OAK CLIFF’S GOT THE BLUES

Neighborhood haunts of the world-famous Vaughan brothers

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Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April. There is a statue of the legendary bluesman, who died in a helicopter crash in 1990, in the town where he first made his mark, Austin.

Here in their hometown, Oak Cliff, a monument to Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan is in the works. The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs has $74,000 to pay for artwork honoring the musical brothers. And they’ve identified a spot for it in Kiest Park, near the Vaughan brothers’ childhood home.

As is the problem with much of the city’s public art, there is no funding for maintenance. So Vaughan supporters, including Oak Cliff resident Kirby Warnock, are raising money for that. They need to raise $68,000 to maintain the proposed artwork for 20 years. Anyone can contribute at vaughanbrosart.com.

Kiest Park is one of many Oak Cliff sites that were meaningful to the Vaughan brothers. We wanted to run down a few more of them.

The original 7-Eleven

345 S. Edgefield

The Vaughan brothers’ dad, “Big Jim,” worked at the original 7-Eleven store on Edgefield at 12th. This is where he met his wife to be, Martha Cook, after he returned home from World War II. Big Jim later was an asbestos worker; he died of asbestosis in 1986. Martha died in 2009.

The family home

2557 Glenfield

Jim and Martha Vaughan bought this modest three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in the late 1950s, and she lived there for approximately 50 years. Stevie lived there until 1972, when he dropped out of school and moved to Austin. The current owners are aware of its significance.

Lenore Kirk Hall Elementary School

2120 Keats

This elementary school opened in 1955 when Stevie Ray Vaughan was 1 year old and was built for $560,000. He learned to play the guitar at age 7; classmates from L.K. Hall remember him, even in elementary school, as a kid who was obsessed with guitar.

L.V. Stockard Middle School

2300 S. Ravinia

Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan attended L.V. Stockard Middle School and not Greiner, as people often assume. They did attend the old YMCA, which is now the Greiner Middle School gym. The Stevie Ray Vaughn Memorial Scholarship, established by the artist’s mother and friends in 1993, is given annually to a Greiner music student. This year, about $16,000 was awarded. Greiner, which has a performing arts academy, also has an auditorium named for Stevie Ray Vaughan,.

Kimball High School

3606 S. Westmoreland

The story goes that on the day Jimi Hendrix died, Sept. 18, 1970, a distraught Stevie Ray Vaughan went to the Kimball principal and asked to hold an assembly in honor of his guitar hero. Who could concentrate on schoolwork on such a tragic day? But the principal called Hendrix a druggie and told Vaughan to forget about it. Stevie dropped out of Kimball without graduating and moved to Austin with his band Blackbird.

Candy’s Flare at the National Guard Armory

3130 W. Redbird Lane

Candy’s Flare was a concert venue inside the National Guard Armory on Red Bird Lane. In the 1960s and ’70s, any Oak Cliff garage band that was anything performed there, along with a few touring acts. Local bands dressed like the Beatles. One of the most popular was the Chessmen, whose members included Jimmie Vaughan and Doyle Brahmhall.

Rocket Skating Palace

416 Cockrell Hill Road

This skating rink was the site of many a Friday-night sock hop. Garage bands played there on the weekends, including Jimmie Vaughan’s first band, The Swinging Pendulums. Vaughan played there with his first band, A Cast of Thousands, whose membership also included character actor and fellow Kimball alumnus Stephen Tobolowski.

Jaylee Record Shop

610 W. Jefferson

Jimmy Wallace, a musician and founder of the Dallas International Guitar Festival, told “Buddy” magazine that before gigs, Oak Cliff musicians including Stevie Ray Vaughan often met up at Jaylee’s to “trade licks” on their guitars.

Laurel Land Cemetery

6000 South R.L. Thornton Freeway

Laurel Land is a beautiful cemetery on the outskirts of Oak Cliff, and it’s the final resting place of one of our neighborhood’s most famous sons.

—Rachel Stone