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Oh, brother
Guitarist Jimmie Vaughan steps out from the shadow of his younger brother and talks about the pressure of being a blues legend - and a gentleman.
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 14, 2002
[Publicity photo]
Jimmie Vaughan: “You know what I do? I play the kind of music that I want to hear. . . . I dress the way I think is the most fun.”
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Blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan will always be known as the older brother of the late, great blues axman Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmie Vaughan, who arrives Saturday to dazzle the crowd at Jannus Landing, is fine with that.
But his fans know that like Stevie Ray, big brother is also a virtuoso, a "living legend" of the blues. Do You Get The Blues?, his third solo album without the famed Fabulous Thunderbirds, is getting critical raves.
Vaughan, 50, calls from his home in Austin, Texas, to answer 10 Pressing Questions about cars, girls, being a gentleman and the secret of all great Texas musicians: It's the tacos.
(1) Is it daunting to be called a "living legend"? Do you feel pressured? No. That's something the press writes, and I just sort of hold my nose and read through it. You just sort of smile and bear it. Because they try to get you the next day anyway (laughs).
If you make it past three record deals nowadays you're a living legend.
At 50, you're young for legendary status in the blues. Do you feel young? I don't feel like I'm 50. When I look out of my eyes, I feel like I'm 15 half the time. I've never had a better time in my life, and I think I've never been better at what I do.
I don't even think of 50 as old now. Seventy doesn't sound so bad now that I'm 50, but when I was 17, 21 sounded dead (laughs).
What about the young blues players, the kids in their 20s who are getting lots of acclaim? Do you have to be older and seasoned to play proper blues? With anything in life, experience is good. But I've got records by Buddy Guy and T-Bone Walker -- go back and listen to some of those T-Bone Walker records from the 1930s where he's playing electric guitar and he sounds the same but the band sounds kind of old-timey, and he was a teenager.
But experience is good for something. I've learned how to access my ability to improvise, like, improvising a solo. That's because I've been a lifelong student since I was 13, a student of trying to figure out, "How do they do that? What are they thinking about?"
A "lifelong student"? When do you attain teacher status? I will always be a student. I don't want to be a teacher. Ever.
Because you always want to be learning? Yes.
(2) You've got a lot of teachers there in Austin. Lot of great musicians from Texas. Is there something in the soil? It must be the tacos (laughs).
Was it always the blues for you? Yes. I just wouldn't play anything else. That's what I wanted to play. I came here for that. To play at places like Antone's.
(3) You say playing guitar is how you communicate. What if someone took it away and said, "No more guitar for Jimmie"? (Sighs) I guess I'd have to try to paint or do something creative. If I had to, I'd just play in my head. I do that a lot anyway. Like when I'm driving down the street in my truck, I hear melodies. I seem to get in my pickup truck and just go. I write a lot of songs in my truck.
I used to draw a lot when I was a kid, just doodling, drawing cars. I liked art a lot when I was a little kid.
(4) When you were a little boy, what did you want to be when you grew up? Actually, I just wanted to have a car (laughs).
You collect custom cars from the '50s, don't you? I do. I like things that don't have much to do with reality. Blues guitar, cars.
Guitars, cars. What about girls? I figured if I got a car, and I was a famous blues guitar player, I could get a girlfriend (laughs).
And it worked? Well, I had to wait until I was 50 (laughs). But, yes, I have a girlfriend.
(5) Some people are surprised to hear you like romantic music. I know you're a Sade fan. What's the most romantic record you own? I have one particular favorite album. It's a Sarah Vaughan record called Swingin' Easy. It's just piano, drums, bass and Sarah Vaughan singing. It's so nice. So uncluttered and personal.
I like a lot of jazz stuff from the 1950s and the early 1960s. That's what speaks to me. Something about the jazz and the blues and the way it was all recorded. The style.
(6) You slick back your hair and wear the vintage 1950s threads. Why does that style resonate with you? I was born in 1951. I remember my uncles, when I was a little kid, my uncles all looked like that.
You know what I do? I play the kind of music that I want to hear. It's completely selfish because it's what I think is cool. I dress the way I think is the most fun. And, I like the cars that are the most fun (laughs).
I try to live my life the way I like. Everybody has a choice of what they like, you know? If you want to wear baggy pants with your a- hanging out, that's a choice.
Your little brother Stevie Ray always made interesting fashion choices. His style was after Hendrix: Put on any damn thing you got. All the scarves and everything.
Did you tease him about it? I never did tease him about it. But one time he was in the airport with his girlfriend, and some guy said, "Honey, look at the getup on that guy!" He just liked a lot of stuff that wiggled and moved. I would look silly with a scarf on my head and twelve rings (laughs).
(7) You've won three Grammys, and you're nominated for another for the new album. Is that important to you? It really is important to me. If you look at those other guys on the list, it's unbelievable that I'm on a list with Ike Turner and Robert Johnson and my old running buddy Kim Wilson.
I don't know why I'm on the traditional blues list, but if they put me in the polka section, that would be all right, too (laughs).
It's always nice to be recognized.
(8) I've heard you called a "gentleman's blues guitarist." Do you consider yourself a gentleman? Yeah, I think I am. (Pause) I have a temper, though, but I try to hold it back.
Let's take a gentleman's quiz: Do you like to slow dance with a lady? I slow dance with my girlfriend. I like to dance in places where you're not supposed to do it, like the grocery store.
But, you got to realize, musicians don't dance very well because they're always playing while everyone else is dancing.
Do you hold the door for a lady? Absolutely. My dad taught me that.
Do you open the car door for her? Yes. Not every time, because we go around a lot.
Does the man pick up the dinner check? Well, it depends on the woman. If she wants to be all -- well, if she has an idea that you should or you shouldn't, that depends. But, I think so.
(9) Your son Tyrone wrote and plays on the track Without You on the new album. Do you ever give him advice about the ladies? No! No. You ever see that book What Men Know About Women? It's blank! (laughs).
(10) Tyrone is also a guitarist. Son of Jimmie, nephew of Stevie Ray. That's an awfully big shadow to run around in. I'd imagine it's tough. I told him, "They are going to really give you a hard time, because they give me a hard time." For being Stevie Ray's brother.
But he has the personality. He doesn't seem to care. He plows through.
Another smart student? Definitely.
PREVIEW
Jimmie Vaughan performs with Lou Ann Barton and Johnny A. 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Jannus Landing, Second Street between Central Avenue and First Avenue N, St. Petersburg. $17 advance, $20 day of show. (727) 896-2276.
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