Stevie had his own unique way of expressing
himself, here are some my favorites...
"I guess the world had to turn around a few times, and so did I."
(when he was asked why it had been 4 years since Soul to Soul before In Step was released.)
."Blues is to soothe. It makes people who were feeling bad to feel good again. That's the true feeling of the blues. It's not depressing music, as some folks have been led to believe," he summarized, adding, "My goal is to still be playin' Albert King's music in the year 2010."
"I don't drink or get high because I have all these problems; I have these problems because I drink and get high. I realize now that nothing's so bad that getting drunk or getting high is gonna make it any better. Period."
"Like my brother Jimmie says, I play like I'm breaking out of jail."
"I think I've got something special to say with my music. But I have to keep these things in perspective, because they're gifts. It's all a gift, and I have to keep giving it back or it goes away. If I start believing that it's all my doing, it's gonna be my undoing. I'm committing myself to doing the most I can with the gifts I have, so that they do as much good as possible."
"I was walking around trying to act cool, like I had no fear at all. But I was afraid, afraid that somebody would find out just how scared I was. Now I'm finally realizing that fear is the opposite of love."
"What can the Abilene audience expect tonight from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble?"... "The very best we can do." the reporters were silent. "It's the truth", he said, standing up to make his exit. (April '90 Press Conference Abilene, TX)
"I didn't have to play it - I just knew by the way it looked that it would sound great. I was carrying my '63 Strat, and asked if he wanted to trade. Thank God he did, it's been my main axe ever since. The guitar was officially put out in 1962, but the neck has a '59 stamp on it. There was also a sticker under the bass pickup that read "L.F.'59." I think Leo Fender put it together with spare parts and issued it in '62. But to me it doesn't really matter; all I know is I've never found another one like it. The neck is shaped differently from the others. It's a D-neck, but it's oddly shaped, it's real, real big, and fits my hand like a glove." (about his #1 Strat)
"And now I realize that it's my responsibility to stay sober, and to reach out to anybody who's got a problem with it. If I'm in a position to give any kind of help to them and don't, then what I have I done? Hell, if it hadn't been for people reaching out to me, I may have not made it."
"When I was in school, it was berserk," he said, "I had to get a note from the principal every day saying I looked all right to go to this school." (1967 freshman at Justin Kimball High School)
"We were so close. I remember I called him about a year before he passed and I had just opened a club in Chicago. I told him I needed him to stop by. He said, "It's just a matter of a plane ticket." and walked in the door that night. (Buddy Guy)
"I's is who I is" (to Albert King "In Session" TV special)
"I got the feeling a few times that a couple jazz musicians felt me and the boys were invading their turf." he said matter-of-factly, pulling his hat down over his eyes and fidgeting in his chair..."Now, I don't know about that. The blues and jazz comes from the same place, now don't they? So, these two music forms ought to get along if any two can." (1982 Montreux Jazz Festival)
"We just wanted to make him understand that we had as much respect for him as he does for us." said a flattered SRV. "It's kind of strange, when people treat me that way. You want to be careful, you want to be sure somebody's not idolizing you so much that they don't see themselves clearly. It's easy to do. I know, 'cause I did it too."
(about a 15-yr old Canadian fan Stevie had just met)"People think that people on stage are bigger than life, stronger than life. That's what makes them so special to go see. But people on stage are not superhuman - that's a myth."
"Why are they saying that I'm better than Jimmie, or that Jimmie's better than me? We're just doing our own thing."
"He taught me how to play, then he taught me how to teach myself." (about Jimmie, his brother)
"I'll put it this way," Stevie said, "He's still big brother to me, ... I'm amazed every time I hear him. Tone, touch, ideas, maturity...His knowledge is incredible do me." Stevie continued. "I don't play any better than him. I play different than him." (about Jimmie, his brother)
"I just consider myself a Texas blues man who has updated the technology. I'm just bringing it down the line from Freddie King before me and Lightning Hopkins before him and Blind Lemon Jefferson before him. "The greatest compliment that anyone can ever give me is to say that they hear the roots of Texas blues in what I play." (as quoted to Salty - member of SRVLovers Group)
"A song needs to breathe. The rhythm needs to breathe. Sometimes the best way to get some punch out of something is to slow down right before you hit it. Kind of like a slingshot - pow! "
"I don't consider myself a guitar hero. I just have fun playing guitar."
"The music has become really important (since I've become sober). Music is a a way to reach out and hold onto one another in a real healthy way. It's helped me to open up more and take a chance on loving people. It's a whole new world for me. More so than ever, if I don't play the best I possibly can, then I've wasted it. Because I'm playing on borrowed time. Left to my own devices, I would have killed myself. But for some reason, I'm not dead. Somebody else helped me to stay alive - I just allowed it to happen."
"What's your reward?" "There's a lot of them, but one stands out. When you're playing and all of a sudden, you realize your toes are...just..tightened up, and you get a chill all the way up your back because of what you just gave somebody and what they gave back to you. That's probably the biggest thrill. Or, you're playing someplace and you just hit a note and people start screaming - that's it. You gave them a thrill, or you soothed them. That's what the blues do to me. If people tell me they don't want to hear a blues band because it brings them down, they're not paying attention at all. " (Austin Sun)
"Yeah! (laughs) I still sleep with my guitar, when my woman ain't around"!""In the beginning we used to play clubs. We'd get there and there would be eight people and I'd say, 'Let's not even set up." He'd say, "You're nuts I want to play. I don't care if there's eight or eight thousand. I just want to play." I said, "Well we're not getting any money." He said, " I don't care. That's not what we're doing this for." (from Cutter Brandenburg, Stevie's Road Manager)
"We're never safe from the truth, but in the truth we can survive"... "That's something I learned just looking, you know, looking for things that really could help me, and just anyone, in recovery with addiction and drugs. The idea is out of a real spiritual book called "The Course" that's been real helpful to a lot of people. The principle is just a plain as can be - We always - well, many times - try to hide from the truth, thinking we can; thinking we'll be safe by covering something up when in fact if you try and cover up those things that are really too hard to look at, they end up coming out like razor blades or explosions in our lives and tear things up. And sooner we can learn to go back to the truth we'll be a lot better off; then it sets us free."
(when asked about the lyric)
