How Stevie Ray Vaughan Caught the Attention of Eric Clapton From a David Bowie Song

Though not everyone is conscious of it, many peoples’ first introduction to Stevie Ray Vaughan was David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” This disco-tinged track saw Vaughan take on lead guitar duties, despite being a relative unknown at the time. This introduction made a huge impact on fellow guitarist David Bowie. Learn more about Clapton’s first impression of Vaughan, below.

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How Stevie Ray Vaughan Caught the Attention of Eric Clapton From a David Bowie Song

Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
To the song they’re playing on the radio
While color lights up your face
Sway through the crowd to an empty space

If you say run, I’ll run with you
And if you say hide, we’ll hide
Because my love for you would break my heart in two
If you should fall, into my arms and tremble like a flower

Bowie first met Vaughan while performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in the early ’80s. His playing blew Bowie away and moved him to tap the young guitar player for a studio gig. Together, they created one of Bowie’s most famed works: “Let’s Dance.”

Vaughan is more so known for his blues work, but he delivered some impressive, dance-floor-ready melodies on this Bowie staple. Vaughan’s playing caught the attention of many listeners the world over, including Eric Clapton.

“I was driving, and ‘Let’s Dance’ came on the radio,” Clapton once said. “I stopped my car and said, ‘I have to know who this guitar player is today. Not tomorrow, but today.’ That has only happened to me three or four times ever.”

Clapton was certainly not alone in that opinion of Vaughan. He would become known as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time, prior to his death in 1990. That prestige started with Bowie and his decision to take a risk on an unknown player. Revisit this track, below.

For fear your grace should fall
For fear tonight is all
You could look into my eyes
Under the moonlight, this serious moonlight

And if you say run, I’ll run with you
And if you say hide, we’ll hide
Because my love for you would break my heart in two
If you should fall, into my arms and tremble like a flower

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Crossroads Guitar Festival)