Stubs: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jeff Beck (1989)

This might just be the best concert I’ve ever seen.  As a guitar player who idolized both of these guys growing up, how could it not be?  Hindsight only adds to the case: after this tour Jeff Beck took a(nother) hiatus of several years, and within a year would come the tragic helicopter crash that took Stevie Ray Vaughan’s life (August 27, 1990).

Jeff was touring off the Guitar Shop album, with Terry Bozzio on drums and Tony Hymas on keys.  He came out first and played several songs from Guitar Shop (now a classic), but also lots of older stuff, including Freeway Jam, Blue Wind, and Beck’s Bolero.  The thing about Jeff is his creativity and control of the tone of his guitar.  It comes out a little bit on his recordings, but can only be fully appreciated live.  He gets more sound variety out of his guitar using his fingers, trem bar, and the volume knob than most guys get with racks of effects.  I recently saw Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scott’s (on tv), and he seems to have even more in his toolbox now.  He’s a real innovator and still knows how to rock.

Stevie took the stage 2nd.  He put on a monster show, and his band Double Trouble hung right in there with him.  Pride and Joy, Superstition, Little Wing, Voodoo Chile, Riviera Paradise…I mean, what’s not to like?  (YouTube has a bunch of tunes from the 89 tour.)  Stevie was arguably at his best on this tour, having recovered from his drug and alcohol addiction.  It is a true tragedy that he died so young.  He brought the blues back into popularity during the synth pop-soaked 80′s, and took it to an entirely different level.

Here’s a YouTube gem, the closer of the 1989 tour with SRV and Jeff playing together on Jeff’s Freddie King’s tune I’m Going Down:

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