While not as well known as Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Museum, located in downtown Los Angeles, is a must-see for music fanatics visiting the West Coast.
From last year’s Golden Gods: The History of Heavy Metal to recent shows celebrating the musical legacies of Bob Marley and Ringo Starr, it has been consistently impressive in its scope and range.
The museum has again shown its excellent taste by presenting a tip-of-the-hat to modern blues great Stevie Ray Vaughan. Among the artifacts presented is one of the holiest of all blues guitars, SRV’s “Number One” 1962 Fender Stratocaster.
The museum is also presenting a rare glimpse at Stevie’s 1984 Hamiltone guitar, featured with Vaughan on Guitar World’s November 1985 cover, which you can see below. He regularly used the guitar, a gift from ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, onstage for “Couldn’t Stand the Weather,” “Cold Shot” and others.
Among other items on display are handwritten song lyrics, a collection of SRV’s guitar straps, his Cry Baby and Uni-Vibe pedals, an assortment of stage outfits and his four Grammy awards. The exhibit, Pride & Joy: The Texas Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan, was guest-curated by Stevie’s brother, Jimmie Vaughan, and will run through July 2015 on the Grammy Museum’s fourth floor.
“I’m excited to partner with the Grammy Museum to honor my brother and his music,” Jimmie said. “I know Stevie’s many fans will enjoy this exhibit, as many of his personal, never-before-seen items will be on display. I hope by doing this, it will remind people of the incredible musician he was and all the music and love he gave to the world. I miss him every day.”
For more about the Grammy Museum, visit grammymuseum.org. To help get Vaughan into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, vote here.
Photo (above): Jeremy Danger
