Kid Gloves - David Bowie vs... Stevie Ray Vaughan??? - If Guitars Could Speak... #14
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2020
- Did you know that David Bowie and Stevie Ray Vaughan had beef? Well, you will after watching this 8 minute video! Enjoy!
Backing Track:
Music from filmmusic.io
"OctoBlues" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...) - เพลง
Interesting. Never knew they were connected.
That is why I’m here! Thanks for watching!
@@TheGuitarHistorian "aping" SRV
I concur! Bowie knew exactly what he was doing all the way through his career!🇬🇧
"Let's Dance" was the first Bowie song I really knew... Because SRV played on it. I had the Live at Montreux DVD which features interviews with the band about how they and Stevie met Bowie at that festival in '82.
You all have stop with the usage of "greatest guitar player". There are different styles that it appears you do not know of. Stevie was a great in blues/rock, Jimi was the greatest in electric guitar rock, not rock and roll which would have been Chuck Berry IMO and my opinion comes from my education. Andres Segovia i saw in 1968 and you all need to watch video of him. I wager none of you could replicate a measure of what he played. Nobody will top Jimi as he not only played it he invented the sound and others can not equal the sound let alone the style and it is all just copying him. I saw Jimi in 1969 and that night Noel quit as I watched. 6 weeks later Jimi had a new band at Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The world met Santana that weekend too. Too bad Carlos has not learned anything new since. Santana has had more members come and go than any band is Carlos' secret! And Peter Green wrote Black Magic Woman. The best band had one song "Voodoo Chile", Jimi, Jack Casady, Steve Winwood and Mitch Mitchell. Recorded at 5 AM, its on Electric Ladyland. Twist one up, light it then turn up the volume on REAL SPEAKERS not earbugs. Enjoy the few minutes of pure talent. They are dying off and nothing new on the horizon...
Life is a tragedy.
Dude,that was pretty good. I had seen SRV in Austin before he made it big. It is tragic that both didn't get to make peace before they passed. But knowing now that SRV didn't want to leave his backing band (Double Trouble) outta the spotlight in favor of Bowie just speaks volumes of what"Stevie"was really like,a great band mate. And that you just don't find everyday. RIP to both of them. And thanks for your presentation.
What you've missed was how good Earl Slick covered Stevie's parts as well as the other guitarist that played on Bowie's previous hits, for Bowie's tour. Stevie was right he should have been asked to play his part on the let's dance video, but that is the music business. I saw Stevie a lot live and saw Bowie twice both had great shows. Bowie's Let's Dance Tour was a GREAT Concert, very classy and Earl Slick, was a fantastic guitar player with incredible stage presence. Everything worked out ok on both sides and both men got to do what they were meant to do.
SRV was a true master of his craft. He left us way too early.
I know many people will disagree with me, but I have no problem saying, confidently, that SRV was the best guitar player to ever live. Yes, better than Hendrix. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Hendrix too, and he is a very close 2nd, but I genuinely think SRV was THE best. 🤘
Nice player. Couldn’t write. Therefore sub many great guitarists. Just my opinion.
@@bizbizley He wrote hit blues records with his songs what are you talking about? They were not more main stream pop songs like what Hendrix wrote or Dylan wrote but they were iconic songs.
Scary Monsters & Super Creeps album came out in 1980 after the 'low selling' ones mentioned here and basically kick-started the 1980s both musically and fashion wise.
When I went to the Let’s Dance concert tour at the Tacoma Dome I already knew about Stevie Ray Vaughan‘s work with David Bowie. The rumors were circulating then but it is too bad he didn’t feel it right to play with David although it would’ve been fantastic! Stevie had a drug problem back then that he eventually overcame. When he died he had two years clean and sober!
Long live their music… both of them!
With all respect David Bowie was never a "fading glam rock artist'. Low and Heroes are masterpieces... He simply always evolving.
At the time he was. The Berlin era was not well received by the record buying public. Plus he was fighting with his record company, and when he went in work on Let’s Dance, it was partially to stick it to them. That’s why he hired Nile Rodgers. He wanted a hit record.
@@TheGuitarHistorian
No. He wasn't. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), which came after Lodger, was, at the time, a very successful album in the UK, France and elsewhere. Granted, it didn't fare as well in the US, but the album went platinum in the UK and Canada, and gold in France. Ashes to Ashes went to no 1 in Australia, New Zealand, France and the UK, and even no 12 in the US, a commercial success by any standard.
He hired Nile Rogers because he wanted a hit record, especially in the USA, but the record that preceded Let's Dance *was* a hit record. It's just that by comparison it's nowhere near as successful as Let's Dance, which is his most successful record by far.
To call him a "fading glam rock artist" just has no real basis in fact.
I see Let's Dance as just another change from the Chameleon ,he was always changing his persona trying to stay fresh and relevant, I'm a fan of both so I don't have a horse in the race but I also heard Bowie was a little tight with the purse strings and was paying SRV only 6 bills a night, not sure if that's true but if so that's not much for someone of that caliber, side note Clapton was supposed to be the first one out of Alpine Valley that night .
@@frankd.506 Uh, NO. SRV was an unknown, that became known because of "Let's Dance". He got paid in ways he could have never imagined at the time. And $600 in the early 80's would be over 2 grand today when you add in inflation, which was far above the the daily pay-rate for even a the most sought after session musicians.
@@JeighNeither Let's Dance and Texas Flood came out the same year, Was SRV a household name probably not but certainly not an unknown especially amongst guitar players and blues fans .
This is one of those stories I'd always heard about but never looked into deeply. Thanks for all the info!
This is the track that introduced Eric Clapton to Stevie. He was driving and pulled over. He said he had to find out who was playing guitar today, not tomorrow. He said that has only happened a few times to him, where he had to find out who was playing immediately.
Bowie had Stevie do guitar work on Let's Dance, he promised Stevie that Double Trouble could open the shows, Stevie was just starting to get some national coverage, as the tour got ready to start Bowie changed his mind and Stevie decided to keep the band together, and left the tour before it started, he then went on to record his first record and the rest is history
Thanks for the summary.
@@truthhandler6828 p'fft.
A musician friend of mine grew up with the Vaughans in Oak Cliff. He said Jimmy was the big deal and that Stevie was the little tag along. Man how things changed.
Stevie always said the same thing
Jimmie Vaughan is a MONSTER picker as well!!
Jimmie even changed up his style to separate himself from Stevie when Stevie took off leaving many to think Jimmie was a lesser than player, but he was the real beast that inspired Stevie
SRV changed his band and sound from a larger group on the mid 70s as well
.perhaps to steer away from Thunderbirds comparisons...
( not sure w-at year be honest mid to late 70s???) to the more typical Poser Trio we all associate with SRVgoing from a female vocal led Triple Threat ,( with horns ksys and multiple inst. to the stripped down Hendrix three piece of Double Trouble there's a great youtube of great Texas rockabilly /psychobilly guitarist Reverend Horton Heat (Jim Heath) discussing his early days playong inbthe same Austin scene as SRV and his more established and accepted older brother Jimmie and his band the Thunderbirds not to mention Eric Johnson and others including psychedlic punk rockers like Butthole Surfers and punk rockers the Big Boys.
Texas /Austin certainly is one of the premier AMERICAN music cities ...lots of great music made there...to this day
Stephen Toblowski the actor who also grew up in Oak Cliff has a great story about his band recording an album featuring a 14 year old SRV
th-cam.com/video/PCl8mD04UBQ/w-d-xo.html
Two giants I give them both respect. SRV was great to see as a teen in NZ 1984 & I had the honor to meet Bowie in 1983 at our tribal Marae with a Maori welcome haka & feast & songs.
Who Jah Bless let no man curse.
It’s amazing how talented each of these performers were. What I find extremely amusing is that each of them were my favorite artists of all time. It’s hilarious to me, that each of my favorites have a conflict in which they never spoke again lol
I remember an article where Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready talked about his guitar influences. He was from Seattle, so he obviously was influenced by Jimi Hendrix. He mentioned how it was SRV who made him start playing again. He had seen him a couple different times at The Gorge and realized he wanted to get back to playing guitar, which he had fallen out of love with at the time. Turns out he was pretty good.
I was fortunate enough to meet Stevie in late '82 in Dallas. When "Let's Dance" came out, I had heard that Stevie did the solo, so I checked it out. To see Bowie on MTV miming the solo... wearing f**king gloves...man, that was a slap in the face.
I always viewed the white gloves as Bowie acknowledging the solo wasn't really his.
@James Sonatore First off, I did not say he was gracious or a 'good guy' so quit making shit up. Bowie was a musical genius, despite his alleged flaws.
Your theory still does not explain the choice to wear gloves does it? "Derp, he did that cuz he a dick! derp" -does not hold water.
Also, if you start holding all of your artists on how 'nice' they were - well, have fun with that.
Maybe, it seemed odd in that video that he is shown playing lead guitar, he is not a lead guitarist and is rarely shown playing anything in his videos.
@James Sonatore not true, how do you think he kept people with him for years and years , Mike Garson , Gail Ann Dorsey, Carlos Aloma Earl Slick even Denny Davis for a while these were all too flight musicians, do you think they got ripped off ? tracks emerged in the studio and Bowie was renowned for his generosity in acknowledging peoples contributions and his generosity in divvying up the share. Maybe in the ziggy days the management was mean but they were all getting screwed then . I heard that srv was still driving a ups truck when let’s dance came on his radio, but it wasn’t until let’s dance that Bowie had a better control over his finances and started to make some real money. SRV got paid, this piece is a bunch of click bait taking quotes out of context and creating a ‘feud’ where there wasn’t one , SRV didn’t want to be Bowies guitarist as he wanted to push his own album, that’s just a personal choice.
He could not dance either lol
Exactly. The gloves were Bowie's way of taking the piss to the whole idea of musicians miming with instruments in music videos. But Stevie was never the sharpest tool in the shed and missed the point entirely.
So? Eddie Van Halen did solos on Thriller, he didn't tour with Michael Jackson either.
The thought that any support act could outshine David Bowie is frankly laughable, and even more so a little known guitarist like SRV. Didn't think his playing on LD was anything special either(imho).
The first time I REALLY heard SRV, I was sitting in the backseat of a friend's car, in a "slightly altered state of mind", and "China Girl" came on, and the guitar solo just absolutely blew me away. I could detect some heavy Hendrix influence, though it sounded very little like Jimi... I had already heard "Let's Dance", but took little notice of the solo in it. But the solo in "China Girl" was cosmic and soulful. I finally looked on the back of the album cover at a record store, and saw the name "Stevie Ray Vaughn", and though I'd never heard of him, I was gonna remember that name. A few months later, an ad for a concert appeared in the paper, Stevie was scheduled to play, on my birthday, at the University of Tennessee Alumni Gym, a small, not-too-great-sounding venue on the UT campus....the ad said "a guitarist in the tradition of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton"... I decided that I was definitely going to see him, and talked my best friend into going with me, since he had a car and I didnt. Well, the day of the concert, my 19 birthday, it suddenly started snowing heavily...my friend drove an old mid-70s Buick that was "big as a whale", but wouldnt "set sail" worth a crap in the snow, being rear wheel drive! We were thinking about walking to campus, a pretty good ways away, when my big brother offered to pay for a taxi cab for us. Well, we called a cab, and waited...and waited....it never arrived!! So we missed SRV in the small, intimate gig before he hit the big time. I did get to see him a few years later, just before he got sober, but after the first song, I suddenly became ill and spent most of the show passed out, then puking my guts out in the hallway! I can remember laying on the concrete floor, feeling like I was relaxing on a feather bed, as I came too, hearing Reese Wynans solo to "Texas Flood" using a windstorm effect on his keyboards...that's one of the few things I can remember! I hoped I'd get another chance to see Stevie, but it wasn't meant to be....
He forgot to mention Bowies album 'Scary Monsters' which was a big hit; with Ashes to Ashes reaching number one...
Yes it was a big hit, also Fashion at least in the UK was a hit single with mass appeal.
Didn’t fit his narrative. A ton of us found Bowie because of Ashes to Ashes.
IIRC, it was Carlos Alomar who impressed me in 1978 with his playing at a show in Auckland's Western Springs Stadium on the NZ leg of Bowie's tour that year.
I had no idea that SRV, also starting that year, would go on to be involved with Bowie.
Thanks for an informative and interesting item.
He has at least one solo record I know because I have it and it was pretty good though I haven't taken it off the shelf in a while, that may change this weekend.
carlos doesn't get enough mention..
Hmm. Interesting transatlantic rift in the comments, here. Yes, Bowie's pop comeback in the UK came with the previous album but all the Berlin-period albums had also been top 5 chart successes and shipped gold in his home country. "Fading" is perhaps pushing it a bit.
Perhaps more interestingly, SRV never really became a name (apart from among guitar aficionados) at all over here. The only times you're ever likely to have heard him on British radio are backing Bowie and Brown and I'm fairly certain that 90+% of people who know those songs couldn't tell you who spanked the plank on them.
Thank you for your channel. I'm a huge fan.
David Bowie said that they DID meet again, bury the hatchet, and hang out after Stevie got clean.
NOT What I Heard By Way Of An Extremely Reliable Source Close To Stevie! But I DID Hear That Bowie Had The BALLS To Show Up @ Stevies' Funeral To Make It LOOK Like They Had Cleared It All Up & Reconciled...Stevie Had Been Lied To & Bowie Had MISREPRESENTED What He Wanted Stevie To Do On That Tour - That Double Trouble Would Be Bowies' Opening Band On The Let's Dance Tour - Stevie Had Been Betrayed & Not Allowed To Even Mention His Upcoming Debut Texas Flood Release & Stevie Was PISSED!!! I Don't Think He EVER "Got Over It" Or Ever Forgave Bowie, Who I Agree Is A Mother________.....🖕....I NEVER COULD Stand Him....!!
Did you drop out of elementary school?
@@PeterKKraus maybe he left you there
Bowie is a known Liar. He would say that.
F David Bowie
At the S Festival 1982 Stevie Ray Vaughan came out and played China girl with Bowie who closed the show were for you there the US Festival
This creator of this video needs to do his research!
Never heard of this channel. But you have a new subscriber sir!
SRV didn't invent the Texas blues rstyle. Such accurate history.
Yeah, pretty loose with the whole story. The two most hilarious items of "fact" are the assertions the Bowie was a "fading glam rock icon" as the '80s dawned and that SRV and Double Trouble invented any kind of blues let alone any kind of blues out of Tejas. Bowie had merely worked out the artistic needs his muse generated during the so-called "Berlin Years". And SRV, great guitarist as he was, was just playing electric blues as had been heard for years before him. He just happened to be the shiny new bauble at the time in the genre. The guy in the video looks like he was merely a distant gleam in his daddy's eye when all of that was going on back then. Just another tuber lookin' for likes/subs.
@@rasputinsliver3196
Well, you’re both wrong. I won’t go point by point but SRV was del acted the best blues guitar player by no less than Clapton, Harrison, Townsend, Greg Allman, Dicky Betts, Page, BB King, ffs.
Forgive me for taking their word over yours, but you’re full of $hit.
@@Frankie5Angels150
😂🤣😂🤣
"Blue Jean" is another great collaboration.
After growing up in the 80s and watching Sixteen Candles repeatedly, it wasn’t until recent years I learned SRV plays on that soundtrack.
I was on stage at the Paramount Theater in Austin for the T Birds album coming out party, SRV opened that gig. Stevie blew the crowd away, the TBirds were the top band back then, girls went wild. But Stevie and Double Trouble were hot that night, TBirds were great as always, but to me the night was SRV
You need to watch the interview with Nile Rogers and get your story straight. Bowie was never a fading star, look at his repertoire! He did surround himself with extremely talented artists and made some of them big names and careers .
Yes, this creator doesn’t do his homework
Bowie had history for this type of behaviour. Look how he treated Mick Ronson.
Earl Slick who played on ' Station to Station ' was also dropped for the tour. He did play with Bowie again much later however.
We have no idea what really went in to such feuds. Subtle slights that a person never forgets. Hearsay, heard back incorrectly. Etc. In my view they're both to blame. If I were SRV I'd have been a lot more humble in my demands. Anyway, Bowie wrote an article in Rolling Stone sort of apologizing and giving his side of the story.
According to Earl Slick, he said SRV couldn’t play Bowies older material which was why he was fired and Earl had to come back.
Wow, what a great piece of trivia! I had no idea! I saw SRV open for GEORGE Thorogood in the mid 80’s, maybe 83 or 84? He definitely upstaged George. We were in high school, front row of the Ritz balcony in Corpus Christi, blew our minds!
there's a bootleg of SRV going through the bowie catalogue of songs they were going to play on tour,with the whole band ,it's really amazing to hear SRV play all those Bowie songs so well
Can you link the video please
@@xealzy944 check out: David Bowie Dallas rehearsals with SRV on TH-cam,there's only audio.
yeah I had a torrent of them that was lost in a computer crash. Interesting to hear SRVs arrangements of classic bowie tunes
Yeah this guys take on Bowie and Vaughn ain’t cutting it. He colors it falsely though the events were true.
Around the time SRV broke away from DB during the Let's Dance tour of 1983, SRV was in Montreal at a small venue called Le Spectrum. The cover was $5 CDN and the turnout was modest as he was relatively unknown there at the time. My classmate happened to be at that show and he raved about him as his style reminded him of Jimi Hendrix. My classmate was crazy mad over Hendrix. He said "Yah gotta hear this guy!" A short time later my then girlfriend and I were walking through Old Montreal when I heard a track from Texas Flood coming out of a souvenir shop on 1 of the side streets. So I blurted out "I think that's Stevie Ray Vaughan! Robert told me about him! He saw him at Le Spectrum of all places!" I worked retail in an indoor mall in those days and there was a record shop round the corner from us. The manager was a regular client and though she thought SRV was a traitor for bailing on DB (her words, not mine), she nonetheless gave me a discount on his record.
My wife and I saw him in St. Petersburg Fl. 1983 at Mr T’s a 750 seat club on US 19 . I had my Texas Flood album cover with me. After the show I went around the club and got Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton’s autographs. Stevie was in a dressing room so I got in a line with other fans hoping for a autograph . I got a handshake but I guess he was tired so no autograph. My wife and I were walking back to our car when she asked if I got the autographs I wanted. I said unfortunately no, she said “ let me have the album cover I’ll get his autograph “. Stevie and his band were already on their bus. I said okay but if you’re not back in 10mins I’m going on the bus for you. I watched her board it and not long afterward she came back opened the door and told me he was really nice and acted like a gentleman and gladly signed the album. She was so happy when she handed it to me and when I excitedly turned the dome light on to treasure the signature it read in bold magic marker”Best wishes to Donna, Stevie Ray Vaughan. I looked at it and said why is your name on it I only wanted his name She said you didn’t mention that to me. I had to laugh because she was right and so sweet to get it for me. We still co- own the record almost 40 years later and I’m sure we’ll pass it down to our children. By the way he and the band was incredible they did a couple of Hendrix covers in their set list. They were about 3 hours late so we walked out of the club past 1am and my ears rang for about two days. What a wonderful memory we both loved that band so much and had the opportunity to see them 4 times before his untimely death.
As much as I like SVR, I wouldn't say he was inventing anything... he played the blues, virtually the same that was played twenty years before, with a lot of Hendrix and rock influences. Great musician yes, innovator, well not so much. And SVR owed a lot to Bowie, regarding his success. I would argue that his solo on LD was indeed great, but any other great guitar player of time (Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler...) might have played an equally great solo. Oh, and Bowie was far from a fading star, he was already regarded as one of the greats, even though a little less succesful sales-wise. Just like 99% of early '70s acts, still above most of them though.
The Tubes & Peter Gabriel backing up Bowie's '83 tour were no slouches!
The idea that Bowie was afraid he would be "upstaged" by DT is laughable. If Bowie were that intimidated by DT's star attraction - Stevie - Bowie never would have offered Stevie a spot in his band. SRV fans are delusional.
Don't forget - David Bowie's band members were each paid the tidy sum of $100 per gig without being paid ANY money on the off / travel days; this made the R&R news back in 83 and that was the major deciding factor - $$$. Additionally, Scary Monsters (the previous record by Bowie) had several hits on it. LD was a chosen, radical change just like Young Americans was a dramatic change from the previous 5 albums. Big fan of both SRV and Bowie - saw him on that tour too (and I still have the ticket stub!)
When I saw the video of Bowie wearing gloves I thought, so he didn't play the solo. Back in the day.
I got to see SRV in a small university theatre in the mid-80’s, it was something special, even for someone not typically captivated by the blues. His playing transcended the genre. Saw both Bowie mid-80’s tours. both in 65,000 seat stadiums. Also incredible. For the audiences, it worked out.
i never know what to say about this thing, because im not sure i have ever heard ANYONE say anything about Bowie other than praise, so as far as i know he does not have a history of being an Ahole or anything. that said he also has a history of sort of using or latching onto young hot up and coming artists to inspire himself which could certainly be seen as done in a selfish way. one thing that is for certain is Bowie was HUGELY influential to a certain generation that were teens in the 7s0, and while i have never been overly big on him myself it is undeniable that a HUGE number of my absolute favorite bands of all time were TREMENDESLY inspired and influenced by Bowie, to the point where many of them are just shy of straight out imitating him. so i have to give him a big level of respect.
along with weird new wave music my other favorite music though is early rock and roll, Rockabilly and R&B, and Stevie was an absolute farce of nature and a tremendous force in roots rock.
For gods sake, Nile Rogers played far more guitar and more interesting guitar on this record and he produced it. People are giving SRV way more credit than he deserves here.
Earl Slick filled in just fine.
Wow,i never knew that!, hello from England 😀
This is funny because I have a bootleg of a sound check from this tour that is listed, and sure sounds like, Stevie playing with Bowie.
I became aware of srv around 1982, i think it was, from a guitar player mag article featuring him jamming with lonnie mack. So I listened to some tracks when I had a chance and sorta dismissed him as not really unique or innovative enough for my taste in those days. I wouldn't come to appreciate how innovative and uniquely rock he truly was until by sheer happenstance, I caught him on a 1990's episode of austin city limits. It was a positively captivating performance.
Bowie was reluctant to give credits, he was the star! Mick Ronson received little or no credit for the huge volume of work done for Bowie. Alomar had his own beefs with Bowie too!
Thanks.
"Bowie entered the 80s as a fading Glam Rock icon"? Bollocks. Glam was over by 75. From 75 to 79 Bowie released the Young Americans, Station to Station, Low, Heroes and Lodger albums (amongst others). None of the aforementioned were Glam albums. He'd left that behind before '75, after which he'd done Plasic Soul and Kroutrock influenced stuff, to name just a couple of styles.
Humans can be fussy. Imagine if Bowie made a phone call to Vaughan..."Hey Stevie, I'm going to play air guitar on the end of my video. Thanks for your contribution". I don't know. But many times a few short words can straighten things out between people.
Stevie happened to tell me what happened with Bowie and what Bowie did that caused him to leave Bowie's band. According to Stevie Bowie was trying to tell Stevie what and how to play and Stevie wasn't having it
Wow! Bowie had feuds with other artists as well. Queen comes to mind. I never knew about this feud with SRV.
Daddy Jacks cooking with the blues.
There's two kinds of successful headliners - those who outdo their openers, and those who let their openers inspire them.
I'd been curious about this arc I never realized at the time; I'm glad it was apparently Bowie, and not Nile Rodgers, at the center of the rift. I can accommodate DB's star man credentials, and it's too bad they could not have had time to work out the grudges, before SRV's truly tragic early demise, especially poignant after his successful passage through the addictions that took so many other greats before their time. I play Bowie's Hits often, but the shivers only come in Stevie's break on "Dance," as if the entire song is building to that passage. "China Girl" as well, the reverberations of SRV's perfectly restrained mastery electrifies the song.
I certainly wouldn't say SRV invented Texas blues, that's laughable,
Stars have egos...but Super Stars have massive egos! Yes, a tour with SRV opening would have been epic, and there was no way Double Trouble could have upstaged Bowie, who was already a legend in his own right. Besides Bowie would have received all the credit for discovering SRV and introducing him to a new audience. I saw SRV in Minneapolis the week before he died he was amazing! Nonetheless Let's Dance was an alchemy of rock blues pop that hasn't been attempted since. Let's Dance a pop/rock classic for the ages.
It reminds me of Duane Allman having to choose between touring with Clapton in Derek and the Dominos, or sticking with the Allman Brothers Band. According to Galadriel Allman's book, he nearly left the ABB for the Dominos, but decided that he'd never find another band like his...and besides...as he told one of his roadies, "Eric's got nothing on Dickey Betts"!
Your general statement that "in the world of music stars are stars and aren't always willing to allows others outshine them" undermines a trait of Bowies throughout out his career... his willingness to help other artists kick start their careers. You don't have to look far to see him writing a hit for a band about the call it quits like Mott the Hoople. He toured with Iggy Pop and played at the back of the stage without acknowledgement. He invited Peter Frampton, who's career was fading in 1987, to tour with him which gave Peter new visibility. The list goes on right up to the time of his death when he reached out to Donny McCaslin's jazz band to play on his final album. Bowie liked to surround himself with talented people. This is a case where the goals and needs of one talent simply did not mesh with the other. SRV had very little reason to be miffed at the music video after bailing on a major concert tour just as the busses are pulling out. You get as good as you give.
I did not know this
I do remember seeing the video again after learning that Stevie had played the solo. Bowie's miming of it struck me as a questionable move at that point. And maybe if they'd made up, history would have been changed enough that Stevie wouldn't have gotten on that helicopter and he'd still be with us.
Flying Texas wings to NY...priceless!
Bowie ,,a fledgling superstar in the early 80's ???he had 11 top ten albums (about 4 of those No1's) in the U.K...before 'Lets dance " was released..and had 3 or 4 top ten U.S albums!!!,
Quality
"Faded glam rock artist" is a ridiculous appraisal. He had dropped any glam pretense by 75. From 76 to 80 he made arguably his most acclaimed work. What are you talking about?
SRV & Bowie = Oil & Water.... I never understood that pairing? Now I know why! Thanks
Bowie is Bowie. he had career doldrums, and artistically adapted to get out of them. SRV was key to this phase, and yet to further his own career he could not tie himself to Bowie as another perennial sideman. I get both sides perspective. it is unfortunate that SRV was so taken aback by the Bowie miming of guitar, but at least he didn't have another guitarist miming it. personally I didn't like Let's Dance as much as Scary Monsters or his later late 90's early 2000's work. it felt like a place holder. a chart topper. I rank the title track with Sledgehammer as pop-sludge that rescued careers, so am appreciative of them for that reason. Bowie was an artistic genius, SRV was a guitar genius, and lightning in a bottle will break the bottle or dim over time. gotta let it go...
"fading glam rock artist" 😂😂😂
Oh please... SRV wasn't going to upstage David Bowie playing in front of a Bowie crowd.
SRV did continue to work with Bowie's producer Nile Rogers, though. Hmmmm.
Two completely different genres, two absolute legends, one wierd tale! I knew Niles Rodgers was the funk behind "Let's Dance", but I didn't know SRV providede the nasty guitar work.
What rock have you been living under
Depends what you mean by “nasty guitar work”. I think a lot of people assume the tasty rhythms are Vaughn, when, it’s likely Rodgers, in place of Alomar. Vaughn, in place of, say, Earl Slick, provided the memorable solos.
The alternate version of Cat People on Let's Dance is the song where SRV really stands out.
Their music was so different, I don’t think Double Trouble would of been a good opener for Bowie
I have now heard this story 3 different ways. I wonder which one is actually true? This late in the game, I tend to think this one is probably the most accurate. Good video.
Saw Bowie in San Diego 1976. He did NOT do an encore, despite we fans screaming for 1. The only other band I ever Saw who didn't encore was Hawkwind. After we regained our senses, & started applauding, they came back out, explained they had done all their material, & just talked with us. (Rush opened for them in 1973, they weren't very good. But they were just starting.)
Hawkwind wow Lemmy’s first band?
@@TheGuitarHistorian that I do not know. I know Lemmy was a member. I don't much else. They had a set of projectors at the portion where the Mezzanine was divided from the Orchestra seats. We wondered why. As the show started there was the hum of synthesizers, on the entire back wall of the Civic Center (our Sym0hony Orchestra played there. Saw several great bands there as well. Small only about 3K seating) you coukd see a cartoon of the sun rising. They played non stop!!! After they built up with their oh so familiar riff, the sun was blazing, then the corona turned into flames, then Pegasus was flying. Wow what a concert. They were basically doing the sound track for the cartoon playing behind them. Honestly when the show ended the small crowd (Hawkwind waived everybody down to the expensive seats!!!) Myself included sat stunned for a couple of minutes, when we realised it was over, then we started applauding. They were a band people either loved or hated. Their sound was dubbed "The Wall of Noise". Excellent concert, IMO. I can't remember the group members, there was a guy with a lizard head on, playing sax, they a pretty large group. My buddy hipped me to them, the black album that the cover opened up, & formed a bird!!! Very psychedelic stuff.
@@TheGuitarHistorian nope. his seconds band. He was in Sam Gopel first
@@TheGuitarHistorian Not by a long chalk. Lemmy first played in local band The Motown Sect before joining The Rockin' Vicars in 1965 (as lead guitarist). Between 1967 and 69 he played with Sam Gopal then Opal Butterfly, before joining Hawkwind. He was their 4th bassist and it was very much Dave Brock's band (although maybe you didn't mean it was his). Sorry for the info overload, I'm a bit of an amateur discographer.
Oh man there could have been a SRV-Bowie tour?!!!!
SRV and Bowie were from two different worlds with the only constant being they made music.
I’m glad Stevie went his own way and only took from Bowie lesson learned. I seem to remember Bowie did Iggy Pop no favors either.
Great job! More please
Can you do a story about the guitarist that plays for the band Van Halen? I don’t know his name but surely you can find out who he is.
I’m trying to figure out if this is a serious question or not…
Not even close to accurate. Double Trouble opening for David Bowie!?! Two totally different audiences. SRV played on Let's Dance because he was payed very well to do so. It also helped him get a little free publicity for his 1st album which was a bigger hit than anyone imagined it would be.
Anyone who thinks SRV "invented" Texas blues rock lacks the knowledge to call themselves a "historian" of music. Even if the claim was reduced to "popularized" it would be wrong. No thanks to the algorithm for the recommendation.
It's not sad that they never fixed the issue. Stevie Ray Vaughan was correct. David Bowie would never admit that.
man, I remember driving to work and parking my car and KRQR tuned in.
Story was David's guitar player had just quit the band. No, i didn't buy "Let's Dance" but heard the hits on the radio.
Sorta angry for a minute or three. This was Stevie wanting to get back to HIS band.
Knee jerk, ungrateful,,,i mean, David was a Montreaux when Double Trouble got boo'd.
Wish there was a happy ending.
I just discovered SRV yesterday and want to thank you for sharing this information with the world. I didn't realize how much Clapton envied his talent also. WOW! Sad his life was cut short oddly with Clapton's crew in the crash.
Listen to life without you live at Capitol Theatre 1985. It’s in my opinion his greatest solo
@@xealzy944 Thank you for message. Yes! I found it months ago and it amazed me how he switched guitars in the middle of his performance without missing a beat. Also read the comments of how many people play that song at the funerals of loved ones. Wishing you the very best.
Not many in the comment section talked about Bowie pretending to play the SRV's guitar in Let's Dance. I think that was a pretty sh55y thing to do.
Subscribed.
I was outraged by the fading glam rock star description I saw in the comments but after actually watching the video, I'm fine with it in context. He lost commercial clout despite making (in my opinion) his best albums (Station to Heroes)
I can’t tell if the thumb nail is srv or robin trower
SRV was all that he was but having heard soundcheck tapes he was lost with Fripp, Belew & even Ronson parts. With his band as support & him as a guest then it would have made sense, a la Charlie Sexton on Glass Spider but he was not the lead player for this tour.
Awesome statement about how it might have been between them towards the end of the Vid Bro. Thanks for this..
You mention Nile Rogers 'bringing David Bowie more modern recording techniques', I suspect that the Queen/Bowie recording was analogue. Everything up to 'Scary Monsters' was analogue. Tony Visconti was an excellent analogue producer. But with Nile Rodgers Bowie opted for digital recording which is a totally different process. Which is why there is much less of the Bowie trickiness about 'Let's Dance'-it could not be edited in. It would take a few albums for Bowie to truly learn how he wanted to edit with digital methods of recording.
I never knew of this. I liked David Bowie but I was in complete awe of Stevie Ray Vaughn. He was and will always be a true artist. He is a legend when it comes to the guitar and again always will be. David although very good could never come close to SRV.
Bowie is one of the greatest artists of all time. Vaughn was a good guitar player.
Lol SRV only played unremarkable generic blues, most of his music is indistinguishable from other contemporary blues players and appeals only to over the hill barflies, cops, and people who have never had an original thought of their own.
Bowie was the definition of a musical artist.
Meet SRV twice merrillville Indiana shows he played at The star plaza theater. Dude was so down to earth. SRV coulda took the easy pay for going on tour with Bowie. But he had a band and wouldn’t forsake them.
👍👍
I prefer Earl Slick! Stevie was great but pretty sure Bowie was not afraid of being upstaged by Double Trouble doing stuff that blues players we’re doing for 40 years!
Yes, true. This creator needs to do his research!
Stevie wasn't just another bluesman guitar. In my opine He would've perhaps disrupted Mr. Bowie's act like hendrix touring with the "Monkees"it wouldn't have been a proper mix. Ques: If Srv was "just another Blues Act," How did he gain an immense following?Answer;; "He wasn't and many top notch guitarists would and have attested such
@@williambarrow9857 I thought he was great and I saw him 3 times. I always thought he gained an immense and deserved following because he was great but I think by 83, 84 when he was rising many people were totally unaware of of the tons of monster blues players they didn’t know existed. That list is too long for here but I agree he was spectacular but I never saw him do anything I hadn’t heard before he just did it with a lot of soul and power
Slick was a member of the band anyway. Bowie had a big hit with Scary Monsters album and that still draws new fans even NOW. Let's Dance did make his hold on America watertight - as a single. No-one can say if the two got over it - away from the industry. Bowie is highly regarded for kindness. So was SRV. Both lived for music, and probably made peace. Those two were/are both Cosmic types and no mistake.
SRV wouldn't have "upstaged" Bowie, as good as he was he was still an unknown playing for a legend and would have lost his way sinking into the mythos of Bowie's many musical persona. I think It was better he did his own thing rather than get locked into the "house band" trap. I guess David was just looking for the next Mick Ronson.
Both geniuses.....but I'd actually heard of Bowie and have some of his albums. I guess SRV was only big in the insular US.😉
Bowie is a legend…..but SRV is a guitar legend
SRV’s playing on Bowie’s Let’s dance sounds a little hysterical, and not so interesting as Fripp’s and Belew’s did before SRV.