How To Play “Pride and Joy” On Guitar
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Pride and Joy took the blues world by storm back in the early 80’s and this was the song that got him on the map and everyone wanted to learn.
Why?
Pride and Joy, as played by Stevie, has such a powerful groove, but still has the intricacy required to make it interesting. It really defines the groove that would be known as a “Texas shuffle” that would be played by so many blues bands after that.
Actually, it had been played by many blues guitarists before, even his brother Jimmie Vaughan (who probably taught it to him), but Stevie just added so much power and groove, he really made it his own.
And it inspired so many people to pick up the guitar and other existing guitarists to switch to the blues. You can still hear the echoes of this groove from so many guitarists today. At every blues jam, someone tries this song, and Stevie Ray’s style and sound haunts us to this day.
But really, this is a cool song to learn. If you can get this groove down you can play many songs, and take over a jam in a second.
The Blues Real Book
The Real Blues Fake Book(Fake Book). 300 essential blues songs that every blues musician should know are included in this collection. |