Watch Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Jaw-Dropping Live Performance of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”

American musician, guitarist and singer Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954-1990) performs live on stage playing a Fender Stratocaster guitar (Number One) behind his head during a concert performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana on 2 May 1985.
(Image credit: David Redfern/Redferns/Getty)

Stevie Ray Vaughan would often throw a Jimi Hendrix song or two into his live set. In doing so, he helped turn a new generation of electric guitar players on to the psychedelic guitar god while establishing himself as latter-day blues legend.

As well as being a live favorite, Stevie Ray Vaughan covered the wah-infused Jimi Hendrix classic “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” on his 1984 album Couldn't Stand the Weather. The album became an instant success and sold over a million copies within weeks.

SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 14: Stevie Ray Vaughan performing a private concert for the US Navy in San Francisco as part of Fleet Week celebrations on October 14, 1985.

Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1985 (Image credit: Clayton Call/Redferns/Getty)

“I loved Jimi a lot. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist,” Stevie Ray Vaughan told Guitar World in a 1985 interview. He could do anything. I was about sixteen when he died. I could do some of his stuff by then but actually I’ve been trying to find out what he was doing more so lately than I was then. Now I'm really learning how to do it and I'm trying to expand on it – not that I can expand on it a whole bunch. But I try."

In this charged up jam of Jimi's 1968 classic filmed in 1985 at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ, Stevie Ray Vaughan channels the raw spirit of Hendrix in his own inimitable way. 

Stevie Ray Vaughan Couldn't Stand the Weather Album cover art

(Image credit: Epic/Sony)

Buy Stevie Ray Vaughan's Couldn't Stand the Weather here.

Take a look at Fender's Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster here.

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Rod Brakes

Rod Brakes is a music journalist with an expertise in guitars. Having spent many years at the coalface as a guitar dealer and tech, Rod's more recent work as a writer covering artists, industry pros and gear includes contributions for leading publications and websites such as GuitaristTotal Guitar, Guitar WorldGuitar Player and MusicRadar in addition to specialist music books, blogs and social media. He is also a lifelong musician.