Charley Wirz: the unsung hero who shaped Stevie Ray Vaughan
Every guitar legend seems to get their ideas from somewhere. Although someone like Jimi Hendrix seemed to have some sort of musical superpower whenever he picked up the instrument, he probably wouldn’t have gotten to where he is without listening to Muddy Waters first or playing with (and then getting sacked from) Little Richard’s band in the early 1960s. Stevie Ray Vaughan may have always paid tribute to the blues legends that came before him, but his real awakening moment came courtesy of Charley Wirz.
When talking about the greatest of all time, it usually comes down to the gear they used as much as their chops. I’m not saying that gear is the end all/be all for any artist, but if Tom Morello and The Edge had to play their Rage Against the Machine and U2 songs, respectively, without any kind of peddle setup, they would probably be laughed out of the room.
Vaughan already had the fingers to become a guitar master, but he needed a guitar that would give him what he needed. Despite the idea of him being married to his signature Fender Stratocaster for his entire life, Wirz was the one who gave Vaughan the sounds he heard in his head.
Looking under the hood of this guitar, this was the kind of technical job that even Eddie Van Halen would have scoffed at. It was still a Strat, to be sure, but Wirz’s way of fitting it out with DiMarzio parts and Danelectro pickups made Vaughan absolutely sing across some of his classic shows.
Having a good guitar tech is like having a long-lost brother for most guitar players, so when Wirz passed away midway through Vaughan’s glory years, he knew he needed to pay tribute to the man who helped him become legendary. While it made its first appearance on Soul to Soul, the live rendition of ‘Life Without You’ featured on In Step feels like Vaughan singing to a former lover, almost in awe that one of the most important people on his crew wasn’t there anymore.
If you were going to pay tribute to the person who made your guitar a work of genius, you would need to deliver on the solos, and nowhere has Vaughan made his six-string sound prettier than this song. While he always had a fairly vicious attack when playing guitar, the solo is one of the most emotional he’s ever laid down, almost like he’s taking out all of his sadness on the strings.
Considering where Vaughan was coming from on the rest of the album, it makes sense why he would be so in tune with his emotions. After years of drinking, this was the first album he made completely sober, which led to him appreciating the time that he did have with his friends that much more.
Fate tends to have a sick sense of humour, though, and Vaughan’s enlightened mental state didn’t last when he passed away in a horrific plane crash after playing a show with Eric Clapton in 1991. Wirz may have helped Vaughan realise the importance of everyone in your life, but it’s a shame that the rock world didn’t know what they had on their hands until Vaughan was long gone.
