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Stevie Ray Vaughan Soundcheck Videos from 1986

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Video photographer Greg Savage recorded these videos of Stevie Ray Vaughan doing a soundcheck in Pittsburgh, PA on January 24, 1986. The quality of these videos is pretty good considering they were made 25 years ago. How can you not sound good with a coat and hat like the one he’s wearing in these videos?

The first video features SRV playing the song “Scuttlebuttin'”:

The second video features SRV playing the song “Say What!”:

The third video features SRV playing the song “Ain’t Gone ‘n’ Give Up on Love”:

Comments

  1. These are amazing quality – thanks for posting. I get chills watching….only wish I could have seen him play live one time. Gotta love YouTube for allowing the rest of us to experience the magic SRV had.

  2. Yeah, I’m really glad that YouTube is available for us to view these great old videos.

  5. Whoaa! Man, that takes me back to the late 70’s when we would see Double Trouble in strip mall bars…good times, good times. Little Stevie, we have not forgotten.

  6. I’m sitting here , watching these and also looking at a ticket stub dated , November 26th 1985.. The Miami Knight center… and what a night “that” was ,, but then I think a little farther back ,, when he opened for Jeff Beck a couple years before at The Miami Arena,,, and even before that when he opened for Jeff Beck at Miami jai li fronton.. and that was in 77′ .. Memories are starting to fade,, but I can still see it. and hear it….

  7. Thanks for sharing. I wish I had been able to see him live. Fortunately, we still have this videos to experience a taste of what it must have been like.

  8. Josh…..I’m the guy who shot these SRV videos. I’m always glad to see the positive responses this footage gathers. I used to work as a cameraman/photographer with an entertainment unit for one of the TV networks. The footage was shot on a state of the art(for the time!)Sony BVP300A camera which is why the quality is so good. The lighting was nothing but dim stagelights and the Sony made it look brighter than it really was.

    I was the only camera and was shooting for an edited final product, so there are a few bumps here and there so I could reposition the camera for various reasons.

    I decided to let a friend of mine post these vids on YouTube for all SRV fans to enjoy.

    (They were originally offered to Jimmy Vaughan as a gift, but his manager was such a “dick” about everything, were decided to “YouTube it!”)

    But, I gotta tell you…..Stevie was fried!!!!!!…Barely able to string a sentence together! He, Double Trouble, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds just got off of an extremely beat up tour bus with a busted heating system in about 15 or 20 degree weather. He was obviously showing signs of some “major tootage”…He pounded a couple of Bud’s and made my acquaintance, then took the stage for the sound check. The house sound system had not been set up yet and they were doing their s-check on the monitor system. SRV tore into “Scuttle Buttin”…..’nuff said! I couldn’t believe anyone as blasted as he was could rip it up like that.

    Thanks for keeping my videos alive!
    Greg

  9. I guess Stevie stay ripped during that period. If I could play half as well stone cold sober, I would be a very happy man!

  10. Thanks for sharing these videos, Greg. It’s sad to see SRV in such a messed up state, but he still manages to play with fire and conviction, even during soundcheck. Amazing.

  11. the second vid says that he is playing the song “soul to soul”
    the correct song is say what but it is off the album soul to soul
    other than tht i thought this was awesome i showed all my friends who share my love of his music

  12. I live just 30 miles from Alpine Valley, where SRV performed his last show. I still get depressed when I drive by the site.
    He was the best guitar (blues) I have ever heard, and for my part, still is. I often think what we’ve missed, music wise, by his too early tragic death. Thanks for posting.

  13. I had the pleasure to meet stevie when he was not main stream. He played in New Orleans many times and i tried to make every performance i could. I saw Stevie at the zoo grounds here in new orleans once and he was such a gentleman. Greg Allman was supposed to lead and Stevie was supposed to be the headliner. Looked like greg was jealous and so Steivie just went on and played first. Being a gentleman, as he was. He played, we all enjoyed it, and most of the people left when greg took the stage. I watched him on the river boat also. He was such a nice guy. Mingled with the people during breaks. He was and is the most awesome musician, who seemed so humble. He died on my sons birthday. Big loss to the world. I miss him greatly. My biggest question is. What would he have followed up with in the comming years. He will live on thru his music.

  14. Bill, thanks for sharing your story. I too often wonder what direction he would have taken.

  15. srv3563 – thanks for the heads up. I’ve edited the post to reflect that the second song is actually “Say What!”

  16. I had the chance to see him live in Los Angeles at the Greek Theater. His show was xlnt as he was already healthy and just playing great. Calls for Voodoo Child where heard and for his encore he had a surprise guest-Mitch Mitchell. Needless to say, it was a great night. He is missed greatly but his music lives on.

  19. Scumbags from Texas Communications something something or whatever they are calling themselves had these videos removed, I’m sure.

  20. Back again! To refresh everyone’s memory, I’m the fellow who shot the footage of SRV. I’ve had a few questions about what happened to the You Tube footage…..Here is an update……..

    A friend of mine posted the SRV vids on YouTube (gstarvids)….For some reason, his account was deleted. I’m still not sure what happened, but he has slowly been trying to get all the videos re-posted. I’ve only talked to him once since this happened in August. I’ll drop him a note.

    Some “inside baseball” stuff for you……I knew I had these tapes for years, but they were shot on 3/4 inch U-Matic tape. This was the TV industry standard at the time. When we decided to preserve the footage, it was difficult finding a 3/4 inch player that worked. Needless to say, we came up with the machine and made the transfers to digital medium. Long story short, we didn’t want these tapes to be “pirated” if we put them on YT, and we could never consider offering the rare tape for any type of profit. So we offered the tapes to Jimmie Vaughan via his manager. We thought that this footage should be part of SRV’s legacy and Jimmie could decide how to best use them. Unfortunately, his manager was pretty much of a “dick” (I won’t get into the details)and we never got as much as a thank you, after they received the footage. With this attitude, we decided to put the vids on YT to share with SRV fans everywhere.

    I’ll see if we can get these vids back up on YouTube.

    Cheers!
    Greg

  21. Greg, if you’re able to get these videos back up, please let us know, and I’ll update the video links. Thanks!