In August of 1990 I was heading to Michigan's Irish Hills for a Nascar Race when the radio blasted the news about Stevie Ray Vaughan's death in a helicopter crash. It was such a shock that a lot of race fans watched the rowdy race in rather a downbeat. The world lost a true musical genius that day and no one will ever play like him again.
Great news for all of us Stevie Ray Vaughan fans! The first definitive biography of guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, with an epilogue by Jimmie Vaughan *The Thunderbirds), with foreword and afterword by Double Trouble’s Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon.
Just a few years after he almost died from a severe addiction to cocaine and alcohol, a clean and sober Stevie Ray Vaughan was riding high. His last album was his most critically lauded and commercially successful. He had fulfilled a lifelong dream by collaborating with his first and greatest musical hero, his brother Jimmie. His tumultuous marriage was over and he was in a new and healthy romantic relationship. Vaughan seemed poised for a new, limitless chapter of his life and career.
Stevie and Jimmy Vaughan (Family Style photo by Lee Crum)
Instead, it all came to a shocking and sudden end on August 27, 1990, when he was killed in a helicopter crash following a dynamic performance with Eric Clapton.
Just 35 years old, he left behind a powerful musical legacy and an endless stream of What Ifs. In the ensuing 29 years, Vaughan’s legend and acclaim have only grown and he is now an undisputed international musical icon. Despite the cinematic scope of Vaughan’s life and death, there has never been a truly proper accounting of his story. Until now.
Texas Flood provides the unadulterated truth about Stevie Ray Vaughan from those who knew him best: his brother Jimmie, his Double Trouble bandmates Tommy Shannon, Chris Layton and Reese Wynans, and many other close friends, family members, girlfriends, fellow musicians, managers and crew members. You can get the book here:
