"Lenny" is the tenth and final track on the first

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

album ''

Texas Flood ''Texas Flood'' is the debut studio album by the American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, released on June 13, 1983 by Epic Records. The album was named after a cover featured on the album, " Texas Flood", which was first ...

''. The song is in 4/4 time and notated in the key of

E flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D m ...

(but instruments are tuned down a half-step, therefore, the chordal structure is in E). It is played very slowly and freely, with Vaughan alternating between jazz-inflected chords and solo runs. The main chord featured in the song is a movable

Major 6th chord The term ''sixth chord'' refers to two different kinds of chord, the first in classical music and the second in modern popular music. The original meaning of the term is a ''chord in first inversion'', in other words with its third in the bass an ...

in which Vaughan applies moderate vibrato by use of

tremolo bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the string ...

. The solos incorporate both the

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

scale, E minor Pentatonic scale, and E Minor Blues scale. The style is influenced by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

ballads like " The Wind Cries Mary." The song itself was written and named for his wife at the time, Lenora. Vaughan also named one of his guitars " Lenny," which he used to play this side and also "

Riviera Paradise ''In Step'' is the fourth studio album by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble released in 1989. The title ''In Step'' can be seen as referring to Vaughan's new-found sobriety, following the years of drug and alcohol use that eventually led ...

." The track was often played at live shows.

References

Stevie Ray Vaughan songs 1980s instrumentals 1983 songs Songs written by Stevie Ray Vaughan {{blues-song-stub