Stevie Ray Vaughan first hit the scene playing a few solos on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance album (the guitar stuff at the end of “China Girl” is Stevie Ray). Stevie Ray didn’t tour with Bowie that year, but by that point it didn’t matter – his first album was out and he was about to become a guitar superstar.
At the time Stevie Ray was lumped in with the Hendrix wanna-be’s (completely unfair) and that was what dominated much of his early media hype – bummer, but no one makes those comparisons anymore and most people recognize Stevie Ray as a guitar master in his own right.
Dig “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” – it was the first Stevie Ray song I heard and always my favorite.
Muddy Waters is easily one of the most important people in the evolution of rock n roll. Originally a blues singer and acoustic slide player from the Mississippi Delta*, he moved to Chicago, switched to electric guitar, and recorded a string of singles that ended up in the record bins in London. These recordings (along with those of Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and others) had a major influence on many young English bands (including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Cream – to name a few) who ultimately covered many of these songs throughout their careers.
Near the end of his life, Muddy re-recorded many of his classic songs in collaboration with Texas rocker Johnny Winter (Muddy’s most famous work was recorded in the fifties when recording technology was still very primitive). Johnny Winter re-recorded Muddy performing much of his catalog in the late seventies using modern technology, but staying true to the instrumentation of the originals (e.g. no cymbals when recording drum parts) – the results are raw, powerful and a far cry from the many “tribute” sessions that were done by other rockers paying homage to their heroes. I think Muddy and Johnny did four albums together, the one I have is “Hard Again” and it is well worth the listen.
In the video clip, Muddy is singing but for some reason doesn’t have a guitar. Willie Dixon is one of the people dancing (the tall, bald man) and Johnny Winter is the blond guy with long hair.
*Muddy Waters was one of the people recorded out in the fields by the legendary Alan Lomax from the Library of Congress (the most famous of these recordings were the sessions done with Robert Johnson).
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins is easily one of the greatest vocalists I have ever seen. His range is incredible, his stage presense is unbelievable, and his outlandish outlandishness is life changing. I was fortunate to get to see him at a club in New York in the early 90’s. The crowd was small enough that after the show I was able to get on stage to hang out with him and shmooze about geeky guitar stuff with his guitarist (I was so jealous and wanted his gig like nobody’s business – but it wasn’t meant to be). Screamin’ Jay’s greatest hits album (Voodoo Jive) is well worth the listen and has everything Screamin’ Jay – from the classic “I Put A Spell On You” to the transformative “Constipation Blues.”
I found this video – I don’t know what TV show it is from – but it is very 80’s and features 80’s fixtures from the NY studio session scene like David Sanborn (sax) and the dude who was the first guitar player in the David Letterman band.