A Tribute To Stevie Ray Vaughan

One by one, the musicians climb on stage and take their places: B. B. King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmie Vaughan, Dr. John and Art Neville. Vaughan, standing at center stage, launches into "Six Strings Down," a moving tribute to his late brother, Stevie Ray, whose memory has drawn this group together. The guitarists fall in, each finding a corner of the song to call their own; King plays fills to Clapton's solo, Cray fires off economical, chiming counterpoint to Raitt's stinging slide, and Guy unleashes piercing single-note bends to answer Vaughan, who's finger-picking the main theme on his battered Strat. Suddenly, the song blasts into the stratosphere, a gorgeous mosaic of clarion guitar tones. And when Vaughan shuts his eyes and sings, "Alpine Valley, middle of the night, six strings down on a heaven-bound flight," the music levitates to such a degree that for a lingering instant, no one would be surprised to see Stevie Ray stride on stage, black hat on head. This was a transcendent moment in a remarkable night, May 11, 1995, when the blues royalty gather on an Austin, Texas, soundstage to remember Stevie Ray Vaughan, the best way they know how - with their voices and their fingers. It is a method of communication with which Stevie was well-acquainted.