Some friends (who live outside of Texas) don't believe me when I tell them Austin had a statue of SRV erected in 1993. This is no Photoshop-based trick.
It’s always a shame when a tragic death at an early age happens and results in a career boost. Often it boosts the longevity of people who really weren’t that talented: Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe and Jim Morrison quickly come to mind. Others are saddening because it makes one wonder…what could’ve been if he/she lived on: Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix and SRV. Equally irritating was the rise in airplay for his material over the years since he had pinnacled with Album-Rock radio by 1984 with his second album.
I have several fantastic memories of SRV. The first was my introduction to his music after Hurricane Alicia/Alisha in 1983. During the clean-up aftermath, KLOL began to play tracks from his debut record Texas Flood to promote it and probably with some humor over the recent disaster. Throughout the Fall of 1983 “Lovestruck Baby” permeated the airwaves and great memories I was forming during my happier days attending Clear Creek HS. Meanwhile, SRV received fame and popularity indirectly as the studio guitarist on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance.
A couple years later, I caught his mid-Eighties performance on Austin City Limits while living in North Dakota. This changed my perception regarding the PBS show forever. Before then, I figured it was some weird public TV showcase for Country music.
By the time I went to college, he had dropped off the radar until his triumphant 1989 return In Step, SRV’s fourth and final studio album; I don’t count Live Alive and anything released posthumously. Stardate, the promoter I had an internship with, booked him to play in Milwaukee on this special tour of him co-headling with Jeff Beck & Dale Bozzio. Thanks to my current girlfriend (Carrie), we arrived late so we only caught Beck’s last song but we made it to SRV’s set. Had I missed what became his last Milwaukee appearance, I guarantee there would’ve been an argument on the bus ride home. The man did impress the hardened, anti-Blues Carrie through his guitar skills and a mellow instrumental called “Rivera Paradise.” The track was also played on Smooth Jazz station WBZN as a demonstration of how his material crossed tastes and genres.
I was really bummed the morning I heard about his demise on WUWM. It happened so close to Milwaukee and while he was the opener for Eric Clapton. The situation seemed terribly unfair. SRV was only 35, he had been sober, drug-free for three years and his songwriting improved tenfold. One of my favorite associations with living in Texas had died.
Had this happened with any other artist but Clapton, I would’ve chalked it up to the randomness of life. However, it started my horrible theory about ol’ Slowhand being the Dorian Gray of Rock. Think about it. Clapton has really done anything worth a damn after Derek & the Dominos in my opinion yet his career continues with a trail of tragedy following along: Duane Allman (motorcycle accident), Jim Gordon (committed), Carl Radle (poor health) and SRV.