Missing Stevie Ray Vaughan

To rock and blues fans, it's a date you remember as well as when a political or spiritual leader dies.

It was the day the smokin' blues-rock guitar of Stevie Ray Vaughan fell silent.

Twenty-two years ago today, back on August 27, 1990, news of a horrific helicopter crash hit the wires.

I remember it like it happened yesterday.

I was working on a morning show at a rock radio station in Wildwood.

Back then, we still had the A.P. news wire and I was ripping off the copy for the show when my stomach turned at the breaking news, which at that early morning hour was sketchy on details.

All anyone knew was that Eric Clapton might have been involved in a crash.

I was literally shaking as I read the copy on-air.

Of course, Clapton dodged the bullet, but a great guitarist, as well as members of Clapton's entourage, did not.

Such a sad day in the music world.

And particularly so because Stevie Ray Vaughan was finally getting his life together after a stint in rehab for a drug addiction just a few years before his death.

He was living a more spiritual lifestyle, committed to health rather than self-destruction.

We can only guess how much more incredible music he would have shared with us had he lived.

R.I.P. Stevie, and know you're not forgotten.

For sure you're tearing it up on The Other Side.