The story of Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as told by those who knew them best: brother Jimmie, Eric Clapton, Nile Rodgers, Jackson Browne, Billy Gibbons and their early band mates.
"That boy came from nowhere and went everywhere," said Lou Ann Barton the day that Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a tragic helicopter accident. Using never-before-seen photos and home movies as well as the only on-camera interviews of Eric Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan who were there the night Stevie died, JIMMIE AND STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN: BROTHERS IN BLUES provides new revelations about one of the greatest guitarists of all time and the person he called his favorite guitarist, brother Jimmie. Featuring interviews with Billy Gibbons, Jackson Browne, Nile Rodgers and their earliest band mates, the film traces the climb of two young men from a small, frame house in Oak Cliff to the top of the rock heap in the era before Tik Tok, Facebook and the Internet. The film also looks at the explosion of rock bands after the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, the teen club scene in Oak Cliff that spawned the Vaughan Brothers, and their eventual move to Austin, TX where they became mainstays of the late 70s "live music capitol of the world" landscape. From there their recording careers are highlighted, as well as their collaborations with the rock and roll elite (David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Billy Gibbons, Carlos Santana, Nile Rodgers, etc.) while ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons tells of playing the Texas club circuit in the 1960s and watching a 15-year-old Jimmie Vaughan performing with The Chessmen, his early band. As the only production that Jimmie Vaughan has ever collaborated with, he and Eric Clapton give their first on-camera interviews about what happened on the night that Stevie died, while Jackson Browne recounts loaning his recording studio to Double Trouble and singing at Stevie's funeral. Nile Rodgers tells of working with Stevie on David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and producing "Family Style", the last studio recording by Jimmie and Stevie. Filled with rock history, never-before-seen photos and home movies, as well as previously untold stories from the people who were "in the room when it happened", JIMMIE AND STEVIE RAY VAUGHAH: BROTHERS IN BLUES is a must-see for any baby boomer and an eye-opening revelation for those who don't know the Vaughan brothers and their enduring legacy.—Kirby Warnock
An insider's look at the early days, the rise and the triumph of the two best guitarists from Texas, Jimmie Vaughan and his younger brother, Stevie Ray, this film goes deeper into their background and history than previous works because of the full cooperation of Jimmie Vaughan. Here at last are insights into their childhood, sharing a room in a small house in Oak Cliff, an alcoholic father and the sudden "local" success at age 14. Brothers In Blues takes a deep dive into the Oak Cliff "teen club" scene of the 1960s that hatched so many garage bands, then moves with the Vaughan Brothers to Austin before it became known as the "live music capital" and tells of their early gigs at the Rome Inn and the One Knite, Austin bars that are now gone. Interviews with Billy Gibbons, himself a budding teen guitar player from Houston in the 60s, recounts his days on the Texas bar circuit with Jimmie, and leads up to his being a witness at Stevie's wedding at the Rome Inn. Jackson Browne recounts meeting Stevie at the Montreux Jazz Festival, then inviting him to record his first LP, Texas Flood, at Browne's studio in LA, followed by his memories of singing at SRV's funeral. Producer Nile Rodgers tells of working with Stevie on David Bowie' "Let's Dance" then moving on to record the Vaughan Brothers final album, Family Style. The most moving interviews are with Eric Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan, as they recount the night at Alpine Valley that Stevie died in a helicopter crash. All are never-before-told on-camera interviews, not second hand information, which when combined with dozens of previously unseen photos and home movies combine to give even the most ardent SRV fanatic reams of new information about a man who was arguably the greatest guitar player to ever pick up the Stratocaster. It conveys things you never knew, from the people who were "in the room when it happened." Shot on a shoestring budget, this documentary delivers the goods that no previous Vaughan works were able to because they did not have the full cooperation of Eric Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan, two of the last men to appear onstage with Stevie.
