Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Star Spangled Banner" - 4-19-85 - Houston, TX

[aryan1313ful]

thank you for posting

[n8thask8]

i agree it doesn't sound great, certainly not by srv standards, but it's not a blunder.

[videocameradude]

Has anyone heard the Jimmy Thackery version of "Star Spangled Banner"...it kicks ass. SRV seems to rush through this version too quickly. Not much soul or feeling.

[ralphsrec]

no big deal. 2 1/2 minutes of Mel Bay...

[fuegoski71]

Can anybody upload a better video here? This is classic!

[rollingstopp]

that was so funny--i actually got out my glass slide and i could play it no better-- its just hilarious - I love stevie & i liked the way that sounded but i just cant stop laughing

[presapus]

Love this guy but I wonder why he needed his multi-amp set up? His take on this song with this tone could have been acomplished with a simple Blackface Deluxe. Great history., thanks for posting

[Freethinker12341]

stevie got booed at this show..

[okamasphere]

I was talking to my fathers friend, who actually drove Stevie to his hotel room after a gig. This was just after Stevie had cleaned up mind you. My dads friend asked Stevie what his best gig was. Stevie told him it was playing the star spangled banner at this game. Stevie said this was his best from his own mouth. So everyone talking crap on it has no idea what it meant for Stevie to play this. My dads friend actually asked him "Was it anything like Hendrixs version?" It ticked SRV off, lol

[Umtang77]

I don't care who you are even the most die hard SRV fans would have to admit this was a bad day for the great man topped off with a very bad version of the American anthem!! When he was good he was a fuckin genius when he was bad he was fuckin shit!! That day he was fuckin shit mate!!! Still a legend tho baby!!!

[kcool52]

How can anyone think this very elementary rendition is anything great? Any second-year guitar student could have played it like he did. And, yes, I saw Stevie live many times and he was great. Get out your Woodstock DVD and watch Hendrix do it again. Unbelievable.

[UKToneKing]

he was the only guitarist to have played the anthem here at that time

[91nickt]

SRV does it best imho (on guitar anyway) whew! if only the audio quality was better on this! He played it so beautifully and masterfully and without bullcrap improv junk that usually doesn't sound good on the anthem. RIP Stevie!!

[chevick]

Sounds like a citar.....

[ufolive1]

he walks like a pimp

[igotacos64]

wow, the astrodome, thats some retro shit right there broski

[shelliebellie3672]

when a person does something where the national anthem has to be played...question how would you like to hear it before the event happens? i mean if there was just music you can sing the words if you know them.

[MrIkesimba]

@buddyrush1059 What are you even talking about?

[2001imsofly]

those drugs man. those stupid drugs

[bocajrthug106]

@2001imsofly drugs didnt kill him buddy

[9timesnine]

Who cares man. Why people be arguin on here all the damn time. Just watch and listen a dont pay no attention to nobody bein ignorant. Peace. -Cody Lee Meece

[lionsbeardmane]

mad props for doing it with a slide!!!!

[rudemood2011]

Wow.......That's bad..

Not something I would expect from SRV and nowhere near the performance that Hendrix gave at woodstock.......

[austinw17]

@rudemood2011

Fuck you???

[rudemood2011]

@austinw17 dude you gotta admit that this was fucking bad. This was a very amateurish performance. I'll bet you SRV was hung over and strung out on the drugs he was taking at the time

[austinw17]

@rudemood2011 I don't see it at all, i mean i'm sure he was messed up at the time but i still think he played the song perfectly. Where else have you heard a star spangled banner from a guitarist as good as this one? And it's slide... Slide kicks ass

[peaceoflove18]

@austinw17 uhm.....jimi hendrix....>.>

[benjy091]

@austinw17 hendrix did an awesome cover of the star spangled banner

[dmb7060]

@austinw17 uh jimmy hendrix did a pretty famous star spangled banner...and he's...you know...considered the best of all time...

[arkee71]

@rudemood2011 musicians are people just like me and you..they have problems...srv was so messed up at one time that he was scared to even talk to anyone or go in public...dont just say "oh hes prolly fucked up"...that mentality never adresses the real issues that people face and can often make them hide it longer

[lifetruthjustice0000]

wikipedia:

""""On April 10, Vaughan was asked to play "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Houston Astrodome for the Astros vs. Dodgers game. He flew to Houston with Lenny, to whom he confessed that he was not certain of the melody. She hummed it to him.""""

...if there was an april 10th performance, of course it was virtually impossible in Houston,

that's Zapata's birthday...

very few people could pull that off and not get hit by a lightning bolt...he could though...definitely 1 of the people ;-)

[grtlessonsneil]

Gees, first off how many of you ripping on SRV can play anything by EAR!!!! SRV did this by ear!!!!! not tabulature. and how many of you actually tried to play slide it is harder than F**K to do and make the intonation sound as good as SRV just did!! Yes he should have prepared for it, however we do not know the circumstances that lead up to the gig, was it a last minute cancellation of some singer!! So it's not perfect, that what music so great is that it is not perfect!!!

[choochizabluezman]

Okey first off Jimi Hendrix, was a little before SRV time, could it be that Hendrex, gave SRV his inspiration, and Omg yes SRV was booed at many blue consents in England and right here in the US for playing the blues to fast....

[iron93man]

THIS SUCKS SO BAD

[DexterHaven49]

@iron93man Remember that he could read no sheet music and flunked music theory. He played by ear and was ranked #7 on the list of the 100 best guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone. On the way to the stadium, he admitted he didn't know the song and asked a lady to hum it for him in the car. He figured this out in a couple of minutes while on drugs. He should have prepared, I admit, but that's the life of a rock star. Jim Morrison showed up drunk and passed out on stage sometimes too.

[joshua9312]

@iron93man Ah shut up. SRV is the greatest guitarist to ever live. And that was a fantastic performance. He was out of drugs. But he was in rehab. Thats even tougher to play when you're in rehab then when on drugs!

[BassFever74]

what do expect from a guy who "doesn't know the names of the chords he plays"? it had feeling though, right?

[austinw17]

@BassFever74

That's what the blues is all about dude. Learning by what sounds good to you, not reading shit off paper and making something out of it.

[stevierayDOM18]

WIN!

[Fenderbluesman17]

It's too bad he got boo'd on it. All those people that boo'd deserve to never hear music again.

[GuiltyPartyBand]

That is so cool that he played slide, and that he really played it straight. I thought he was going to do it Hendrix style. That was super cool. I could feel the respect Stevie had for America.

[swing8th]

he played it too fast.

[Fenderbluesman17]

@swing8th Please, tell me you wouldn't speed it up. No matter how many show's he's played I'm sure any artist would be nervous. I don't think he played it too fast, I think you have only soo much time on the field to do the gig also.

[edavisdavis]

He didn,t know how to play it until his missus had to hum it to him

[erijoey3]

May Allah take you in his bosom Stevie you left us way to soon!

[SpeakTruer]

I'd watch a bootleg of Stevie over nothing at all, anyday. Be glad you can see him at all.

SpeakTruer

[JayIceColdD]

Not bad at all... not typical SRV, but still decent.

[rockntroopen]

he was so awsome.... wish i knew him earlier

[flashlight067]

It's true, he said that he was a mess, and wasn't able to control himself, so he went sober and drug free.

[creat3d]

Whoever compares SRV to Hendrix, favorably or not, is a fucking idiot. How about appreciating all that's available to you for what it is?

[Straven93]

it's moments like this that make me proud to share such a namesake

[2321Pistol]

Wtf is the dude saying that SRV has made more accomplishmets on guitar than any artist. SRV is hands down one of the best but your an idiot and dont get out much.

[petepetruzzi]

Had the Confederates won the war the national anthem would have sounded something like this.

[DropCough]

For all of you saying Hendrix "Improvised" his version, he didn't, he had been playing the star spangled banner a year and a half up to the point of Woodstock, and their should be no comparison amongst the two what so ever, Hendrix was Hendrix, Vaughans was Vaughans, so stop judging the man thats made more acheivments on guitar than any artist in history.

[MrIkesimba]

@DropCough Lol fucking wut? Do you even know what "improvising" is? Having played something before has nothing to do with whether or not performance is improvised. Jimi knew the changes & the melody & had played the song before. So fucking what? He didn't have a set arrangement dimwit. He went out & gave a unique, 1 off performance based on the songs underlying structure. That's the definition of "improvising".

[MRswiftkow]

the best part is he didnt know how it really went going into it, and i forget who but someone just hummed it to him and he got pretty damn close lmao

[bibhuna]

@MRswiftkow His wife, Lenny.

[DevoBassGirl]

I like SRV but it sounds like he learned it the night before! This is the total opposite of Hendrix's version. The two do not deserve comparison; it's an insult to Hendrix.

[s0undch4ser]

@DevoBassGirl Your close , He flew to Houston with Lenny, to whom he confessed that he was not certain of the melody. She hummed it to him. He used a Mighty Mite brass slide.

BTW how is it an insult to Hendrix and what does Hendrix have to do with Stevie Ray's verison of the anthem anyway.

[picchaz]

A very weak shadow of JImi's version.

[RockingHardV3]

@picchaz Sounds nothing like Jimi's version....

[MVT44]

This performance really wasn't that bad. For someone who didn't know how to play it it was pretty good

[jezmundberserker]

We all know how great a player Stevie was. This video could be used in a campaign against drugs. "Look how they made Stevie play."

[Mct2]

@jezmundberserker

If using drugs i can play like that.... i will use them !!!

[jezmundberserker]

@Mct2: Come on, he plays horrible here. A sober Stevie admitted to that in an interview a few years later.

[Mct2]

@jezmundberserker

Its true... horrible in perspective..

but.. any of us can play like that?even sober... I doubt it!

[ericlarkins]

All those cameras in front of him and we gotta watch this bootleg?

[srv665]

@ericlarkins dude give some respect



[ericlarkins]

All those cameras in front of him and we gotta watch this bootleg?

[JinnyCarey]

the game was against the Atlanta Braves. Astros lost 9-5.

[Bigrusssthefuss]

I love how you can see them take that picture right at the end of the performance, and that was the picture they used in the vh1 documentary. its cool! i guess even he felt like "ehh what me worry?"

[wasillajohn]

Thank you so much for posting this. I was one of the throng of photographers down on the field 25 years ago, and I just pointed myself out to my teenage daughter. She thinks I'm cool now.

[garryfroker]

Stevie was so fucked up when he did this. And it shows.

[ThePigster1234]

Wow, I'm unimpressed. I guess there's a reason why Jimi improvised his version. So it wouldn't be boring and lifeless, like this sad display.

[snoochtoelnooch]

@ThePigster1234 listen to stevies cover of little wing. i bet you it will change your viewpoint on stevie.

[ThePigster1234]

@snoochtoelnooch Where did I say I don't like Stevie? I just said this was boring and lifeless.

[SplitSpades11]

@ThePigster1234 go fuck yourself...honestly.You ignorant prick.

[Dontwealldigmusic]

i think this sounds great, in fact, i remember watching this along time ago and trying to play this on slide. it is hard to do, cuz of all the vibrato needed in the right spots!

[order57]

Great!

Thanks for posting.

[thenewfun]

i loved it

[lewars1912]

Stevie would have been much wiser if he hadn't done this. It sounds very ordinary. I do love a lot of SRVs music but Jimi was the greatest innovator I've ever heard and if guitarists don't wish to be compared unfavourably to Jimi then they should steer well clear of the Star Spangled Banner. Stevie was supposed to have been in a bad way at this time.  Sad.

[lewars1912]

@SplitSpades11 > You'll need to try and improve your spelling and grammar before

you start calling other people simple, lol. Get yourself back to the asylum, and keep

away from those sheep. The farmer has already warned you about that. If you need sex that bad then go fuck yourself.

[MrBl0nd3]

wat teams were pkaying?

[DMR90Guitar]

and to think that in just a few minutes he'd go on to meet mickey mantle and get Lenny signed... haha :)

[zipp1111]

WOW! He is so high! He stagers off after the song. Just look how he walks. We love you anyway Stevie ray!

[BitterResolve]

He played this with a slide because he felt everyone wanted a jimi hendrix version.

[sweetguitars]

this sounds cool, a great rendition for the dome................

[understated2010]

right after this performance he got lenny signed by Mickey Mantle

[guitarfreakRSS]

@understated2010 and number one he is using number one for this show. they were both signed by mickey mantle.

[momssix]

hmmmmm..listen to John Schminke's Star Spangled Banner..Blue Island Tribe..no comparison..Schminke is amazinggggggggg

[KanzlerM]

Cut the first 1:00 off of this

(cut to the chase, man)

[nsc217]

Check out 3:17. Sounds like the camera man said something insulting

[TonyTX]

somehow this version that he performed seemed perfect for the astrodome. Twangy and sounds sort of like a thin organ

[ChicagoBoomBoom]

I had the VH1 Documentary of SRV and do remember them saying he was definately coked out and was a mess at that time. It wasn't all that bad and didn't hear any boos like the VH1 documentary said they did. SouthernPsycho, you're right, this is a hard song to play w/ the slide. I give him an A on this performance, but then again I give him an A on every performance of his bcz SRV rocks my world!!!! Forever!

[creat3d]

@ChicagoBoomBoom Yeah I remember the VH1 Legends show on him saying he was booed... no footage I've seen of that performance ever confirmed that. Were they the ones on coke??

[db0823]

@ChicagoBoomBoom

I would have sat and watched that guy read the frickin phone book. Does not take long to weed out the "TRUE FANS" does it...Thanks for your comments....I have not quite figured out you tube yet. I'm on FBook , Dawn Ballew.....We got a whole lot of Stevie goin on.....I will be looking for ya...

[ripcobaingrunge]

this is when he was on heavy drugs and acohol

[commentary2]

haha! that's hilarious! everybody's expecting greatness, and he just serves them up - in and out

[TheExiledTexan]

U have to remember Stevie learned the song from his wife's humming it in the plane ride over. Give him a break.

[nsc217]

Serious? He never heard the Jimi Hendrix version? That doesnt sound right

[TheExiledTexan]

No, I'm sure he heard it, but he never learned it until the plane ride over. I've heard many SRV songs, for example, that I've never learned.

[ralphsrec]

oh, c'mon, people. i love SRV and this sucked. let's be real. sounded like a beginner.

[csimmons0varon]

@ralphsrec My thoughts exactly; a noob to the guitar could play that rendition.

[Belle19700]

I wonder why he didn't jazz it up more?

[thenamesdatlon]

@belle19700 from what i understand he was extremely messed up on drugs at this time so i reckon he was doin good to walk

[supersoulrider]

& he did it high! U gotta love SRV!!!!!

[StreetAaron]

at 1:58 a guy says who is Stevie ray Vaughan

[SouthernPsycho77]

I think he played it perfect for a slide. Its not easy. The slide floats on top of the strings so easily that you can move up past a note for a split second that (to untrained ears) can sound off. RIP Stevie.

[bigrussthefusss]

@SouthernPsycho77, im sure if he wasnt all messed up on the coke then, and was sober, he would of nailed it perfectly. to me , it sounds good, i like things a bit rough, especially with a slide. But i didnt hear many boos, like the vh1 legends announcer said. when i first saw a clip of this, it made me want to play slide guitar. isnt that funny? it wasnt blues music,or rock n roll, it was stevie ray vaughans coked out version of star spangled banner. I never learned it. I agree with you.

[bluesBro18]

how can people diss this, this is awesomeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! srv!

[Lubu1324]

It sounded like he knew what he was doing and he mixed it up to his own version, but it sounded like it was in the wrong mode or something.

[HadesDictator]

Yeah. And btw, does anybody know where to find a pro-shot version of this? I know such a thing exists because you see glimpses of it in the VH1 Legends documentary of him. It shows the end of it and you see a brief close up of him and you can clearly hear it in high quality, unfortunately it's not the whole song and the announcer talks for part of it

[HadesDictator]

Ah, I see what you're saying. Yeah it doesn't make sense for him to not have heard it before, but that's what I've read several places. I guess we can really never know for sure unless we ask Stevie. Although if I could today talk to Stevie I don't think I would waste such a chance on that. Music lost one of it's greatest.

[HadesDictator]

Nah. If that was the case, how would Lenny humming it to him help him at all?

[twhittle99]

this is when he wsa so far gone on coke his playing ws actually suffering

[oldblackcat123]

ahahahaha he didn't knew how to play it. lol

[ddt461]

it sounded like he had a looping pedal on and it was in the wrong mode (guitar tech) problem i seen srv do starspangle

before he tore it up

[punkout7]

he was using a slide man and he did it perfectly

[Sires83]

on the way to play this, he was in the plane with lenny and he told her that he didnt know the song, so she hummed it to him and thats how he learned it, this is also the game where the guitar "lenny" got the famous signature on the back from mickey mantel

[ralphsrec]

Much ado about nothing. All that trouble for such an elementary version. And he didn't know how the song went? Where was he from? Algeria?

[bondman00794]

Lenora said he didn't even know how the song went.  He had to learn on the way there.

[andrewbaltzer]

damn good improve if you ask me.

i bet most people who booed thought he wrote it previously...

[HalfpennyCat]

so amazing , i read somewhere that this wasn't very well received though. sorry i have no citation but i just found that very odd.

[HadesDictator]

I've read that before too. This was when he was horribly messed up on drugs tho

[killa4hyre]

is there a better recording

[HadesDictator]

I thought that it was broadcast on TV at some point...

[HadesDictator]

Plus you can see camera men so you know it WAS pro taped, probably lying in a vault somewhere

[Techaris]

thats why he used to slide so he could play his wifes vocal melody.

[SoCaldiamond89]

great slide work!

[gettinguponthe1]

wow. he was the best. i remember seeing soemthing on vh1 saying he was terrible on this day and didnt care after cause he was drugged up. thats some beautiful guitar playing. some of those notes are so sweet. he was the best. long live stevie.

[glebber]

mmm... he is dead. he can't live long...

[HadesDictator]

Yeah you can tell he didn't care because you can see him shrug to a photographer on the way out. I think there's a picture of this shrug on the Mtv "Legends" documentary.

[goldsmithstudent]

he knew the song he was loaded man  thats the true story

[AdioThrottle24]

I read an article on his "Lenny" guitar that they replicated and are selling at Guitar Center and it told the whole story about this gig. He didn't even know the star spangled banner until his wife hummed it to him on the way to the game! Search the whole story up it's a great one!

[TWLguitarist]

i just read that yesterday, its amzing how he didnt even know how to play it and he played it awesomely

[rhefer420]

i believe the crowd was thinking SRV would have pumped out a very Hendrix-esq preformance.

instead, he stayed with what he liked and he killed it.

[joebrassmonkey]

He didn't kill it. He played it in his own way, which in my opinion was great.

[rhefer420]

i ment it as a compliment, not an insult.

[joebrassmonkey]

ah, it confused me a bit. haha

[recsec]

Hard to believe that come 8-27-09 it will be 19 years we have been without Stevie. Would have LOVED to have heard the type of music he would have put out since In Step. May he continue to rest in peace.

[educassiano]

Come on, man. There is just this thing ppl do, they put SRV and Hendrix side by side trying to make them match each other, that ain't right. Different times, different lifes, different realities. The only thing they have in comon is their heart for music, ant that, sure can't be matched either.

[senchro]

@educassiano and drug use lol

[jerjames]

whatever.

[thirdstone1959]

this guy must be stupid with a comment like that hey zach if stevie was here he'd probaly slap you for that comment

[melkkoe]

great!