Vaughan's musical abilities and sense of style were
obvious from an early age. Growing up in Oak Cliff, just south of
downtown Dallas, Texas, he was weaned on classic Top 40 radio (which
was invented in his hometown), vintage blues, early rock 'n' roll and
the deepest rhythm and blues and coolest jazz of the day. "I
never got over that stuff, and I never will. That's the kind of music
I like," he explains.
When he was sidelined by a football injury at the
age of 13, a family friend gave Vaughan a guitar to occupy him during
his recuperation. From the moment Jimmie's fingers touched the
fretboard, it was obvious that he was a natural talent. "It was
like he played it all his life," his mother Martha Vaughan later
noted. He also began tutoring his younger brother Stevie, who would
cite Jimmie as his biggest inspiration and influence throughout his
own career.
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At age 15, Vaughan started his first band, The
Swinging Pendulums, and was soon playing the rough and tumble Dallas
nightclub scene many nights a week. By the time he hit 16, Jimmie
joined The Chessman, who became the area's top musical attraction,
eventually opening concerts in Dallas for Jimi Hendrix.
After hearing Muddy Waters and Freddie King play in
Dallas, Vaughan began to delve deep into the blues, melding his many
influences into a style that was clean, economical and highly
articulate, concentrating on rhythmic accents and lead work that
relies on the power of his less-is-more approach.
In 1969, Jimmie Vaughan helped found Texas
Storm, a group that eschewed Top 40 covers for blues and soul with a
Texas accent. The band eventually migrated to Austin, where they won
over the college crowd and the Black and Chicano communities on the
Capital City's East Side. Vaughan also helped jump start his brother
Stevie's career when the younger Vaughan joined Texas Storm on bass.
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Determined to create an ideal vehicle for blues
music that was both modern in its impact and appeal yet true to the
tradition, Vaughan founded
The
Fabulous Thunderbirds with Kim Wilson in the mid 1970s. When Antone's nightclub opened in Austin in August of 1975, the
Thunderbirds became the house band, sharing the stage and jamming with
such blues greats as Waters, Buddy Guy,
B.B. King, Albert King and a host of others, all of whom recognized
Vaughan as the man who would keep the music they developed alive for
future generations.
Prior to leaving the group in 1990, Jimmie had
joined up with his brother Stevie to record "Family
Style,"
an album that reflected their mutually deep musical roots and maturing
modern artistic sophistication. Then in August, 1990, just a few weeks
prior to the album's release, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter
crash in Wisconsin. The tragedy devastated Jimmie, who retreated from
touring and recording, though he continued to play guitar every day,
as he has throughout his life.
Meanwhile, the success of "Family
Style"
further enhanced Jimmie's reputation as a distinctive musical stylist.
Eventually, Vaughan's friend
Eric Clapton invited him to open a series
of 16 special concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall.
After the warm reception for his solo debut at the
Clapton shows in early 1993, Jimmie Vaughan started recording
his first solo album. The resulting disc, "Strange
Pleasure,"
was produced by Nile Rodgers (who worked with the Vaughan brothers on
"Family
Style"), featured 11 songs written or co-written by
Jimmie, and was dedicated to Stevie Ray and the recently-deceased
Albert Collins. It debuted at Number One on the Billboard Heatseeker
Chart, won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance and
garnered reams of critical acclaim as Vaughan also stepped out on tour
as a solo artist and bandleader.
His next album, 1998's "Out
There,"
solidified Vaughan's status as a solo artist, thanks to a Grammy
nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (for the song
"Ironic Twist"). As The Boston Phoenix noted in a four-star
rave review, "Out
There" featured "his best playing
ever, bringing rich-toned exuberance to the familiar trappings of
rippling blues and shuffle beats, soul grooves, and vocal arrangements
that tap the celestial richness of the glory days of doo-wop."
As Jimmie Vaughan emerged as an artist in his
own right, his reputation as a master musician became even more
apparent, thanks to the admiration of blues legends like
B.B. King and
Buddy Guy, such guitar superstars as
Eric Clapton and
ZZ Top's
Billy Gibbons, and rising talents like
Jonny Lang and
Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
As Clapton notes, "The first time I heard Jimmie
Vaughan, I was impressed with the raw power of his sound. His
style is unique, and if I've learned anything from him, it's to keep
it simple." Likewise, Buddy Guy once
proclaimed: "He's unbeatable when it comes to the blues. He just
plays it like it's supposed to be played."
Even Stevie Ray Vaughan acknowledged that when
people would compare his playing to that of his brother, there was
really no contest. "I play probably 80 percent of what I can
play. Jimmie plays one percent of what he knows. He can play
anything." Jimmie Vaughan is more modest in assessing his
abilities, though very clear when it comes to his approach. "I
try to speak with my guitar in sentences," he explains. "The
people that I enjoy and the music that I enjoy are not about just a
bunch of licks strung together. If you just play a bunch of guitar
licks that aren't connected, it's like throwing a lot of words into a
bowl. It doesn't make any sense. It's just words."
Jimmie Vaughan's style as a player, songwriter and
bandleader can be thought of as an amalgamation of so many influences.
Known for his deceptively simple yet complex attack, his clean,
uncluttered style capitalizes on conveying the emotion and message
within the music. He utilizes raw emotion, simplicity, and an elegance
that is powerful and accessible, yet communicates exactly what he
feels inside. It's an approach that has earned him the respect of many
of the greats of contemporary music, and guest appearances on such
albums as
B.B. King and
Eric Clapton's "Riding With The
King,"
Bob Dylan's "Under The Red
Sky," Willie Nelson's "Milk
Cow Blues,"
Carlos Santana's "Havana Moon" and
Don
Henley's "Inside
Job."
Yet for all his accomplishments and the admiration
he has earned, Jimmie Vaughan remains modest when it comes to
his life and work. "I'm just trying to have fun like everyone
else," he concludes. "I've been playing since I was 13. I
play every day. I've never stopped. I can't imagine that I could exist
without it."
