Guitare Xtreme Magazine numéro 125

It's hard to imagine that by 1983, blues rock had all but sunk into the swamp of oblivion. In fact, a glance at the list of albyms released that year is all it takes to understand that musicians who didn't play synth pop, AOR or glam metal were doomed to disappear, or at best to subsist. Even for the big blues rock engines, times were hard (AC/DC's Flick of the Switch Tour was a resounding flop at Bercy stadium and at Lyon's Halle Tony Garnier). The organic sound of a single guitar attacking a tube amp was no longer really in vogue, even if Eddie Van Halen hadn't yet given in to the call of rack-filled cabinets. In Texas, on the other hand, blues rock was holding its own, with a thriving local scene "administered" by a network of brilliant musicians, including the Vaughan brothers, Jimmie and Stevie Ray. When the latter released his debut album Texas Flood, the sound of his "Number One" Strat plugged into an old bullet Vibroverb was already in everyone's ears, since David Bowie, a true talent scout, had had the good sense to invite him to play lead guitar on his new album, and the hit "Let's Dance" had been playing in heavy rotation on every radio station in the world for two months. Quite a combination of circumstances. With Texas Flood, Stevie Ray initiated a resurrection of the blues and the authentic sound, a mission he would serve until his untimely death in 1990. Guitare Xtreme pays tribute to this shooting star, without whom Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang and John Mayer would undoubtedly have followed very different paths.
We wish you an excellent read and a summer full of good vibes!

The editors