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One by One, the musicains climb on stage and take their places: B.B. king, Eric Clapton, Buddy guy, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmie Vaughan, Dr, john and Art Neville.Vaughan, standing at center stage, launches into "Six Strings Down," A moving tribute to his late brother, Stevie Ray, whose meemory has drawn this group together.The guitarists fall in, each finding a corner of the song to call their own; King plays fills to Clapton's solo, Cray fires off economical, chiming counterpoint to Raitt's stinging slide, and Guy unleashes piercing single-notes bends to answer Vaughan, who's finger-picking the main theme on hisbattered Strat.Suddenly, the song blasts into the stratoshpere, a gorgeous mosiac of clairon guitar tones. And when Vaughan shuts his eyes and sings,"Alpine Valley, middle of the night, six strings down on a heaven bound flight," the music levitates to such degree that for a lingering instant, no one would be surprised to see Stevie Ray Vaughan stride on stage, black hat on head.
This was a trancendent moment in a remarkable night, May 11, 1995, when the blues royalty gathered on a Austin, |
