Johnny/Edgar Winter Touring in 2014

[spacefreak]

Saw Johnny few years ago. He sat through all the show. He's not fast anymore and his voice lost it. But the feeling was still there.

[gryphs also]

Saw Gordon Lightfoot in the 70s and was great. Saw him a few years ago and he was fraile and lost all the power and depth in his voice. Saw Ray Charles twice in the early 80s (including the best concert I've ever seen) and had to pick my jaw off the floor. I saw him again mid-90s and he lost the dexterity to play the grand piano and it wasn't the same.

Saw Johnny Winter mid-70s. That is how I want to remember him.

[ronmac]

I just listened to a recent gig last night and he's still improving. But, yes, if you're looking for Johnny of the 1970-1994, you'll be disappointed. Conversely, if someone is expecting the Johnny of 1997-2007-ish, they'll be pleasantly surprised.

[rapidfirerob]

I saw him a few years ago as well and he stood up for part of the show. He is certainly better than he used to be in the 90s and until recently. He's a national treasure, so we should support him IMO.

[ronmac]

I saw him a few years ago as well and he stood up for part of the show. He is certainly better than he used to be in the 90s and until recently. He's a national treasure, so we should support him IMO.

That would be late 90s. I just want to distinguish the fact that he was in top form until '94. Then he disappeared for a short while and returned a shell of his former self.

[JKL2000]

"Got the Mona Lisa on my keister" -Illustrated Man

Johnny had a good run of albums from '84-'92. I lost track after that. I caught him in a Syracuse club back in 1988.
It was loud as hell, but great!

Wow, it was Lost Horizon, right? I was at that show too!

[JKL2000]

Saw Edgar and Johnny's show last night a the Tarrytown Music Hall. A probably sold-out show in this nice, laid back venue, with an enthusiastic crowd. Edgar and band played first - only for about an hour, maybe slightly less, but it was great! Edgar was relatively limber (compared to Johnny), and his band was relatively young and talented. Edgar did a lot of call-and-response scatting with the guitar player, which was fun but went on too long. The guitar player was really good. But I heard people saying they do the same call and response note-for-note every show, so it has a sort of canned quality. But for me, just seeing Edgar there up on stage with his mane was so cool, I didn't really mind. He also played some sax, and the best part was when he donned his keytar for a couple of numbers including Frankenstein, and played some pretty cool sounds on it. He claimed that he was the first person to wear a keyboard like that (was he?) so if that's true, he's one of the few that can get away with it now a days.

When Johnny came out, I sort of knew what to expect, but not exactly. Another guy sort of led him out or walked beside him, I think in case Johnny lost his footing or something. Johnny sat down on a stool, and didn't get up till the end - though he did return for a couple of encores. No standing for Highway 61 Revisited - in fact, I'm not sure they even played that, which I thought was a regular number. Edgar joined Johnny and played sax for one song - forget which, which was fun. Johnny's young guitar player seemed to double a lot of what Johnny was playing, so it was really hard for me to tell how Johnny's actual playing was. You really never heard just Johnny playing. But for the two encores, Johnny used a slide, so then I could hear him clearly and it sounded pretty good.

Johnny kept his eyes closed the whole time, and leaned over to the mike to croak/bark out the words. His voice sounded ok, seeing as he always just yells out the words in that way he does. There wasn't much interaction with the audience (from Johnny) at all. The one moment he did really, was at one point where several people were yelling out song titles and Johnny just shouted "Shut the fuck up!" Sort of good humoredly.

Overall, it was a great show - I don't hear that kind of music live very often, so it was a treat to see it performed by two legends. To me, Edgar is a funny sort of legend, because I have this very distinct memory of seeing this album in a record store, I assume circa 1975.



So it was a fun celebration of two legends. Edgar still seems to have some energy left, but you get the feeling Johnny may not be performing too much longer.

[ronmac]

Thanks for the review!

Johnny's one of my favorites, no doubt. A good objective description of what you saw. Johnny hasn't stood for years. He had a hip surgery years ago and prefers to sit. His guitarist is Paul Nelson, who also manages him and literally saved Johnny's life, IMO. He's a top session guitarist and has been managing Johnny for several years. He has been on stage with Johnny for a couple of years, though. He's the one who convinced Johnny to fire his long-time manager, Ted Slatus. It's quite a story. The book, "Raising Cane," is great and highly recommended. It's Johnny's story the way he wanted it told. And he holds nothing back.

I think it's pretty easy to tell Johnny's guitar from Paul's though. Johnny is so loud, too. His singing is not energetic at all, but he still shows some glimpses of his former self on the slower tunes. His playing is not what it used to be by any stretch. Maybe 50% what it used to be. His slide playing is still great. But, it's still entertaining to see him. Surprised, he didn't do Hwy 61.

Edgar is amazing. One of the more talented artists ever, IMO. Great sax player and keyboardist. He never can seem to end a song, though, huh? I've seen that go over really bad in front of the wrong crowd, once. He was part of an oldies show. He played 45 minutes and it was three songs: "Free Ride," "Frankenstein" and a really long "Tobacco Road," which never seemed to end with his scatting. He was getting booed like crazy at that gig. I've seen hims a few times. Twice with Leon Russell, which was fantastic. A couple of other times. Johnny, I've seen 13 times.

Seriously though, Edgar's a monster talent.

I always wanted to see them together, and with Rick Derringer, for that matter.

[JKL2000]

Thanks for the review!

Johnny's one of my favorites, no doubt. A good objective description of what you saw. Johnny hasn't stood for years. He had a hip surgery years ago and prefers to sit. His guitarist is Paul Nelson, who also manages him and literally saved Johnny's life, IMO. He's a top session guitarist and has been managing Johnny for several years. He has been on stage with Johnny for a couple of years, though. He's the one who convinced Johnny to fire his long-time manager, Ted Slatus. It's quite a story. The book, "Raising Cane," is great and highly recommended. It's Johnny's story the way he wanted it told. And he holds nothing back.

I think it's pretty easy to tell Johnny's guitar from Paul's though. Johnny is so loud, too. His singing is not energetic at all, but he still shows some glimpses of his former self on the slower tunes. His playing is not what it used to be by any stretch. Maybe 50% what it used to be. His slide playing is still great. But, it's still entertaining to see him. Surprised, he didn't do Hwy 61.

Edgar is amazing. One of the more talented artists ever, IMO. Great sax player and keyboardist. He never can seem to end a song, though, huh? I've seen that go over really bad in front of the wrong crowd, once. He was part of an oldies show. He played 45 minutes and it was three songs: "Free Ride," "Frankenstein" and a really long "Tobacco Road," which never seemed to end with his scatting. He was getting booed like crazy at that gig. I've seen hims a few times. Twice with Leon Russell, which was fantastic. A couple of other times. Johnny, I've seen 13 times.

Seriously though, Edgar's a monster talent.

I always wanted to see them together, and with Rick Derringer, for that matter.

Thanks - I knew the basic story of what happened with Johnny and his old manager - and Paul, I think from a link you posted to an article that gives the story. But I'd forgotten it was his guitar player who was his new manager. There was a slight air of it being a little weird that Johnny could stand, open his eyes, etc., but overall the rest of the band was really cool, seemed pretty appreciative of the crowd, and there was more the feeling that the crowd and the band were helping Johnny along a bit to enable him to continue his career - which is cool, he deserves that! Of course, I haven't even checked out any of his recent album, so I should.

[ronmac]

You'll hear a marked difference between his latest album and anything he did prior to '94. Night and day. Avoid "I'm a Bluesman." He was a mess and it never should have seen the light of day, IMO.