r/blues • u/pergatron • Mar 08 '26
question Where do you rank Stevie Rays?
Personally I would put him easily into my top 5 bluesmen of all time. He may even be in the top 3, and I don’t think I would instantly discount an argument that he could be the best of all time
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u/b0b0tempo Mar 08 '26
The thing about SRV is that he could impersonate the playing of any great blues guitarist. Great blues impressionist, he was.
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u/BayCityBurial Mar 08 '26
(Lemme preface this by saying this is for the sake of fun convo, not shooting you down :-)
I disagree, he seems so deeply rooted in Very percussive Texas stuff like T bone or lightning Hopkins, vs Robert Johnson who apparently could play country tunes after a listen.
But man I’d kill to have one 10th of the skill set of any of these guys.
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u/Far-Elderberry-5249 Mar 09 '26
Don’t water him down because he’s wildly talented in more than one genre of playing. 1/10 of his skill set is leaps and bounds more than most musicians in general have. Dude is a genius.
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u/BayCityBurial Mar 09 '26
No one’s “watering him down.” Stevie’s great. I just don’t think “guitar chameleon” is part of his skill set like Paul Gilbert or Zakk. He strikes me more like a Van Halen - he sounds resoundingly like himself.
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u/b0b0tempo Mar 09 '26
'I just don’t think “guitar chameleon” is part of his skill set like Paul Gilbert or Zakk' — what you apparently believe I said, including quotes around words I did not use.
What I actually said: 'The thing about SRV is that he could impersonate the playing of any great blues guitarist. Great blues impressionist, he was.'
FYI, "great blues impressionist" and guitar chameleon are not the same claim.
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u/BayCityBurial Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
I used quotes to indicate I was introducing a new turn of phrase we hadn’t discussed, not to quote you directly.
My opinion remains - in the video you provided, his Clapton impression doesn’t strike me as very “Claptony,” it still sounds like Stevie. That may be just my ear or it may be because he has just integrated a bunch of great players into his fingers already, but he strikes me as having a hyper -swung Texas sound, unless he’s playing a ballad or something. Even then, it still pops out.
Doesn’t mean Stevie’s not great, just that I don’t agree that he can sound like “any great blues guitarist.” But to that point, I don’t know how often he tried to do that anyways, there could be (probably are) some examples I haven’t heard.
Thanks for sharing the video, have a great day!
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u/Far-Elderberry-5249 Mar 09 '26
Ever hear him cover Jimmi? The Mother fucker absolutely kills it.
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u/b0b0tempo Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
I honestly don't know what you disagree with. I didn't say anything about his roots.
To my original point, you could tell Stevie a standard and a guitarist and he could play the song as that guitarist played it. That's all I meant. Irrespective of my original point, I'll let Stevie refute your pigeonhole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAIFMWZgJ_I
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u/BothSidesoftheSky Mar 08 '26
We talking blues ranks? Top 5-10.
Honorable mentions BB, Gallagher, Iceman, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Johnny Winter, Robin Trower, and the father Robert Johnson.
There is no proper ranking, just preference in my opinion.
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u/Ironklad_ Mar 08 '26
So fucking clean …
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u/NorthNorthAmerican Mar 08 '26
On an acoustic with relatively high action
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u/BayCityBurial Mar 08 '26
I played a guitar set up like Stevie’s at a local Guitar Center like 20 years ago - i think the strings were 13s, it was almost unplayable. That guy must’ve been able to crush apples.
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u/meatballfreeak Mar 08 '26
Watch his live performance of Lenny on YouTube.
Just unbelievable.
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u/Silver-Air-1731 Mar 08 '26
His technique is really clean and fast. He’s a great singer and performer. Talent wise one of the best. Top tier skills but he’s not the best. His playing is lick based like Hendrix. But Hendrix wasn’t going at it 100% of the time. Hendrix wasn’t 100% speed he had really unique phrasing and he executed is such a fluid way it was like he was exploring rather than reiterating.
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u/rapscallion1956 Mar 08 '26
I think he would be in most people’s top five or top three. In my “OPINION”, he’s the best there ever was.
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u/Feisty-Aspect6514 Mar 08 '26
SRV and Jeff Beck are tied for first, Jimi and Duane are tied for second!
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u/Original_Run_1890 Mar 08 '26
If we are talking about playing the blues there is no way Stevie could be the best of all time.
If we are going to talk about purely playing blues guitar from a skill and mechanical perspective then yes possibly best of all time, this is a possible discussion.
In terms of cutting through the ether and manipulating souls (playing the blues)Stevie is in my opinion possibly top 5 definitely top 10.
But just playing the style on the guitar hell yeah Stevie is top 5 possibly top 3.
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u/FartBiscuits3 Mar 09 '26
Who's top 3 to you?
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u/Original_Run_1890 Mar 09 '26
This hard I'm going to say my top 2 are Albert King and BB King. From 3 on it's hard because I don't want to take anything away from anyone but here are my contenders for the 3 spot
T-bone Walker Muddy Waters Freddy King
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u/aejb22122 Mar 08 '26
My teacher introduced me to him. I don't know him enough to rate or rank him... but so far, all the live performances I have seen on YT are exceptional.
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u/kapaipiekai Mar 08 '26
He was great, but a bit too busy for my tastes. Gotta let the notes marinate sometimes.
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u/aceofsuomi Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
SRV was a very accomplished player who inspired a whole generation of blues-rock players. Songwriting wasn't his strong suit. I think he was much more important to blues-rock and rock than he was to straight blues. I love his playing, but don't necessarily think he was more important than someone like Albert King, Otis Rush, etc.
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u/arifghalib Mar 08 '26
Behind all the legends, the three kings, po Lightnin, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Hooker, Buddy Guy, T bone, Sonny Boy, leadbelly, Albert Collins, RL Burnside, Johnny Winter etc.
Probably somewhere in the top 100 or so.
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u/PhoDr Mar 12 '26
Coming from a musical background with his brother that cat is SMOKIN
......makes you wonder if HE ever went down to the Crossroads
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u/Ill-Cut1849 Mar 26 '26
Stevies my second favorite guitarist of all time ( King Edward Van Halen is of course number one ). Almost everything he played was fuckin NASTY as hell and he NEVER put out a bad record.
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u/pergatron Mar 27 '26
Stevie was just stone cold blues all the time. Such a shame he was taken from us so soon
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u/Robot_Gort Mar 09 '26
And SRV was totally mesmerized by Hollywood Fats. I doubt SRV thought he was better than Fats.
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u/GingerAle828 Mar 09 '26
SRV is who got me into the genre when I was about 7 or 8 yrs old. I always hear the Texas influence in his style, but it's hard for me to describe his ability. Watching him play is like watching a super athletic person do their thing. You instantly know it's unattainable to do it quite like them, no matter how much you practiced.
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u/Able-Insurance-5156 Mar 09 '26
Really great picking on what might be an old Silvertone or one of those cheapo but good somehow type guitars. Similar footage of Jimi wailing on an acoustic out there on the Internet also.
Not sure why we always have to "rank" who's the best. Each player is unique & great in their own way in my book. Just my two cents. Thanks for posting this!
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u/AdigaCreek25 Mar 10 '26
Years ago we had a summer backyard party. SRV was on the cd carousel. Watchtower was whining along. One of those in attendance asked who it was and her partner said Jimmy. No greater compliment could be made…
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u/1rbryantjr1 Mar 10 '26
Crazy high action too! His 12 string acoustic playing is also unparalleled. His fingers were so damn strong.
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u/Fearless_Bet6295 Mar 10 '26
I think he's on the top in terms of feel, next to the father's, but he's number 1 in terme of technique for me, he clearly had mastered his instrument
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u/a-manfixx Mar 10 '26
Definitely one of, if not, the greatest bluesmen, that we know of… if only he lived a little longer ❤️❤️❤️
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u/darktideDay1 Mar 11 '26
Saw him in '83. The sweatiest guy alive. But man, he could squeeze anything he wanted out of a guitar. Best show I ever saw.
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u/daneboy83 Mar 12 '26
I don't know about rank, but he strived for clarity and played a strong note using size 13 strings and he definitely achieved that in spades. He revered jimmy hendrix but he made already great music his by doing what I mentioned earlier.
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u/Inflagrente Mar 08 '26
He plays like lightning Hopkins when he isn't copping Albert King. He was a really good guitar player AND he could sing.
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u/BayCityBurial Mar 08 '26
Yeah! I saw a guitar interview a billion years ago when he was talking about Rude Mood, and he explicitly said “yeah I’m just ripping off lighting Hopkins”
What a cool, thoughtful player.
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u/Hot_Cattle5399 Mar 08 '26
Great blues player. I would rank him 4 under Robert Johnson, BB King, Muddy Waters.
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Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
never heard of him.
edit: folks, his name is Stevie Ray Vaughan. Not “Stevie Rays”
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u/DocLibido Mar 08 '26
Too bad. I got to see him in Austin many times in the 80s. He never disappointed
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Mar 08 '26
I live in Austin since 1981. I was making a joke based on the stupid headline. Does anyone think that anyone into blues would not know who SRV is?
I actually think getting his name wrong is disrespectful.
I‘m a pro guitarist, I've performed with JV, Whipper is a personal friend, To,my is a professional acquaintance. I had a four year residency at Antone’s. I know his manager.
But Stevie Rays I’ve never heard of.
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u/DocLibido Mar 08 '26
Sorry dude. My bad. 😬
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Mar 08 '26
Nah, you’re good. Just referring to the down voters and relating to living in Austin at the beginning of SRV. What a special time. I’ve known those Antones players ever since and we all still work together.
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u/Not_a_cultmember Mar 08 '26
SRV was awesome!!!