Stevie Ray Vaughan – Testify

Stevie Ray Vaughan, younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan was born October 03, 1954, in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. Only three years younger than Jimmie, Stevie’s desire to emulate his big brother led to him being given a toy guitar from Sears at the age of seven.

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Testify – Live at MTV Unplugged set in 1990.

He took learning the “instrument” seriously, teaching himself through careful listening of records. He listened to blues artists such as Albert King and Otis Rush; more jazz-oriented players such as Kenny Burrell, and local heroes, The Nightcaps, whose sole LP he listened to regularly (their song ‘Thunderbird’ featured in his early sets)

At the age of nine, he got his first electric guitar as a “hand-me-down” from his brother. At seventeen, Stevie Ray left school and moved to Austin, Texas. Seven years and stints with at least five different bands followed; each year each band a step forward and while he was well known in Texas, he wasn’t known at all outside of it.

After playing at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival and Stevie’s guesting on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, he and the band were signed to the CBS subsidiary Epic Records on the recommendation of legendary A & R man John Hammond, Sr.

Vaughan had released his best-reviewed and most commercially successful LP in 1989, “In Step” and would soon record his first LP with his brother Jimmie, “Family Style” when he did a quick set for MTV Unplugged in January of 1990.

The story is that Vaughan had time before a flight and sat down with a rented Guild Acoustic 12 string to tape several songs. Three were taped, ‘Rude Mood’, ‘Pride and Joy’ and ‘Testify’; a fourth, ‘Life Without You’ was scrapped.