Don't Mess with Stevie Ray LbNA #68133

“Don’t Mess with Texas” was a campaign slogan that was dreamed up by Tim McClure, an Austin Mad Man and one of the founders of the advertising agency GSD&M. The client was the Texas Department of Transportation, which was looking for an effective way to fight the growing problem of litter on Texas Highways. They asked McClure to produce a commercial in time to air during the telecast of the 1986 Cotton Bowl game. It almost didn’t happen. The theme was seen as too assertive and TxDot was uncomfortable with the concept. One of their board members commented, “Couldn’t we at least say please?” When McClure finally sold them on the idea, little time was left to get the commercial made. To make matters worse, he wanted to use blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, a rising star at the time, as the first Texas icon to utter the warning on the air, in order to appeal to the younger demographic, as they seemed to be the ones drinking beer, eating burgers and chucking trash out along the roadside. Well, Stevie Ray was prone to do what Stevie Ray wanted to do, when Stevie Ray wanted to do it. When McClure showed up at his place to drive him to where the sound track for the commercial was to be taped, he found the rock star passed out on the couch, wearing nothing but his trademark black gaucho hat. They woke him up long enough to get him dressed, then he wanted to watch a movie. Two hours later, he finally said he was ready to go, but insisted on taking his own car, which he did, and stopping by his own studio to pick out the perfect guitar. The production crew was made to wait. And wait. And wait. Stevie Ray strummed each guitar, of which there were many, until he finally picked one, his yellow Stratocaster. It was 3:00 in the afternoon before he finally showed up for the taping. He settled down in front of the mike and casually asked how to play “The Eyes of Texas”. Someone picks it out for him and Stevie looks at him with a wry smile and plays a beautiful, minute and a half quintessential Stevie Ray Vaughan version of “The Eyes of Texas”. It’s electrifying, epic and perfect….except for the fact that the riff can only be twenty-four seconds, so that he can say his line and the spot won’t run over thirty seconds. The playback track wasn’t wrapped up until 7:00 PM, primarily due to Stevie Ray’s propensity to launch into his own, fantastic guitar solos and regular breaks to step outside for a “smoke”. Upon leaving the recording studio, Stevie Ray says he’ll meet everyone at the sound stage where the video is to be filmed and wheels away into the Central Texas winter night. Of course, he doesn’t show up, so they have to go looking for him, finally finding him at the infamous Continental Club, where he is drinking, sniffing and jumping on and off stage, adding to the lore of legendary live music that makes Austin what it is today. He finally calls at midnight, when he is enroute to the film shoot. This gives the crew time enough to fill the room up with a haze of smoke, light it perfectly and get into position, so that Stevie Ray can walk right in, play the riff a few times and leave, releasing them all. When Stevie Ray finally arrives, he hits it off with the make-up girl, then explains that he can’t play in a room full of smoke, despite the fact that he smokes and plays nightly in smoke-filled clubs and concert venues. So, while Stevie is partying down in make-up, the crew spends an hour and a half clearing the smoke from inside the stage. When the air is finally clear, Stevie Ray comes back on stage, sits down and follows directions without complaint. He nails each take perfectly and in forty-five minutes filming is finished, ending when Stevie Ray, in front of a huge Texas flag, looks up from beneath his black hat and utters the now familiar phrase, “Don’t Mess with Texas”. Now, in order to meet the deadline for the commercial to be aired, the film was carried on a commercial airliner by hand to Dallas, where it was processed and transferred correctly. As planned, the inaugural “Don’t Mess with Texas” commercial aired during the Cotton Bowl, capturing the attention of millions watching it across the state. It was an instant success, both because of, and in spite of, the genius of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Directions:
Stop at park headquarters and pay the entrance fee and get a map. To find the box go straight in until you see the sign on the left for camping. Turn left, then turn right at the entrance to camping sites 41-80, noticing to your left the entrance to the Onion Creek Trail. Park at the rest rooms and walk back to the trail. At the intersection, keep right. Here's where it gets a little tricky as there are no good landmarks. I counted 500 steps from the intersection, but I realize that at that many steps, the distance will not be very accurate, but at least you have an idea of the distance. You will be looking for a small to medium size oak tree on the right about 2 feet off the trail that is Rocking! (Several rocks have been stacked in front of the tree, leaning against the trunk). At that tree, go right off trail 30 steps to a large live oak that is leaning a bit to the right, unlike Stevie Ray. You will find him lying at the base of the tree, Stoned!