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Johnny Winter

For over 40 years, Johnny Winter has been a guitar hero without equal. Signing to Columbia records in 1969, Johnny immediately laid out the blueprint for his fresh take on classic blues a prime combination for the legions of fans just discovering the blues via the likes of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. Throughout the '70s and '80s, Johnny was the unofficial torch-bearer for the blues, championing and aiding the careers of his idols like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.

Though now residing in New England, Winter remains a native Texan, born and bred in Beaumont, the town where the famous Spindletop gusher came in to kick off the "black gold" rush in 1901.

Growing up in rough-and-tumble town populated by oilfield wildcatters and shipyard workers, he spent long hours listening to a local deejay named J.P. Richardson - The Big Bopper of "Chantilly Lace" fame - and became hooked on 50's rock & roll. He formed his first band, Johnny and the Jammers, in 1959 at the age of 15, with his 12-year-old brother Edgar on keyboards.

Racial tensions in Beaumont were still high in those days. The town had been side to one of the worst race riots in Texas history just nine months before Johnny's birth. Mobs wandered the streets, businesses burned, martial law went into effect, and more than 2,000 uniformed National Guardsmen and Texas Rangers sealed off the town from the rest of the world until tempers cooled. Despite the brutal legacy, Johnny remembers never hesitating as a kid to venture into black neighborhoods to hear and play music.

Looking back, he believes people in the black community knew that he was sincere, that he was genuinely possessed by the blues. "Nothing ever happened to me. I went to black clubs all the time, and nobody ever bothered me. I always felt welcome." He also became friends with Clarence Garlow, a deejay at the black radio station KJET in Beaumont. Who opened Winter's eye's and ears to rural blues and Cajun music. Clarence, who recorded for the swamp boogie specialty label Goldband, KRCO, Frolic, Diamond, Moon-Lite, Hall-Way and other regional labels.

There's a famous story about a time in 1962 when Johnny and his brother went to see B.B. King at a Beaumont club called the Raven. The only whites in the crowd, they no doubt stood out. But Johnny already had his chops down and wanted to play with the revered B.B."I was about 17," Johnny remembers, "and B.B. didn't want to let me on stage at first. He asked me for a union card, and I had one. Also I kept sending people over to ask him to let me play. Finally, he decided that there enough people who wanted to hear me that, no matter if I was good or not, it would be worth it to let me on stage. He gave me his guitar and let me play. I got standing ovation, and he took his guitar back!"

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Album Review

Various artists: Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music

Read "Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music" reviewed by Jim Trageser


Maybe this half-century commemoration of the jny: Chicago-based, blues-focused label should have been titled, “The Last of the Independents." Almost alone of the mid-major labels that formerly thrived in the 1980s and '90s by specializing in non-mainstream styles of music, Alligator has managed to navigate stunning changes in the music business--from the vinyl of LPs and 45s to cassettes and CDs, and then, most recently, the virtual collapse of the retail record business and wholesale pivot to online ...

Film Review

Live in Sweden 1987

Read "Live in Sweden 1987" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini


Johnny Winter Live in Sweden 1987 MVD Visual 2016 * * * * C'era la neve a Stoccolma, a gennaio del 1987. E questa non è certo una novità. Ma nella capitale svedese c'erano anche Johnny Winter e il suo trio, senza dimenticare che a sorpresa era stato coinvolto per l'occasione anche un ospite prestigioso come Dr. John, all'anagrafe Malcolm John “Mac" Rebennack, pianista che sa essere raffinato ed elegante ma anche diretto e ...

5
Film Review

Johnny Winter: Down & Dirty

Read "Johnny Winter: Down & Dirty" reviewed by Doug Collette


Johnny Winter Down & Dirty Megaforce Records2016 Johnny Winter's life and times were so colorful that even a painstakingly conceived and executed documentary such as Down & Dirty almost begs credibility. Yet as closely as the film delves into the albino bluesman's lifestyle in his later years, on the road and off, it makes a viable case that his album Still Alive and Well (Columbia Records, 1973) was just the first step in his road ...

5
Bailey's Bundles

Johnny Winter And Live

Read "Johnny Winter And Live" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Johnny Winter And Johnny Winter And Live Columbia 1971 There is no other live rock and roll disc that is both so wrong and so perfect at the same time. Johnny Winter led a power trio in the early 1970s supplemented by guitarist Rick Derringer (who later broke through with the Derringer original “Rock and roll Hoochie-Coo" which Winter had also recorded). This particular live recording, Johnny Winter And Live smacks ...

34
Extended Analysis

Johnny Winter: True to the Blues - The Johnny Winter Story

Read "Johnny Winter: True to the Blues - The Johnny Winter Story" reviewed by John Kelman


With the release of From His Head to His Heart to His Hands earlier this year, Legacy Recordings proved it was possible to put together a career-spanning retrospective, even if the artist's discography--in this case, the late blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield--spanned several disconnected labels. Now, less than one month later, Legacy does it again with yet another bluesman who, over the years, has also lost much of the visibility and a lot of the commercial success he achieved from the ...

486
Film Review

Johnny Winter: Live Through The '70s

Read "Johnny Winter: Live Through The '70s" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


Johnny Winter Live Through The '70s Music Video Distributors 2008

Johnny Winter: Live Through the '70s is a treasure trove of rare, hard-to-find, powerful and lively electric guitar masterpieces. Featuring very good video (for its age) and clear (if a bit low in volume) sound, this DVD culls Johnny Winter's most incendiary performances during classic rock's heyday--the '70s. The fifteen performances on this DVD are more than memorable--they are unforgettable. Winter's backing ...

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1

Obituary

Blues legend Johnny Winter dies in Switzerland

Blues legend Johnny Winter dies in Switzerland

Source: Michael Ricci

Guitarist, singer and music producer Johnny Winter has died at age 70. Winter rose to fame in the late 1960s and '70s with his performances and recordings that included producing his childhood hero Muddy Waters. “I love blues. I don't mind a little rock and roll, too, as long as it's blues-based rock and roll," he told Guitar World in 2010. He was the older brother of Edgar Winter — also a music legend. Winter's representative, Carla Parisi, confirmed Thursday ...

148

Recording

Johnny Winter - Roots (2011)

Johnny Winter - Roots (2011)

Source: Something Else!

Johnny Winte returns to some of his earliest childhood favorites, and a few tracks from his first bar bands, on the aptly titled new project Roots. The Megaforce Records release boasts an all-star cast of guest artists including Derek Trucks, Vince Gill, Susan Tedeschi and his brother Edgar Winter, performing tracks originally done by everyone from Elmore James to Bobby “Blue" Bland. “They're songs I grew up really liking, things I was really influenced by," Winter told us. “It's very ...

294

Recording

Collectors' Choice Music Bows CCM Live Label with Johnny Winter, Poco, Hut Tuna, John Denver

Collectors' Choice Music Bows CCM Live Label with Johnny Winter, Poco, Hut Tuna, John Denver

Source: conqueroo

CD series launches with Johnny Winter, Hot Tuna, Poco and John Denver

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Collectors' Choice Music, the label that's come to be known for compelling and often unexpected CD reissues, has announced the launch of Collectors' Choice Music Live, a new label devoted to releasing great live performances, most of which have never previously been commercially available.

The series will launch April 20 with the release of four CDs: Johnny Winter And's Live at the Fillmore East ...

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Interview

Johnny Winter: The Blues' Last Outlaw

Johnny Winter: The Blues' Last Outlaw

Source: JamBase

By: Jarrod Dicker

When Old Man Winter comes to town He's got a special way of dropping in And spreading cheer around You know [the blues] is around the bend And he won't let you down When Old Man Winter comes to town

-Old Man Winter (Revisited) by The Moffatts

Johnny Winter It's been a cold 40 years of ...

150

Interview

Johnny Winter: The Blues' Last Bona Fide Outlaw

Johnny Winter: The Blues' Last Bona Fide Outlaw

Source: JamBase

By: Jarrod Dicker

When Old Man Winter comes to town He's got a special way of dropping in And spreading cheer around You know [the blues] is around the bend And he won't let you down When Old Man Winter comes to town

-Old Man Winter (Revisited) by The Moffatts

Johnny Winter It's been a cold 40 years of ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Johnny Winter...

Omnivore Recordings
2024

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Alligator Records: 50...

Alligator Records
2022

buy

Johnny Winter: True...

Legacy Recordings
2014

buy

I'm A Bluesman

Virgin Records
2004

buy

Videos

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