Stevie Ray and The Rolling Stones! (1982) | Don's Tunes

Photo: Daily News/New York Daily News
Stevie Ray Vaughn, Mick Jagger, and Ron Wood at the Danceteria night club in New York City 1982

 In 1982, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble auditioned for Rolling Stones Records.

On April 22, the band flew to NYC for a one-off gig at the Danceteria nightclub to play for the Rolling Stones. “Mick [Jagger] had seen the tape and been impressed, and Chesley [Millikin] said, ‘You’ve really got to see these guys live,’” Layton said. “The next thing we knew, we were playing a private party for the Stones in New York. It was a gas.” Guests included Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Johnny Winter and Andy Warhol. A post-show photo of a sweaty SRV smoking a cigarette on a couch next to an elated-looking Jagger made it into Rolling Stone magazine’s Random Notes section, and rumors swirled that the band would be signed to the Stones’ label.

Jagger passed, though. “I like them, but everybody knows the blues doesn’t sell,” he said. The hard-core punk fans of the Clash booed Double Trouble so lustily, that the two bands agreed to cut the two nights to one.

Despite that, Double Trouble started taking off.

Legendary record producer Jerry Wexler caught them at a gig and raved to the head of the Montreux Jazz Festival. The fest booked them for one night, July 17, 1982.

It was a lot different from the Texas roadhouses they usually played. So was the audience, filled with Swiss music fans and rock stars.

Afterward, David Bowie asked to meet them and invited Stevie Ray to play on his next album. Jackson Browne jammed with them and hearing they didn’t have a record contract, offered free time in his studio to cut a demo.

Bowie’s new album turned out to be “Let’s Dance,” with Stevie Ray playing blistering solos on several songs, including the title track. The group’s demo tapes made their way to John Hammond, who signed everyone from Benny Goodman to Bruce Springsteen.

Hammond convinced Epic Records to sign Stevie Ray Vaughan, too. Stevie Ray insisted Double Trouble be part of the deal.

The band took off. Their first album, “Texas Flood,” came out in 1983. They toured for 18 months straight then returned to the studio for the followup, “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” Their fame grew.

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