Lonestar: Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1984–1989 (2017)

It's hard to imagine today, but when Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954–1990) and his band Double Trouble played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982, their set ended with boo's from some of the audience. Admittedly, at the time, they had no real national reputation, no record out, and no contract, but still! Listeners just had no idea what to think of the electrified blues-rock of a virtuoso who is now on every list of the top ten guitarists of all time. This documentary film covers a five-year period of time in Vaughan's life, from the age of twenty-nine when Double Trouble released its first album Texas Flood (1983), which established his superstardom, to his tragic death in a helicopter crash at the age of thirty-five. The film tells the story of Vaughan through concert footage, and interviews with his band mates, biographers, music critics, booking agent, manager, and, most notably, his fiance at the time, Janna Lapidus. There are two stories here: Vaughan's five albums, and his descent into and remarkable recovery from severe drug and alcohol addictions. I watched this film on Amazon Prime.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net