Johnny Winter is the man

[NeonKnight]

You like the great blues guitar players, with mind bending jaw dropping solos...

You like music that is played with full soul and emotion, like the late greats Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn...

Johnny Winter is your man. Fantastic singer, with jaw dropping guitar skills. This is a guy who played with the greats like Hendrix, Muddy Waters, and James Cotton.

I would suggest most anything live from his vast musical career, this is a guy with decades of stuff around.

A nice start here:



Right in the funky groove, great vocals, and some jaw bending guitar work throughout.

Then you can go early:



Here he is with his also amazing brother Edgar, who plays sax, keyboards and sings his soul out all on the same song!. Amazing performance.



The thing about Johnny to me is he seems so vastly under-rated. Everybody and his brother seems to know that the great Texas blues players are named Vaughn and Gibbons. FM radio standards both, but besides Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo, (A Derringer song?) the radio and mainstream Blues rock fans seem to ignore Johnny.

Great as they are, and I truly enjoy those players, my ears tell me Johnny is the man. Those vocals! That unique finger picking style! Everything he does, is just better, at least to these ears...

[NeonKnight]

Been on a huge Johnny Winter binge lately. RIP BTW.

Seen the man many times myself. First time in the late 70's at the old Felt Forum with Edgar. Seen him also for the Guitar Greats, an awesome performance along with Betts, Iommi and Gilmour among others.

Also seen him later in life, when he no longer could stand for his performances, but still smoked his guitar solos!

[Jerjo]

Never saw Johnny live and I hate that I missed one chance to see him live in the late 70s (I did get to see Edgar though). Helluva player and a great singer.

[ronmac]

Saw him 13 times. The greatest blues guitarist ever, IMO, although he would have flatly denied it. Nobody's body of work compares. And, a truly great singer.

I would avoid the live 97 recording, as it was when his decline was beginning.

Also avoid "I'm a Bluesman," which should never have seen the light of day. He was a wreck at the time, with his manager keeping him sedated. The final release is fine, but his voice is clearly showing the signs of his emphysema, although his playing did recover quite a bit from the lows of the previous years. Still, not the lightning-fast licks we heard years before.

He's only vastly under-rated by the market. The industry knew full well how great he was.

He could play circles around SRV.

Quite a story, too. I HIGHLY recommend the biography "Raisin Cain," which is the only authorized story he participated in. (I actually have a credit in the book.)

[mogrooves]

I caught him 6 or 8 times between '69 & '71, including And.

A nice start here:

[NeonKnight]

Saw him 13 times. The greatest blues guitarist ever, IMO, although he would have flatly denied it. Nobody's body of work compares. And, a truly great singer.

Wow 13 times! I was lucky enough to see him 6 or 7 times, and spread out over his career, so I used to think I had a handle on his career arc, but nothing like your history. Impressively envious right now.

I would avoid the live 97 recording, as it was when his decline was beginning.

I'm guessing you mean Live in NYC '97? I don't avoid that one at all, although for sure he was starting to decline.

He's only vastly under-rated by the market. The industry knew full well how great he was.

When you say "industry" I'm guessing you mean other rock/blues players? Absolutely true, but I think there are still tons of current rock players who are clueless when it comes to Johnny, all while idolizing SRV or Gibbons.

He could play circles around SRV.

Someone had to say it.

I had actually considered naming a thread something like Johnny vs. SRV, but decided it would be no contest.

About a decade ago I was jamming with a friend, big SRV guy, and I asked him what he thought of Johnny. He knew a hit or two, but I proceeded to blast Captured Live and blew his doors off. Changed his life with that one album.

Great as the "And" live album is, Captured is still one of my top picks, and my first Johnny album purchase when it first came out.

I loved the image on the back of Captured, Johnny in front of a huge crowd. He sounds so badass on that one, full of edgy crunchy gain.

[jake]

I can't begin to tell you what Johnny Winter means to me - I was introduced to his music by my late brother who was a crazy fan - at one point flying to Netherlands to catch him on a European tour. I just love his playing - just pure joy. I actually met him once just walking down the street in Greenwich Village - he was cool as can be and I was a quivering idiot fanboy. I have a pile of his music that gets me going every time. The King!
Here's a nice concert from BritishTV - playing with my buddy Jon Paris on bass and Bobby Torello on drums

[ronmac]

I'm guessing you mean Live in NYC '97? I don't avoid that one at all, although for sure he was for sure starting to decline.

Yeah, I guess I was a bit unfair. It was just his first live album since "Captured Live," the first evidence of his decline. I saw him not long after that release and thought I was witnessing his last performance. He was totally lost. Luckily, his guitar tech, Paul Nelson (a VERY accomplished player himself) convinced Johnny that his manager was medicating him and Johnny fired him. Paul eventually cleaned Johnny up by slowly diluting his intake to the point that he was clean. Then he got Johnny his Gibson contract back and literally saved the man's life.

When you say "industry" I'm guessing you mean other rock/blues players? Absolutely true, but I think there are still tons of current rock players who are clueless when it comes to Johnny, all while idolizing SRV or Gibbons.

Indeed.



I was lucky enough to get on the tour bus and meet him a couple of times. Each time, I gave him a recording. The first was him and Jimi in the studio. And the second was him with BB King.


Johnny with Gregg, Berry and Buddy Miles:



That unmistakable slide playing! Many don't know that, when the ABB recorded their historic Fillmore album, they were the opening band for Johnny Winter And.

[GuitarGeek]

. Everybody and his brother seems to know that the great Texas blues players are named Vaughn and Gibbons.

Great as SRV and the Rev. Billy G are, anyone who thinks only of them when you say "Texas blues" needs a music appreciation class. I would put Gatemouth Brown (though he didn't like being known merely as a bluesman, since he played so many different styles), T-Bone Walker, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Albert Collins (Master of the Telecaster) ahead of both Gibbons and Stevie Ray. I would consider SRV and Gibbons to be closer to mainstream rock music than straight blues.

As for Johnny Winter, I honestly haven't heard much of his stuff. Seems to me like the stuff I heard years ago, he seemed to have real shrill guitar tone I didn't really dig. I'd have to check out his stuff again and see what I think.

[mozo-pg]

! Many don't know that, when the ABB recorded their historic Fillmore album, they were the opening band for Johnny Winter And.

I'm a huge fan of the ABB and didn't know that.

[NeonKnight]

Great as SRV and the Rev. Billy G are, anyone who thinks only of them when you say "Texas blues" needs a music appreciation class. I would put Gatemouth Brown (though he didn't like being known merely as a bluesman, since he played so many different styles), T-Bone Walker, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Albert Collins (Master of the Telecaster) ahead of both Gibbons and Stevie Ray. I would consider SRV and Gibbons to be closer to mainstream rock music than straight blues.

I probably should have been more clear and said something like "Texas Blues Rock" players. No doubt the guys you mentioned are blues masters.

As for Johnny Winter, I honestly haven't heard much of his stuff. Seems to me like the stuff I heard years ago, he seemed to have real shrill guitar tone I didn't really dig. I'd have to check out his stuff again and see what I think.

I have to say I'm a bit surprised GG, I thought you would know him inside and out, as you do most things guitar.

That said, maybe this thread can remedy that a bit. Since you mentioned tone, I would go directly to Captured Live. Already mentioned how crunchy he sounds on that one. Plus his great slide work is sublime....

[ronmac]

^^ Yeah, that absolutely kills. ^^

Johnny's second guitar players have always been great, too. Randy Hobbs' playing is fantastic on this one.

And, of course, the most-underrated of them all (IMO), Rick Derringer's interplay with Johnny from "And Live" (which is every bit as good as Captured Live) is almost legendary.



I also consider Johnny one of the truly great rhythm players. Listen to his playing when the others take the lead.

[ronmac]

As for Johnny Winter, I honestly haven't heard much of his stuff. Seems to me like the stuff I heard years ago, he seemed to have real shrill guitar tone I didn't really dig. I'd have to check out his stuff again and see what I think.

I'm curious what you were listening to at the time. His guitar sound always changed. But, what tone!

[NeonKnight]

I can't begin to tell you what Johnny Winter means to me - I was introduced to his music by my late brother who was a crazy fan - at one point flying to Netherlands to catch him on a European tour. I just love his playing - just pure joy. I actually met him once just walking down the street in Greenwich Village - he was cool as can be and I was a quivering idiot fanboy. I have a pile of his music that gets me going every time. The King!
Here's a nice concert from BritishTV - playing with my buddy Jon Paris on bass and Bobby Torello on drums

Thanks for chiming in with those stories. Your brother had great taste! (RIP)

So you actually know Jon Paris? Way cool! He was there the night of the Guitar Greats! My late brother and I scalped tickets for that one and ended up in the 10th row. We are just visible in some of the crowd shots....

Somehow I'm not surprised that Johnny was as cool as can be. He always seemed a bit humble. The anti-rock star?

The King for sure!

[JKL2000]

[Jerjo]

I really didn't like Johnny's tone in the 80s on those Alligator LPs. Maybe that's what our GuitarGeek is referring to. It seemed rather shrill and thin compared to the wall of crunch he had in the late 60s through the 70s.

[GuitarGeek]

[QUOTE=NeonKnight;714005]I probably should have been more clear and said something like "Texas Blues Rock" players. No doubt the guys you mentioned are blues masters.

I have to say I'm a bit surprised GG, I thought you would know him inside and out, as you do most things guitar.

Well, ya know, as much music as there is, it's hard to to hear everything. To be honest, I'm kind of only now picking up on a lot of the blues stuff I should have heard years ago. You'd be surprised how little blues music I had in my collection just a few years ago. But picking up a budget priced multi-disc Blind Willie McTell anthology that Wayside Music was carrying kinda got me trying to rectify that. Just this week, I've been trying to work my way through a five disc T-Bone Walker set, while at the same time making my way through the Albert Collins catalog.

So I'll probably get to Johnny Winter at some point. I'll probably have to check out Captured Live and a couple other things. I'm sure I'd dig it if I had a chance to spend some time with it.

I'm curious what you were listening to at the time. His guitar sound always changed. But, what tone!

Well, one of the things I remember is that Letterman clip that was posted upthread, though listening to it now, his tone doesn't sound that bad. I think maybe I just tend to prefer players who use a glass slide, as it gets a warmer tone than the metal slide that Johnny used. You can't argue with the actual playing, though, that's for sure.

There were a couple other things I remember hearing over the years, one I think was a clip of him playing at Woodstock, but maybe that's a bad example, as it was back in the early 90's, when they first started unearthing some of the footage that didn't make it into the movie. As I recall, he's playing a Fender Electric XII, and again, I just remember not liking the tone.

I also have that Guitar Greats thing that NK mentioned, which was actually staged and shot by MTV. As I recall, it was Winter, Link Wray, Steve Cropper, Brian Setzer (who I believe had just broken up the Stray Cats), Dickie Betts (using a horn section on Ramblin' Man!), David Gilmour (playing a Roland GR-700 guitar synth on a great version of Murder), Neal Schon (backed only by Jonathan Cain on synths and a drum machine), and Tony Iommi and Lita Ford did a number together (with Lita looking really hot in black leather and playing a pink BC Rich Bich), and then there was a big jam at the end were most of the guitarists played Green Onions together (as I recall, my VHS tape ran out during Green Onions!). I need to dig that out and watch it again. .

[spellbound]

I feel fortunate to have seen Johnny in concert in the early-mid '70s. Mind-blowingly amazing guitarist/singer. I remember he seemed to understandably not care for the bright stage lights, so he sat cross-legged center stage, had the lights lowered, and played Highway 61 Revisited like it had never been played before.

[ronmac]

my buddy Jon Paris

Ooh, I missed that before. Jon is a great guy and quite the player himself.

I also forgot to mention that I learned a few years ago that Johnny's long-time touring drummer, Tom Compton (who also played with Alvin Lee), lived at the end of my street, here in Wexford, PA. I met him at the home of Christina Aguilera's parents, who's son my daughter dated for a short while. Oh, the stories ...

[ronmac]

I really didn't like Johnny's tone in the 80s on those Alligator LPs. Maybe that's what our GuitarGeek is referring to. It seemed rather shrill and thin compared to the wall of crunch he had in the late 60s through the 70s.

The Winter of '88 was especially bad. Johnny hated the 80s sound of that album. But, the playing is still killer. Those Alligator records are some of his best albums.

He also took a lot of heat for playing that headless Laser. He liked the lightweight feel, but many hated the tone. Plus, he always played everything at 11.

Well, ya know, as much music as there is, it's hard to to hear everything. To be honest, I'm kind of only now picking up on a lot of the blues stuff I should have heard years ago. You'd be surprised how little blues music I had in my collection just a few years ago. But picking up a budget priced multi-disc Blind Willie McTell anthology that Wayside Music was carrying kinda got me trying to rectify that. Just this week, I've been trying to work my way through a five disc T-Bone Walker set, while at the same time making my way through the Albert Collins catalog.

I absolutely LOVE anything pre-War. Check out some Bessie Smith while you're at it.

There were a couple other things I remember hearing over the years, one I think was a clip of him playing at Woodstock, but maybe that's a bad example, as it was back in the early 90's, when they first started unearthing some of the footage that didn't make it into the movie. As I recall, he's playing a Fender Electric XII, and again, I just remember not liking the tone.

His original band with Red Turner and Tommy Shannon (later of Double Trouble fame). That Woodstock footage is pretty crappy. That's the only part of his set that they filmed. The entire set is quite good.

I also have that Guitar Greats thing that NK mentioned, which was actually staged and shot by MTV. As I recall, it was Winter, Link Wray, Steve Cropper, Brian Setzer (who I believe had just broken up the Stray Cats), Dickie Betts (using a horn section on Ramblin' Man!), David Gilmour (playing a Roland GR-700 guitar synth on a great version of Murder), Neal Schon (backed only by Jonathan Cain on synths and a drum machine), and Tony Iommi and Lita Ford did a number together (with Lita looking really hot in black leather and playing a pink BC Rich Bich), and then there was a big jam at the end were most of the guitarists played Green Onions together (as I recall, my VHS tape ran out during Green Onions!). I need to dig that out and watch it again. .

Filmed at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ. That's the second place I saw Johnny play. Opening act was Roy Buchanan (who we missed) and Gamma (Ronnie Montrose's band, I believe). My car got broken into that night and the asshole cops were not very helpful.

[JKL2000]

I really didn't like Johnny's tone in the 80s on those Alligator LPs. Maybe that's what our GuitarGeek is referring to. It seemed rather shrill and thin compared to the wall of crunch he had in the late 60s through the 70s.

I'm pretty keen on that song though, and I love Johnny's voice on it.

[ronmac]

I think the best Alligator album is GuitarSlinger. His tone is so good.

I really like "Serious Business" because there's so much great fast playing on it.



Third Degree is also really great.

The Alligator period put out some great work while SRV was getting all the attention.

[NeonKnight]

Ooh, I missed that before. Jon is a great guy and quite the player himself.

I also forgot to mention that I learned a few years ago that Johnny's long-time touring drummer, Tom Compton (who also played with Alvin Lee), lived at the end of my street, here in Wexford, PA. I met him at the home of Christina Aguilera's parents, who's son my daughter dated for a short while. Oh, the stories ...

Very interesting. I never knew that Compton was in TYA. Was he at Woodstock?

The two of them, Compton and Paris, are as in the pocket as they come.

[NeonKnight]

Also interesting to hear that we both attended Guitar Greats. Probably bumped into you in the lobby near the bar....

About the Woodstock clip, just saw this one for the first time tonight, doesn't seem all that crappy to me...

[ronmac]

Very interesting. I never knew that Compton was in TYA. Was he at Woodstock?

The two of them, Compton and Paris, are as in the pocket as they come.

I don't think so. He played with Alvin Lee later. There might have been some incarnation of Ten Years After or Ten Years Later, but I'm not sure.

Also interesting to hear that we both attended Guitar Greats. Probably bumped into you in the lobby near the bar....

About the Woodstock clip, just saw this one for the first time tonight, doesn't seem all that crappy to me...

Hmm, I don't think I've seen this clip. Did this come out recently? Maybe I'm mixing things up.