Footage has emerged online of Stevie Ray Vaughan making a storming debut appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in 1989.
The newly unearthed clip originally aired on NBC on September 21 of that year, but was recently uploaded to Letterman’s official YouTube channel.
Vaughan was, of course, well established by the close of the ’80s, having released Texas Flood just over six years earlier, in June 1983, so you’d be right in thinking his Late Night debut is, well... very late.
However, as Letterman establishes (with amusing trouble) in his intro for the guitar great, Vaughan’s appearance was somewhat delayed. Meanwhile, SRV’s brother, Jimmy Vaughan, had had more luck – having already made it onto the show with the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Indeed, Vaughan’s debut is so late that he’s there to promote his fourth and final album, In Step, performing the song Tightrope alongside show stalwart, MD Paul Shaffer and the house band (in the place of his usual backing group Double Trouble).
The guitar icon takes Letterman’s confusion over his appearances on the show in a characteristically laid-back fashion and slips into the louche Tightrope with barely a shrug.
Musically, there’s a bit of a juxtaposition of Shaffer’s well-drilled studio band and SRV’s off-the-cuff guitar slinging, but the clip captures a moment where the guitarist is absolutely on-point – three years into his sobriety – and coming off the back of making what he would call his best studio album.
As such, his rhythm playing is supremely in the pocket and the pairing works really well here. Indeed, by the end of the appearance, it’s clear that Letterman will have no trouble remembering this as SRV’s actual debut.
“Man, could he play the guitar or what?” sums up the host, succinctly.
Vaughan would later return for another Letterman appearance, the following year to perform Wall of Denial – in April, 1990 – just four months before his passing.
For more on that period of SRV's career, check out this 1988 interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan, in which the guitar legend discusses his affinity for the Fender Strat, how he approached learning Clapton and Hendrix, and the healing powers of the guitar.
