Stevie Ray Vaughn And Double Trouble Biography   Stevie formed Double Trouble in 1979 with Jackie Newhouse on bass and Chris "Whipper" Layton on drums. It was with this band that In The Beginning was recorded. Newhouse was replaced in 1981 by Stevie's longtime friend Tommy Shannon. One night Mick Jagger and Keith Richards heard Double Trouble at a club and were so impressed that they invited Stevie and the band to play at a private party. Vaughan was subsequently invited to play at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the first band ever to perform there without a record. After his stellar performance there, he was asked by David Bowie to play lead on his new album, Let's Dance. Double Trouble recorded their first album, Texas Flood, in Jackson Browne's Down Town studio. Intended to be a demo, it was so powerful that it became the group's debut album. In 1986, Stevie's lifestyle caught up with him. He had been dependent on drugs and alcohol for years, until one night he had what he described as a "physical, emotional, and mental" breakdown while in Germany. He entered rehabilitation in Atlanta. After he went "straight," as he put it, he remained so for the rest of his life. Stevie chronicled the new emotions he faced after recovery in Double Trouble's 1989 album, In Step, the name being an allusion to the 12-step process which was now a major part of his life. The album was filled with upbeat, high-energy songs, as well as songs that discussed his "demons." Songs like "Wall of Denial" and "Tightrope" show this, as well as "Life by the Drop," which was not released on In Step but which was recorded during those sessions. The following verse from "Wall of Denial" illustrates the emotions facing Stevie at the time: We've all had our demons, from the garden of white lies Dressed them amused them, pullin' wool over our eyes Go so far as to love them, to keep from letting them go All the while they were killin' us, but we couldn't let it show Stevie died on August 27, 1990 near East Troy, Wisconsin after a concert with fellow bluesmen Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, and his brother Jimmie. After what was described as a "blistering" set, Stevie jumped into a helicopter to get back to his Chicago hotel. The pilot had apparently been unfamiliar with the hilly terrain, and around 12:40 a.m., in a dense fog, the helicopter crashed into the hill with all passengers killed instantly.
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