Offered for sale is a vintage Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Concert Poster from a mid-1980's performance at an obscure venue called the Syria Mosque (Pittsburgh, PA), which features a great image of the band, and is a rare to find regional promotion - small print run (see bio info below). The poster measures 18" x 12", is in "VERY-FINE" condition (see details above), and is suitable for display in a permanent archive. The starting price is only $499.99 + FREE Shipping / Handling ($19.95 Value; US Domestic only), and is the only example of it's kind offered for sale on eBay! Overseas buyers please refer below for shipping instructions, and feel free to contact me with further questions.
Double Trouble (band)
Double Trouble | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | Epic, Legacy, Sony, Tone-Cool |
| Members | Chris Layton Tommy Shannon |
| Past members | Stevie Ray Vaughan (deceased) Lou Ann Barton Johnny Reno Fredde Walden W. C. Clark Mike Kindred Jackie Newhouse Jack Moore Reese Wynans |
Double Trouble is an American blues rock band from Austin, Texas, which served as the backing band for singer-guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. The group was active throughout the 1980s and contributed to reviving blues music, inspiring many later blues and rock acts. Formed in Austin, Texas in 1978, the group went through several early line-up changes before settling on a power trio consisting of Vaughan, Chris Layton (drums), Tommy Shannon (bass). They became a four-piece by 1985 after adding Reese Wynans (keyboards). Whilst with Vaughan they were billed Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Rooted in blues and rock music, the group worked in various genres ranging from ballads to soul, often incorporating jazz and other musical elements.
Initially a five-piece lineup with Vaughan, Lou Ann Barton (vocals), Fredde Walden (drums), Jackie Newhouse (bass) and Johnny Reno (saxophone), they built their reputation playing clubs around Texas over a four-year period. Molded into a trio (Vaughan, Layton, Shannon), their musical potential was encouraged by producer John H. Hammond, who got the band a recording contract with Epic Records. They gained popularity after their debut album, Texas Flood, became a critical and commercial success in 1983. By the mid-1980s, they had become an international act, touring extensively around the world until August 1990, when Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash after departing East Troy, Wisconsin.
Various posthumous releases featuring Vaughan have been issued since his death, overseen by his brother Jimmie. Since Vaughan's death, Double Trouble has continued in various capacities, releasing a studio album in 2001 and acting as a session band for blues and local Austin musicians. The band has sold over 11.5 million albums in the United States, receiving platinum certifications for all four of their studio albums featuring Vaughan. They have won four Grammy Awards including Best Contemporary Blues Performance for their album In Step (1989).
History[edit]
Formation and early years (1978–1982)[edit]
In September 1977, Stevie Ray Vaughan formed a revue-style group with several musicians from the Austin live music scene, including singer Lou Ann Barton, bassist W. C. Clark, keyboardist Mike Kindred, drummer Fredde "Pharaoh" Walden, and sax player Johnny Reno. They called themselves Triple Threat Revue, which was a nickname for Vaughan in reference to his multi-instrumental talent.[1] By May 1978, Clark and Kindred had left the group; Vaughan changed the name to "Double Trouble", after an Otis Rush song of the same name, and a reference to both Vaughan and Barton. After Clark left to form his own band, Barton auditioned and hired Jackie Newhouse, who first met Barton in Fort Worth.[2] In July, Walden was replaced by Jack Moore,[3] a native of Providence, Rhode Island who moved to Austin to pursue drumming. After three months, Moore moved back to Providence to finish college, and was replaced by Chris Layton in September.[4]
When Barton and Reno decided to leave the band in 1979, the group morphed into a power trio and Vaughan became the lead vocalist,[5] and their name was changed to "Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble".[6] In October 1980, during one of the band's frequent appearances at Rockefeller's in Houston, Vaughan jammed with Tommy Shannon,[7] a former bassist for Johnny Winter, and was hired in January 1981.[8] During the next year-and-a-half, the group gained popularity by performing in Texas clubs such as Fitzgerald's and Club Foot.[9] They hired Chesley Millikin as their manager, who had been Epic Records' general manager in Europe, and ran Manor Downs, a horse racing track near Manor, Texas.[10] The band performed at the racetrack the following year, which was filmed for a proposed television series, though it was not picked up by any major network.[11]
In March 1982, producer Jerry Wexler recommended Vaughan and Double Trouble to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, after attending a performance in Austin.[12] In July 1982, the band performed at the festival and were the first unsigned act to perform at the event. Despite boos from the audience, their performance caught the attention of David Bowie[13] and Jackson Browne, the latter who offered the group free use of his recording studio in Los Angeles.[14] Layton recalls: "He goes, 'I have a studio in Los Angeles. I keep it for my pre-production work and have loaned it out to a number of people for special projects. If you guys are ever in Los Angeles and you want to use it, just let me know in advance and it's yours.'"[15]
Texas Flood and Couldn't Stand the Weather (1983–1984)[edit]
After recording at Browne's studio in November 1982 that yielded the release of Texas Flood, producer John H. Hammond signed the band to Epic Records in March 1983.[16] Released in June, Texas Flood peaked at #38 on the Billboard 200 and initially sold over half a million copies.[17] The band toured North America in the first half of the year, followed by a two-week European tour in August–September. Returning to the US, they opened for The Moody Blues, receiving $5000 per show plus bonuses for successful ticket sales.[18] They gave their first live television performance in December on Austin City Limits, broadcast in February 1984.[19]
Couldn't Stand the Weather, the band's second studio album, saw an outpacing of sales to Texas Flood. Recorded in January 1984, the album included musicians such as Fabulous Thunderbirds' members Jimmie Vaughan and Fran Christina, as well as saxophonist Stan Harrison, who performed on "Stang's Swang".[20] Following the album's release in May 1984,[21] the group toured internationally, staging concerts in Scandinavia,[22] Germany,[23] Australia, and New Zealand.[24] Acknowledging the challenge posed by constant international touring to his marriage, Vaughan admitted, "The hard part is that I don't get to see my wife very often, but if she comes out on the road it's harder because she's not used to it. If you're not used to it, it only takes two or three days and then you start getting on each other's nerves, and that's worse."[25] On October 4, 1984, the group performed at Carnegie Hall in celebration of Vaughan's thirtieth birthday, featuring many special guests such as the Roomful of Blues horn section, Dr. John, Jimmie Vaughan, Angela Strehli, and George Rains, and was met with positive reception.[26] The band's first Australia visit, in October–November,[27] included two sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House.[28]