Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Pride And Joy (Live at Montreux 1982)

UCRs top 100 classic rock songs list brings us to #61: Stevie Ray Vaughn "PRIDE AND JOY"

Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride and Joy" took a long and legend-assisted path to our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs countdown.

After a blistering performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982, the then-unknown guitarist left the gig discouraged, thinking the audience reception was less than favorable. Little did he know that David Bowie and Jackson Browne were in the audience.

Shortly thereafter, two generous offers from those stars followed that help launch Vaughan’s career. Bowie asked Vaughan to play on his 1983 album Let’s Dance, and Browne offered Vaughan studio space to record his own debut Texas Flood, which ultimately led to a recording contract.

By the time that year was over, Vaughan could be heard on six different hit singles, four from Bowie's album and two from his own, including "Pride and Joy." Once this “sweet little thing” was heard across the airwaves, everyone took notice. Vaughan and his band Double Trouble were delivering the blues and better still; pop-rock radio put it in rotation, which was very uncommon at the time.

Some believe that Vaughan single-handedly revitalized the blues genre, introducing it to an eager new audience. "Pride And Joy" became a Top 20 hit in the U.S. and helped kick off an amazingly successful career that was tragically cut short by his 1990 death in a helicopter crash.