Stevie Ray Vaughan Custom Card

A few years back, I created a custom card featuring Jimi Hendrix wearing a Toronto Blue Jays uniform. In that post, I pondered the idea of Mr. Hendrix walking out onto the Exhibition Stadium field with his trademark Fender Stratocaster and jamming out a brilliant rendition of O Canada! Afterward, as the crowd cheered and the umpire yelled, Play ball!, Hendrix would swap his guitar for a baseball glove and trot out to center field. What a sight.

After all, the man did pour out one of the most amazing renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner of all time, right? It inspired me to a second card of Jimi, "In Action" at Woodstock. And a couple of years later, that card inspired me to create a similar In Action card featuring Eddie Van Halen.

Well, recently I was thinking of other guitarists I could add to the set. And as it turns out, another legend did play the US national anthem at a baseball game.

 

 

 

 

That was Stevie Ray Vaughan, playing the anthem on opening day at the Astrodome in 1985. It was the stadium's 20th anniversary.

 

For those of you who were expecting to be wowed by Mr. Vaughan's performance, well, you might feel a bit underwhelmed. But there's a reason why the rendition seems lacking.

 

He didn't know the melody until his wife Lenora hummed it to him on the way to the game that day.

 

That's right. He hadn't heard it from beginning to end until right before game time.

 

Now, I don't know how a guy from Texas never heard The Star Spangled Banner, but there you go. Considering the situation, Mr. Vaughan didn't do so badly. It makes you wonder how he would have done with a few weeks to study the tune. It sure would have been bluesy and cool. 

 

Exhibit A:

 

But wait. That's not all of the story from the Astrodome. 

 

As Lenora stood and watched her husband twang through the anthem, she turned to the man standing next to her and admitted that Stevie had only heard the song the whole way through for the first time that day.

The man's reply—that it was a hard song, and that nobody could play it well—must have helped ease Lenora's mind.

She asked the man if he knew her husband. He admitted that he'd never heard of Stevie Ray Vaughan. And then he figured he'd formally introduce himself. . .

 

My name is Mickey Mantle.

 

 

That's right. Mickey Mantle was at the Astrodome for opening day. Turns out he was there to throw out the first pitch.

Well, Stevie had finished playing the anthem, and as he saluted the crowd and walked over to the stands, Lenora looked around for something that Mr. Mantle could autograph. Stevie came over, and heard Mantle inform Lenora that many folks brought a bat for him to sign. Vaughan took off his guitar.

 

I’ve got this bat right here. . . Why don’t you sign this?

 

He held out the guitar. And Mantle signed it. Right on the back.

The whole magical story inspired me enough to create a custom card.

 

 

 

The sound of Vaughan's guitar and voice are so distinct, I can hear them just by looking at this card. It's such a shame that the world lost him at the young age of 35 in a helicopter crash. 

 

Vaughan was self-taught, and from what I've read and heard over the years, he seemed like a very kind and humble guy. He'd also managed to overcome a drug and alcohol addiction, and had been sober for a few years leading up to the tragic day. To show how well-respected he was in the music industry, attendees of his funeral included Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top, Eddie Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Ringo Starr.

 

I'm happy to have this guitar icon in the custom card stable. 

 

And how about this trio?

 

 

Any Stevie Ray fans out there? Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!