Jimmie Lee Vaughan

Jimmie Lee "Big Jim" Vaughan (September 6, 1921 – August 27, 1986) was the father of American blues guitarists Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Big Jim was known as being boisterous and quick-tempered. He had relatives who performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and Tommy Dorsey. Big Jim died on August 27, 1986 from asbestosis.

History

Born in Rockwall, Texas, Big Jim was the son of a sharecropper, growing up with his mother and seven siblings when his father died in 1928. At age sixteen, he dropped out of school and enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II.

After the war, Big Jim relocated to Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, and worked as a sales clerk at a 7-Eleven convenience store. One of Big Jim's frequent customers was Martha Cook, a graduate of Sunset High School. They married on January 13, 1950. Both Big Jim and Martha had a love for music. Though they didn't play any instruments, they liked dance to Western swing at local juke joints and ballrooms. He often played "42," a game with dominoes, with members of Bob Wills' band The Texas Playboys.

Martha gave birth to their first son James Lawrence "Jimmie" Vaughan on March 20, 1951. Three years later, they had another son named Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan. Big Jim soon found a new job as an asbestos worker, taking the family to various construction sites throughout the South. Eventually, they settled into a modest home in Oak Cliff. After long days at work, Big Jim liked to relax by drinking alcohol, though he would take his frustrations out on his family.

After working in a garage in his later years, Big Jim died at the Medical City Dallas Hospital on August 27, 1986 from asbestosis. He is buried in Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas.