August 27, 2010

Stevie Ray Vaughan, More than "one of the greatest guitar players ever to live"


Today marks the 20th anniversary of his death. I wrote about it on my music blog, but its just as appropriate to mention Stevie Ray here at Recovery Happens.

Stevie Ray grew up in an alcoholic home. His father was a heavy drinker and a "mean drunk". Stevie started drinking at an early age. Of course, his passion was music and the guitar. He worked hard as a musician for years until finally in 1983 he recorded "Texas Flood" and became known as the "greatest electric blues guitarist".

But...the drinking and the drugs eventually got so bad that he knew he couldn't continue on with his music career. He put it all away and went into recovery, immersing himself in AA. He OVERCAME the odds. HE RECOVERED.

Stevie Ray took the 12 Steps literally and they were a way of life for him. He shared his story often and if you want, you can go to youtube and listen to talk he gave at a meeting (its in three parts).

So, I want to take a step back today and acknowledge the man I LOVED for his music and learned to appreciate later for his dedication to sharing the message of recovery with other addicts.


BTW - I met him once and to this day of all the famous people I've met, that was the only one that felt like an honor!


Peace, Hope and Love, Barbara

2 comments:

Syd said...

Recovery does happen. Thanks for sharing this.

Barbara said...

Syd, thanks for always reading here :)

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