommy: I met SRV in 1969. I had broken off from Johnny Winter and gone back to Dallas. I met SRV in the same club I'd met Johnny in. It was called "The Fog." SRV was about 14, and was a great player even then...we became friends after that.

Reese: I'd seen SRV in the clubs but the first time I met him was for "Soul to Soul." I met him when I came in to record, "Look at Little Sister,"...I thought I was going to play one song and stayed for the whole record!

Chris: I met SRV in 1976, walking up to "Soap Creek Saloon" here in Austin. He was playing with "Paul Ray & the Cobras." I heard this guitar coming through the wall...it was...so clear, way above the band. I walked through the door, and there was this little skinny guy onstage playing unbelievable guitar. Shortly after that, I sat in with the band when their drummer was late and played the first hour.

Margaret: I was the ultimate fan. I saw Stevie play at the "One Knite," about '73 or '74 and was hooked by the same skinny little guy wailing away on guitar that Chris saw.

Question to All: I've been told that Stevie had a wonderful sense of humor. Could you please relate some of the funnier things that happened during all those years together? I'll bet you each have a favorite story.

Reese: Once in a Colorado hotel, SRV went to the gift shop. He charged, to his room, 14 wristwatches and gave them away to various people. Tommy was the only one in the band who got one. He gave the rest away, we think.

Margaret: (:::big grin:::) He and I were sitting outside "Antone's" once about 1976. "You know," he said, "My nose isn't really like this." He then pushed it flat to his face. "Me and my brother used to fight as kids," he said, smiling.

Tommy, Chris: There are so many...

Reese: Stevie would make these "face sculptures" on mirrors after he'd be all greasy from playing. He was pressing his face against the mirror and leave the print...like in hotel elevators and bathrooms etc. (:::grin:::)

Margaret: Chris and Tommy are thinking.......

Chris: There were so many good times, they all run together...

Chris: By the way, there will be a "Greatest Hits" coming out in October.

BevBlues: That's great!!

Question for Tommy, Chris, Reese: Do you three have plans to record more projects together? I love your work on Buddy Guy's, "Slippin' In."

Chris, Tommy: Not at this time. "Storyville," keeps us busy

Reese: I'm relaxing in Tennessee, being a single dad and studio musician. I recorded with Leroy Parnell, Kathy Mattea, and Pam Tillis.

Comment for All: Greetings from across the water! Just wanted to let you know that your London Fans are remembering you tonight....love has no boundaries, ya know?

Reese: A *big* hello from us to all of you over there!

Tommy: If Stevie were here, he'd say the same thing.

Question to All: What are the most memorable live shows?

Reese: For me, the shows in Red Rock, CO. I loved the "Fox Theatre" show in Atlanta...and the shows at the Pier in NYC.

Chris: In 85, Montreal with "The Police." -the band- (:::grin:::)

Tommy: Yeah...also W.C.Handy Awards in Memphis.

Question to All: What are your feelings about the Stevie statue? I didn't expect Stevie to be green or so large. :::grin:::

Margaret: SRV was pretty green when I first saw him!

Reese: I always stop by there when I'm in Austin. It's strange to see a memorial to someone you know, but it's good, you know?

Chris: I think it's great!

Tommy: I ride my mountain bike and stop by there every day.

Margaret: Do you really?

Tommy: Yes, I do.

BevBlues: What a blessing that would be!

Chris: I take my kids there.

Question for Tommy, Chris, Reese: I love the song, "Riviera Paradise." Do you know what Stevie's inspirations for that song were?

Chris: When we started to cut that, he remarked something about making amends.

Tommy: I think he wrote it out of compassion.

Chris: We had played it for only a few months before recording it. We had just cut a rock & roll track, our headphone mixes were set for the rock & roll song. All of a sudden, SRV said, "I need to make amends," (for what I'm not sure) but, he told the engineer to turn all the lights off in the studio, and went into the song with the wrong headphone mix, and we couldn't see what was going on. We cut it on the first take, ended the song with ten seconds left on the tape. Seemed like a miracle...

Tommy, Chris, Reese: (in unison) *AND HE WOULDN'T LET US DO IT AGAIN!* (:::smiles all around:::)

BevBlues: (:::smiles:::)

Question To All: It's an honor to talk with "Double Trouble". I have many questions, but one I wanted to know was about Stevie's spirituality. He seemed to be really searching for something meaningful. Is this a correct assumption and could any of the band members elaborate on this rarely discussed part of Stevie? Thank you.

Tommy: Once we both got clean and sober, our whole direction was toward spirituality. It was something we shared. He was sincere about it, wanted to do the right thing. And he had a lot of love to give...he was a very humble person.

Chris: Well put. His mother is very spiritual.

Margaret: I see spirituality often coming after musicians clean up. I'm not surprised.

Tommy, Chris: He explored a lot of reading about different forms of spirituality. He was open to just about everything.

Reese: He was always looking for his own truth.

Chris: I felt he came from an upbringing that was hard on him. A lot of the grist for his playing came from a side of his life that possibly lacked spirituality. And the spiritual side of him gave him inspiration to put it all together.

Chris: Make sense?

BevBlues: Very much so.

Tommy: I think he was born with it, and it got lost in the background.

Question for Tommy, Chris, or Reese: Did Stevie have a special track or song that had more meaning to him than others? Any favorites?

Chris: I think "Life Without You" was important to him.

Tommy: "Tightrope"

Reese: "Life Without You" was *really* special in that it was a developmental song. Started out being about the death of a friend, and turned into...

Margaret: ...a song about himself?

Reese, Chris: Yes.

Reese: When he'd talk to the audience, that was some of the most important stuff he had to say.

Chris: We'd break down during that song and he'd talk.....(Break the song, down, that is.)

Chris: No...He'd stop and we'd cry and he'd talk (:::ha ha:::)

Tommy: (:::grinning:::)

Question for All:: Do you know if Stevie's transition to sobriety came suddenly, or was a conscious decision made over a long period of time?

Tommy: It's something we had seen coming. It kept getting worse and worse.

Chris: We were in Germany...

(pause)

Margaret: This is tough for the guys to talk about...

(pause)

Tommy: At the point where he broke down, that's the point he had to reach to turn his life around. He just hit bottom.

Chris: Stevie and I were walking along the street in Germany. He felt a little sick and wanted a drink. We couldn't get one. We went back to the hotel, he was laying in bed, looking at the ceiling.

Chris: I looked into his eyes...it looked as though the life had gone out of him, for a minute...then the life came back into his eyes, and he said, "I need help."

Chris: Tommy and I called the hospital, who sent an ambulance. So began the journey back to sobriety.

Tommy: He looked upon that as being a turning point in his life.

Reese: Yes. I agree.

BevBlues: Thank you for sharing that; there are many here tonight in our audience whose lives have been changed by yours and Stevie's courage and strength.

Margaret: Tommy remarked earlier that it just doesn't seem like five years. It really made me stop and think about all this. I have goosebumps.

Question for Chris and Tommy: Some of us have heard fragments of a story about a guitar strap that was found behind "Antones" in Austin, TX. Could you share that story with us?

Chris: At Antone's 20th Anniversary week long celebration, "Storyville," and "Paul Ray & the Cobras Reunion," were playing. Those bands and the audience were the ones SRV had associated with much of his life. At one point, one of the bar backs at Antone's was leaving to go home and almost tripped over something in the dark alley. He reached down to pick whatever it was up.

Chris: It was one of Stevie's old guitar straps. It was from the days when he was just Stevie Vaughan. No one really knows anything else about it. It's still a mystery.

Margaret: Not to mention a coincidence! "The Cobras" had been SRV's real testing ground and Chris and Tommy were his backbone. Strange...

Chris: I tried to find out what I could, not a single word. No one claimed it or anything.

Question for Tommy, Chris and Reese: I'm thrilled you're here. My question is, what does each of you think you learned from your relationship with SRV? What did you come away from it with?

Tommy: It would take pages...

Chris: I learned to try harder.

Reese: I can't even begin to tell you...

Question for Tommy: Who was Stevie's biggest influence, music wise?

Tommy: Hard to pin down on one person...there were several...I'd say Albert King and Jimi Hendrix.

Chris: And Buddy Guy. He mentioned them the most.

BevBlues: Unfortunately, we are out of time...

Margaret: Let *me* say what an honor it is to be here with Chris and Tommy and Reese.

BevBlues: And me also; you all have presented us with a great gift tonight.

Tommy, Reese, Chris: Thanks for having us. Hope we meet you someday!

Margaret: Backstage passes for all! (:::grin:::)

BevBlues: The line is forming!!

Margaret, Tommy, Chris: (:::all grinning:::)

OnlineHost: There are so many to people to thank for bringing us this special evening, that we can't possibly list them all here...but there are a few that must be mentioned: Our heartfelt thanks go to:

Tommy, Chris, Reese, and Margaret; Lisa Short and Mark Proct of Mark I Management, The Austin Chronicle Staff; Dan Forte of Musician Magazine, Julie Bowers of Antone's Records, Mindy Giles of Blacktop Records, David Roever, Barry Johnson of Epic Records, Quadralay Corporation of Austin, Texas, M.J. Mendell of Antone's (Club), W.A. Williams Photography, America Online, Inc., The UK Stevie Ray Vaughan Web Page, "The Sky is Crying" Web Page, The Antone's Web Page

OnlineHost: In closing, we offer this quote from Stevie Ray:

"Hey, you know, I'd like to thank everybody for bein' here tonight, and everybody that helped put this thing together...

You know, this is a very special day, for many reasons...but most of all, I want to thank God I'm alive today.

You know, all the partyin's fine and well, but when the party's over we got to take care of ourselves sometime in our lives. I tried to close the party down; instead, it shut me down for a while; but, I'm makin' it, alive and happy today....thanks to HIM.

You know, y'all help me do somethin'...and that's go through the rest of our lives givin' the only thing we really have to give, and that's a bunch of love.

That's all we came into this world with, that's all we go out with. So let's spread some around while we're here. Are you with me?

God Bless You."

--Stevie Ray Vaughan
Daytona Beach, FL

BevBlues: Goodnight, everyone.

NOTE: Reese Wynans faxed the "Blues Chat" office on 8/28/95, the morning after this event, and asked we include the following to this transcript:

"Thank you for having Double Trouble on your show. I would also like to acknowledge our crew, who were so vital to our live shows, as well as all-around good guys.

Our thanks to: Mark Rutledge, Rene Martinez, Bill Mounsey, Dan Cooke, and Skip Rickert.

Thanks Again,
Reese Wynans"

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