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Stevie Ray Vaughan

Day by Day, Night After Night; His Early Years, 1954–1982
by Craig Hopkins
Stevie Ray Vaughan: Day by Day, Night After Night; His Early Years, 1954–1982. Backbeat: Hal Leonard. 2010. 256p. illus. index. ISBN 9781423485988. $32. MUSIC
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In this first of two volumes, Vaughan aficionado Hopkins (The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan) offers the most comprehensive examination of the guitar hero's early years. Hopkins takes readers through countless bands, gigs, and memories of the guitarist, from his first guitar to the brink of his commercial breakthrough in 1983. He anchors this coffee-table book with dozens of engrossing and revealing interviews with Vaughan's mother, relatives, former bandmates, and friends, only inexplicably failing to talk with brother Jimmie, who served as Vaughan's role model. Between the recollections, Hopkins sprinkles hundreds of seldom-seen color photos, band posters, day-by-day lists of Vaughan's performances, and even drawings by the rock icon. He expands on Vaughan's background and motivation more generally described in Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford's excellent Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught in the Crossfire.
VERDICT In this labor of love, Hopkins captures the blues-based essence of Stevie Ray Vaughan, who dedicated a laserlike focus on his instrument to undergo a transformation from a teenage Hendrix clone to an original rock voice poised for megastardom. Recommended for anyone interested in rock 'n' roll.
Reviewed by Dave Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle , Jan 01, 2011
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