Quotes About Stevie

BUDDY GUY

"It was an honor to have him do [my] tunes, because just like I went to Muddy Waters and paid tribute to him, everyone pays tribute to someone they admired a lot. Music is handed down to the next generation. And he wasn't just some white kid saying, 'I got it.' He told the truth. 'I got this from Buddy Guy or Albert Collins,' or whoever he wanted to talk about. That was some of his greatness."

"Stevie is the best friend I ever had, the best guitarist I ever heard, and the best person anyone will ever want to know. He will be missed a lot."

Stevie told me how his brother Jimmie had learned a bit before him, and he kept hearing this record of mine. His brother wouldn't let him listen to it, so he went and stole it. He said,'These are the licks I want.' We laughed about that the night of his tragedy. I'll never forget some of the licks he was playing the last night. I think it was one of his best nights ever.



B. B. KING

"It's not just a loss to music, it's a loss to people as a whole. The only thing that keeps me from crying is knowing the joy he brought us."

"I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie missed on both counts, but I never noticed it."

"...the fact is that he affected the way blues will be played and heard forever."

"... he was always quick to show gratitude to me and other artists who have been around. But when it came to playing the blues he earned plenty of respect himself."

Any time we played together it was exciting. At first, he would always pull punches a bit. So one night I told him, "Play your thing. Go ahead, don't worry about me." And he did. His ideas were limitless. He flowed. He was like water, constantly drippin' with rhythm. It's a loss not just to the music - it's a loss to people as a whole. He was just such a nice man. I tell you the truth, it really hurts. The only thing that keeps me from crying is knowing the joy that he brought to us. I can see his smile right now, him sitting there with his Mexican hat on, going, "Hey, it's all right."



ALBERT COLLINS

We jammed many times, and I had so much fun. I really miss him. He did some Jimi Hendrix, some Albert King, a little of me, but he had it together for what he wanted to do. He had a direction, and he made it work. The kids really liked his fire.

ERIC CLAPTON

"I don't think anyone has commanded my respect more, to this day. The first time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought, "Whoever this is, he is going to shake the world". I was in my car and I remember thinking, I have to find out, before the day is over, who that guitar player is. That doesn't happen to me very often, that I get that way about listening to music. I mean, about three or four times in my life I've felt that way, in a car, listening to the radio, where I've stopped the car, pulled over, listened, and thought, I've got to find out before the end of the day, not, you know, sooner or later, but I have to know NOW who that is.

"...and I remember being fascinated by the fact that he never, ever seemed to be... lost in any way. It was as though he never took a breather... or took a pause to think where he was gonna go next, it just flowed out of him. He seemed to be an open channel and music just flowed out. It's going to be a long time before anyone that brilliant will come along again."



BONNIE RAITT

The most lasting memory of Stevie was his passion. I don't think there is anyone who tears into a song like the way he did. I think Stevie Ray was coming from some place so deep and so beautiful that there's no one you can compare to him."

To me Stevie Ray Vaughan was the greatest blues guitarist. For fire and passion and soulfulness, he was untouchable. He was scary to those of us who watched him. But he was so humble and gracious as a friend, and he wasn't stuck up about his playing.



JOHN LEE HOOKER

"He really had it - his singing, his playing. Really hot stuff. He chopped it up, and really meant it."

"The first time we met was in Austin, Texas at Antone's, and it was him and his brother, Jimmie. That was fifteen or twenty years ago, and at that time he could play tremendously. And I said, "Someday this kid's going to shake the whole world up." And he was one of the nicest people. You couldn't help but like him, you couldn't help but love him. I never cry, but yesterday, when I heard the news, I sat down on my bed and cried like a little baby."



LONNIE MACK

"As I got to know him better, it was easy to see that he had a really good spirit. Stevie was a giver, man - not only to his friends but to everybody. He was a very spiritual person. I used to tease him that he was the only guy I knew that had an old head on a young body."

"He played his complete self through that guitar. And he knew that playing music wasn't about who sounded better than who else. It was the style that counted, and it was about having a good time."

"I first heard Stevie at a little club around the corner from Antone's. He was just a really good player. He had his own thing, but you could hear bits and pieces of other things. I could hear some of my things in there. His brother told me that Stevie listened to a lot of my old records. He particularly liked the lick on "Chicken Pickin'" and the riff on "