Johnny Winter
Encyclopedia
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III (born February 23, 1944) is an American
blues
guitar
ist, singer, and producer
. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award
-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters
. Since his time with Waters, Johnny Winter has recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums and continues to tour extensively. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 74th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"
, were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits. Both he and his brother, who were born with albinism
, began performing at an early age. When he was ten-years old, Winter appeared on a local children's show, playing ukelele and singing Everly Brothers songs with his brother.
His recording career began at the age of fifteen, when his band Johnny and the Jammers released "School Day Blues" on a Houston record label. During this same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Bobby Bland
. In the early days Winter would sometimes sit in with Roy Head
and The Traits when they performed in the Beaumont, Texas area, and in 1967, Winter recorded a single with The Traits: "Tramp" backed with "Parchman Farm
" (Universal Records 30496). In 1968, he released his first album The Progressive Blues Experiment
, on Austin's Sonobeat Records.
, whom he met and jammed with in Chicago, invited him to sing and play a song during a Bloomfield and Al Kooper
concert at the Fillmore East
in New York. As it happened, representatives of Columbia Records
(which had released the Top Ten Bloomfield/Kooper Super Session
album) were at the concert. Winter played and sang B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" to loud applause and, within a few days, was signed to reportedly what was then the largest advance in the history of the recording industry–$600,000.
Winter's first Columbia album, Johnny Winter
was recorded and released in 1969. It featured the same backing musicians with whom he recorded The Progressive Blues Experiment, bassist Tommy Shannon
and drummer Uncle John Turner, plus Edgar Winter on keyboards and saxophone, and (for his "Mean Mistreater") blues legends Willie Dixon
on upright bass and Big Walter Horton
on harmonica. The album featured a few selections that became Winter signature songs, including his composition "Dallas" (an acoustic blues, on which Winter played a steel-bodied, resonator guitar
), John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson
's "Good Morning Little School Girl", and B.B. King's "Be Careful With A Fool".
The album's success coincided with Imperial Records
picking up The Progressive Blues Experiment for wider release. The same year, the Winter trio toured and performed at several rock festivals, including Woodstock
. With brother Edgar added as a full member of the group, Winter also recorded his second album, Second Winter
in Nashville in 1969. The two-record album, which only had three recorded sides (the fourth was blank), introduced a couple more staples of Winter's concerts, including Chuck Berry
's "Johnny B. Goode
" and Bob Dylan
's "Highway 61 Revisited
".
, Johnny Winter did not perform with Jimi Hendrix
and Jim Morrison
on the 1968 infamous Hendrix bootleg album Woke Up This Morning and found Myself Dead
from New York City's Scene Club. According to Winter, "...I never even met Jim Morrison! There's a whole album of Jimi and Jim and I'm supposedly on the album but I don't think I am 'cause I never met Jim Morrison in my life! I'm sure I never, never played with Jim Morrison at all! I don't know how that [rumour] got started."
Beginning in 1969, the first of numerous Johnny Winter albums was released which were cobbled together from approximately fifteen singles (about 30 "sides") he recorded before signing with Columbia in 1969. Many were produced by Roy Ames, owner of Home Cooking Records/Clarity Music Publishing, who had briefly managed Winter. According to an article from the Houston Press
, Winter left town for the express purpose of getting away from him. Ames died on August 14, 2003 of natural causes at age 66. As Ames left no obvious heirs, the ownership rights of the Ames master recordings remains unclear. As Winter stated in an interview when the subject of Roy Ames came up, "This guy has screwed so many people it makes me mad to even talk about him."
and formed Edgar Winter's White Trash, an R&B/jazz-rock group, the original trio disbanded. Johnny Winter then formed a new band with the remnants of The McCoys
–guitarist Rick Derringer
, bassist Randy Jo Hobbs
, and drummer Randy Z (who was Derringer's brother, their family name being Zehringer). Originally to be called "Johnny Winter and The McCoys", the name was shortened to "Johnny Winter And", which was also the name of their first album
. The album included Derringer's "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
" and signaled a more rock-oriented direction for Winter. When Johnny Winter And began to tour, Randy Z was replaced with drummer Bobby Caldwell
. Their mixture of the new rock songs with Winter's blues songs was captured on the live album Live Johnny Winter And
. It included a new performance "It's My Own Fault", the song which brought Winter to the attention of Columbia Records.
Winter's momentum was throttled when he sank into heroin addiction during the Johnny Winter And days. After he sought treatment for and recovered from the addiction, manager Steve Paul
courageously put Winter in front of the music press to discuss the addiction candidly. By 1973, he returned to the music scene with Still Alive and Well
, a basic blend between blues and hard rock, whose title track was written by Rick Derringer. The follow-up album, Saints & Sinners, continued the same direction; this was followed by another concert set, Captured Live!
, which featured an extended performance of "Highway 61 Revisited". In 1975 Johnny returned to Bogalusa, Louisiana to produce an album for Thunderhead, a local band which included Pat Rush and Bobby "T" Torello, who would later play with Winter.
. In 1977, after Waters' long-time label Chess Records
went out of business, he got his chance. Winter brought Waters into the studio to record Hard Again
for Blue Sky Records
, a label set up by Winter's manager and distributed by Columbia. In addition to producing the album, Winter played guitar with Waters' veteran James Cotton
on harmonica. Winter produced two more studio albums for Waters, I'm Ready
(with Big Walter Horton on harmonica) and King Bee
and a best-selling live album Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live. The partnership produced three Grammy Awards for Waters and an additional Grammy for Winter's own Nothin' But the Blues
, with backing by members of Waters' band. Waters told Deep Blues author Robert Palmer that Winter had done remarkable work in reproducing the sound and atmosphere of Waters's vintage Chess Records
recordings of the 1950s. The albums gave Waters the highest profile and greatest financial successes of his life.
and Point Blank Records
, where he has focused on blues-oriented material. He continues to perform live, including festivals throughout North America and Europe. Winter has headlined such prestigious events as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Swedish Rock Fest, Warren Haynes X-mas jam, and Europe’s Rockpalast. He also performed with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan on the 40th anniversary of their debut. In 2007 and 2010, Winter performed at Eric Clapton
’s Crossroads Guitar Festival
s. Two guitar instructional DVDs have been produced by Cherry Lane Music
and the Hal Leonard Corporation. The Gibson Guitar Company released the signature Johnny Winter Firebird guitar
in a ceremony in Nashville with Slash
presenting.
In 2004, Winter received a Grammy nomination for his I’m a Bluesman album. Backing him are guitarist Paul Nelson, bassist Scott Spray, and drummer Vito Liuzzi. Beginning in 2007, a series of live Winter albums titled the Live Bootleg Series and a live DVD have all entered the Top 10 Billboard Blues charts. In 2009, The Woodstock Experience
album was released, which includes eight songs that Winter performed at the 1969 festival. Johnny Winter is signed to Megaforce Records
, who will release a new studio album titled Roots on September 27, 2011. It will include Winter's interpretation of eleven early blues and rock 'n' roll classics and feature several guest artists.
-winning albums by Muddy Waters, Hard Again
(1977), I'm Ready
(1978), and Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1979). Several Winter albums were also nominated for Grammy Awards. In 1980, Winter was on the cover of the first issue of Guitar World
and in 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, singer, and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
. Since his time with Waters, Johnny Winter has recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums and continues to tour extensively. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 Blues organizations from various parts of the world....
Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 74th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"
Early career
Johnny Winter, along with his brother Edgar WinterEdgar Winter
Edgar Holland Winter is an American musician. He is famous for being a multi-instrumentalist. He is a highly skilled keyboardist, saxophonist and percussionist. He often plays an instrument while singing. He was most successful in the 1970s with his band, The Edgar Winter Group, notably with their...
, were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits. Both he and his brother, who were born with albinism
Albinism
Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...
, began performing at an early age. When he was ten-years old, Winter appeared on a local children's show, playing ukelele and singing Everly Brothers songs with his brother.
His recording career began at the age of fifteen, when his band Johnny and the Jammers released "School Day Blues" on a Houston record label. During this same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Bobby Bland
Bobby Bland
Robert Calvin Bland better known as Bobby "Blue" Bland, is an American singer of blues and soul. He is an original member of the Beale Streeters, and is sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues"...
. In the early days Winter would sometimes sit in with Roy Head
Roy Head
Roy Head is an American singer, best known for his hit "Treat Her Right."-Career:Head achieved fame as a member of a musical group out from San Marcos, Texas known as The Traits. The group's sponsor landed their first recording contract in 1958 with TNT Music in San Antonio, Texas while they were...
and The Traits when they performed in the Beaumont, Texas area, and in 1967, Winter recorded a single with The Traits: "Tramp" backed with "Parchman Farm
Parchman Farm (song)
"Parchman Farm" is the title of a number of songs about Mississippi State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Farm, a hard time prison because of the Trusty system which was later outlawed....
" (Universal Records 30496). In 1968, he released his first album The Progressive Blues Experiment
The Progressive Blues Experiment
The Progressive Blues Experiment is the first album by Johnny Winter. The Progressive Blues Experiment was originally issued on Austin's famous Sonobeat Records label in 1968. When Winter signed to Columbia Records, the rights were sold to Imperial Records who reissued the album in 1969. Johnny...
, on Austin's Sonobeat Records.
Signing with Columbia Records
Winter caught his biggest break in December 1968, when Mike BloomfieldMike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
, whom he met and jammed with in Chicago, invited him to sing and play a song during a Bloomfield and Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
concert at the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
in New York. As it happened, representatives of Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
(which had released the Top Ten Bloomfield/Kooper Super Session
Super Session
-Personnel:* Al Kooper — vocals, piano, organ, ondioline, electric guitar, twelve-string guitar* Mike Bloomfield — guitars on side one, reissue tracks 10, 12, 13* Stephen Stills — guitars on side two, reissue track 11...
album) were at the concert. Winter played and sang B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" to loud applause and, within a few days, was signed to reportedly what was then the largest advance in the history of the recording industry–$600,000.
Winter's first Columbia album, Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter (album)
Johnny Winter is Johnny Winter's second official album, released in 1969. UK CBS issued this as a nine track late -69 in both stereo and mono ....
was recorded and released in 1969. It featured the same backing musicians with whom he recorded The Progressive Blues Experiment, bassist Tommy Shannon
Tommy Shannon
Tommy Shannon is an American bass guitarist best known as a member of the blues-rock group Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble and as an early bass player in Johnny Winter's band.-Biography:...
and drummer Uncle John Turner, plus Edgar Winter on keyboards and saxophone, and (for his "Mean Mistreater") blues legends Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
on upright bass and Big Walter Horton
Big Walter Horton
Walter Horton, better known as Big Walter Horton or Walter "Shakey" Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming and essentially shy man, Horton is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the history of blues...
on harmonica. The album featured a few selections that became Winter signature songs, including his composition "Dallas" (an acoustic blues, on which Winter played a steel-bodied, resonator guitar
Resonator guitar
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more spun metal cones instead of the wooden sound board . Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than conventional acoustic guitars which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion...
), John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson I
Sonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
's "Good Morning Little School Girl", and B.B. King's "Be Careful With A Fool".
The album's success coincided with Imperial Records
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
picking up The Progressive Blues Experiment for wider release. The same year, the Winter trio toured and performed at several rock festivals, including Woodstock
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
. With brother Edgar added as a full member of the group, Winter also recorded his second album, Second Winter
Second Winter
Second Winter is the third studio album by Texas blues guitarist Johnny Winter, released in 1969. The original plan was to edit the songs from the recording session into one album but it was later thought that all the recordings were good enough to be released. The album was released as a...
in Nashville in 1969. The two-record album, which only had three recorded sides (the fourth was blank), introduced a couple more staples of Winter's concerts, including Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
's "Johnny B. Goode
Johnny B. Goode
"Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock and roll song written and originally performed by American musician Chuck Berry. The song was a major hit among both black and white audiences peaking at #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.The song is one of Chuck Berry's...
" and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...
".
Unofficial albums
Contrary to urban legendUrban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
, Johnny Winter did not perform with Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
on the 1968 infamous Hendrix bootleg album Woke Up This Morning and found Myself Dead
Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead
Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix released in Canada 1980 by Stony Plain Recording Co. and in the USA by Red Lightnin' Records...
from New York City's Scene Club. According to Winter, "...I never even met Jim Morrison! There's a whole album of Jimi and Jim and I'm supposedly on the album but I don't think I am 'cause I never met Jim Morrison in my life! I'm sure I never, never played with Jim Morrison at all! I don't know how that [rumour] got started."
Beginning in 1969, the first of numerous Johnny Winter albums was released which were cobbled together from approximately fifteen singles (about 30 "sides") he recorded before signing with Columbia in 1969. Many were produced by Roy Ames, owner of Home Cooking Records/Clarity Music Publishing, who had briefly managed Winter. According to an article from the Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
, Winter left town for the express purpose of getting away from him. Ames died on August 14, 2003 of natural causes at age 66. As Ames left no obvious heirs, the ownership rights of the Ames master recordings remains unclear. As Winter stated in an interview when the subject of Roy Ames came up, "This guy has screwed so many people it makes me mad to even talk about him."
Johnny Winter And
In 1970, when his brother Edgar released a solo album EntranceEntrance (album)
-Track listing:All songs written by Edgar and Johnny Winter except where noted.#"Entrance" - 3:31#"Where Have You Gone" - 2:39#"Rise to Fall" - 4:04#"Fire and Ice" - 6:38#"Hung Up" - 3:14#"Back in the Blues" - 2:17#"Re-Entrance" - 2:29...
and formed Edgar Winter's White Trash, an R&B/jazz-rock group, the original trio disbanded. Johnny Winter then formed a new band with the remnants of The McCoys
The McCoys
The McCoys were a rock group that started in Union City, Indiana, in 1962.-Career:The original members, all from Union City, were guitarist Richard Zehringer , his brother Randy on drums, and bassist Dennis Kelly. This first line-up was known as The Rick Z Combo, and later known as Rick and the...
–guitarist Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was...
, bassist Randy Jo Hobbs
Randy Jo Hobbs
Randy Jo Hobbs was an American musician born in Winchester, Indiana. Hobbs played bass for The McCoys during the 1965-1969 period and in the bands of the brothers Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter during 1970-1976....
, and drummer Randy Z (who was Derringer's brother, their family name being Zehringer). Originally to be called "Johnny Winter and The McCoys", the name was shortened to "Johnny Winter And", which was also the name of their first album
Johnny Winter And
Johnny Winter And is the fourth studio album by Texas blues guitarist Johnny Winter, released in 1970. This was the first album released with Rick Derringer as sideman...
. The album included Derringer's "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
"Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" is a rock song written by Rick Derringer. It was first recorded by Johnny Winter with Derringer in 1970. In 1973, Derringer recorded a solo version and it became his only Top 40 chart hit, peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 at #23...
" and signaled a more rock-oriented direction for Winter. When Johnny Winter And began to tour, Randy Z was replaced with drummer Bobby Caldwell
Bobby Caldwell (drummer)
Bobby Caldwell is a drummer, songwriter, producer and arranger who co-founded rock cult bands Captain Beyond and Armageddon during the first part of the 1970s. Prior to these projects he played in some of Johnny Winter's seminal albums like Live Johnny Winter And and also on Saints and Sinners...
. Their mixture of the new rock songs with Winter's blues songs was captured on the live album Live Johnny Winter And
Live Johnny Winter And
Live Johnny Winter And is a 1971 album by Johnny Winter recorded live at various locations during the fall of 1970 including the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, and Pirate's World in Dania, Florida.- Track listing :...
. It included a new performance "It's My Own Fault", the song which brought Winter to the attention of Columbia Records.
Winter's momentum was throttled when he sank into heroin addiction during the Johnny Winter And days. After he sought treatment for and recovered from the addiction, manager Steve Paul
Steve Paul
Steve Paul is particularly notable as the one-time manager of Johnny Winter, among other related performers, as well as being the owner of Steve Paul's Scene and the founder of Blue Sky Records.-History:...
courageously put Winter in front of the music press to discuss the addiction candidly. By 1973, he returned to the music scene with Still Alive and Well
Still Alive and Well
Still Alive and Well is the fifth studio album by Johnny Winter, released in 1973.- Track listing :#"Rock Me Baby" - 3:49#"Can't You Feel It" - 3:01#"Cheap Tequila" - 4:05...
, a basic blend between blues and hard rock, whose title track was written by Rick Derringer. The follow-up album, Saints & Sinners, continued the same direction; this was followed by another concert set, Captured Live!
Captured Live!
- Track listing :# "Bony Moronie" - 6:49# "Roll With Me" - 4:48# "Rock & Roll People" - 5:37# "It's All Over Now" - 5:48# "Highway 61 Revisited" - 10:38...
, which featured an extended performance of "Highway 61 Revisited". In 1975 Johnny returned to Bogalusa, Louisiana to produce an album for Thunderhead, a local band which included Pat Rush and Bobby "T" Torello, who would later play with Winter.
Muddy Waters sessions
In live performances, Winter often told the story about how, as a child, he dreamed of playing with the blues guitarist Muddy WatersMuddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
. In 1977, after Waters' long-time label Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
went out of business, he got his chance. Winter brought Waters into the studio to record Hard Again
Hard Again
Hard Again is a 1977 Chicago-style electric blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by its producer, Johnny Winter, in a rough, bare-bones style...
for Blue Sky Records
Blue Sky Records
Blue Sky Records was a custom label created by Steve Paul for Columbia Records, featuring acts managed by Steve Paul, primarily Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, David Johansen and Muddy Waters.-History:...
, a label set up by Winter's manager and distributed by Columbia. In addition to producing the album, Winter played guitar with Waters' veteran James Cotton
James Cotton
James Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
on harmonica. Winter produced two more studio albums for Waters, I'm Ready
I'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)
I'm Ready is a 1978 album by Chicago blues veteran Muddy Waters. The second of Waters' Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978...
(with Big Walter Horton on harmonica) and King Bee
King Bee (album)
King Bee is the final release by blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. Released in 1981, it is third in a series of records done for the label Blue Sky Records under producer/guitarist Johnny Winter. Recorded in three days some of the band members, namely Winters and guitarist Bob Margolin,...
and a best-selling live album Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live. The partnership produced three Grammy Awards for Waters and an additional Grammy for Winter's own Nothin' But the Blues
Nothin' But the Blues
Nothin' But the Blues is an album by Elkie Brooks.Mastered by Steve Rooke at Abbey Road Studios and issued on CD and cassette in 1994 through Castle Records, the album reached number 58 and stayed in the UK charts for 2 weeks.- Track listing :...
, with backing by members of Waters' band. Waters told Deep Blues author Robert Palmer that Winter had done remarkable work in reproducing the sound and atmosphere of Waters's vintage Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
recordings of the 1950s. The albums gave Waters the highest profile and greatest financial successes of his life.
Later career
In 1984, Winter began recording for several labels, including Alligator RecordsAlligator Records
Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
and Point Blank Records
Point Blank Records
Point Blank Records is a record label subsidiary of Virgin Records.Point Blank Records was founded in 1998 by John Wooler. Wooler served as Deputy Head of A&R at Virgin Records UK from 1984-1994 and Senior Vice President of Virgin Records US from 1994-2002. He had a passion for blues, Americana...
, where he has focused on blues-oriented material. He continues to perform live, including festivals throughout North America and Europe. Winter has headlined such prestigious events as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Swedish Rock Fest, Warren Haynes X-mas jam, and Europe’s Rockpalast. He also performed with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan on the 40th anniversary of their debut. In 2007 and 2010, Winter performed at Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
’s Crossroads Guitar Festival
Crossroads Guitar Festival
The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a music festival and benefit concert first held in 2004 and again in 2007 and 2010. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua. The concerts are also intended to be a showcase for a variety of...
s. Two guitar instructional DVDs have been produced by Cherry Lane Music
Cherry Lane Music
Cherry Lane Music was founded in 1960 by Milton Okun in the apartment above the Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village of New York City. Cherry Lane Music creates a wide range of high quality sheet music, DVDs and educational tools for practicing musicians....
and the Hal Leonard Corporation. The Gibson Guitar Company released the signature Johnny Winter Firebird guitar
Gibson Firebird
The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Gibson from 1963 to the present.-History:The Gibson Guitar Corporation released several new styles during the 1950s to compete with Fender's instruments, such as the Telecaster and Stratocaster. After success with the Les Paul in...
in a ceremony in Nashville with Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
presenting.
In 2004, Winter received a Grammy nomination for his I’m a Bluesman album. Backing him are guitarist Paul Nelson, bassist Scott Spray, and drummer Vito Liuzzi. Beginning in 2007, a series of live Winter albums titled the Live Bootleg Series and a live DVD have all entered the Top 10 Billboard Blues charts. In 2009, The Woodstock Experience
The Woodstock Experience
The Woodstock Experience is a box consisting of a set of studio albums and live performances from the 1969 Woodstock Festival by the artists Santana, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, and Johnny Winter. Each set consists of the 1969 studio album by the artist as well as...
album was released, which includes eight songs that Winter performed at the 1969 festival. Johnny Winter is signed to Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label which was founded in 1982 by Jon and Marsha Zazula to publish the first works of Metallica. It has offices in New York and Philadelphia. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony Music Entertainment/RED Distribution...
, who will release a new studio album titled Roots on September 27, 2011. It will include Winter's interpretation of eleven early blues and rock 'n' roll classics and feature several guest artists.
Recognition
Winter produced three Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning albums by Muddy Waters, Hard Again
Hard Again
Hard Again is a 1977 Chicago-style electric blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by its producer, Johnny Winter, in a rough, bare-bones style...
(1977), I'm Ready
I'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)
I'm Ready is a 1978 album by Chicago blues veteran Muddy Waters. The second of Waters' Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978...
(1978), and Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1979). Several Winter albums were also nominated for Grammy Awards. In 1980, Winter was on the cover of the first issue of Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
and in 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
Discography
Throughout his career, Johnny Winter has been dogged by bootleg recordings and unauthorized re-releases of singles from his early pre-Columbia Records days. According to one biographer, only about fifteen percent of Winter's commercially-available recordings are legitimate, leaving 85 percent that he had no control over. Some of the releases were doctored with later overdubs by other musicians. Royalties were not Winter's primary concern, "I just don't want that bullshit out ... It's just bad music". The following lists Johnny Winter's official albums.Studio albums
- The Progressive Blues ExperimentThe Progressive Blues ExperimentThe Progressive Blues Experiment is the first album by Johnny Winter. The Progressive Blues Experiment was originally issued on Austin's famous Sonobeat Records label in 1968. When Winter signed to Columbia Records, the rights were sold to Imperial Records who reissued the album in 1969. Johnny...
(Sonobeat 1968, re-released by UA/Imperial 1969) - Johnny WinterJohnny Winter (album)Johnny Winter is Johnny Winter's second official album, released in 1969. UK CBS issued this as a nine track late -69 in both stereo and mono ....
(Columbia 1969) - Second WinterSecond WinterSecond Winter is the third studio album by Texas blues guitarist Johnny Winter, released in 1969. The original plan was to edit the songs from the recording session into one album but it was later thought that all the recordings were good enough to be released. The album was released as a...
(Columbia 1969) - Johnny Winter AndJohnny Winter AndJohnny Winter And is the fourth studio album by Texas blues guitarist Johnny Winter, released in 1970. This was the first album released with Rick Derringer as sideman...
(Columbia 1970) - Still Alive and WellStill Alive and WellStill Alive and Well is the fifth studio album by Johnny Winter, released in 1973.- Track listing :#"Rock Me Baby" - 3:49#"Can't You Feel It" - 3:01#"Cheap Tequila" - 4:05...
(Columbia 1973) - Saints & SinnersSaints & Sinners (Johnny Winter)Saints And Sinners is the sixth studio album by Johnny Winter, released in 1974.- Track listing :# "Stone County" - 3:32# "Blinded By Love" - 4:28# "Thirty Days" - 3:00...
(Columbia 1974) - John Dawson Winter IIIJohn Dawson Winter IIIJohn Dawson Winter III is the seventh studio album by Johnny Winter, released in 1974.-Track listing:#Rock & Roll People - 2:43#Golden Olden Days Of Rock & Roll - 3:01#Self Destructive Blues - 3:28#Raised On Rock - 4:39#Stranger - 3:54...
(Columbia 1974) - Nothin' But the BluesNothin' But the Blues (Johnny Winter)Nothin' But the Blues is a 1977 album by Johnny Winter. The album has the following dedication: "I'd like to dedicate this album to all the people who enjoy my kind of blues and especially to Muddy Waters for giving me the inspiration to do it and for giving the world a lifetime of great blues." -...
(Blue Sky 1977) - White, Hot and BlueWhite, Hot and Blue- Track listing :#"Walking by Myself"#"Slidin' In"#"Divin' Duck Blues"#"One Step at a Time"#"Nickel Blues"#"E.Z. Rider"#"Last Night"#"Messin' with the Kid"#"Honest I Do"- Personnel :*Johnny Winter - Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals...
(Blue Sky 1978) - Raisin' Cain (Blue Sky 1980)
- Guitar SlingerGuitar Slinger (album)- Track listing :#"It's My Life, Baby"#"Don't Take Advantage of Me"#"Iodine in My Coffee"#"Trick Bag"#"Mad Dog"#"Boot Hill"#"I Smell Trouble"#"Lights Out"#"Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye"#"My Soul"#"Walkin' Slow"...
(Alligator 1984) - Serious Business (Alligator 1985)
- Third DegreeThird Degree- Track listing :#"Mojo Boogie"#"Love, Life and Money"#"Evil on my Mind"#"See See Baby"#"Tin Pan Alley"#"I'm Good"#"Third Degree"#"Shake your Moneymaker"#"Bad Girl Blues"#"Broke and Lonely"- Personnel :...
(Alligator 1986) - The Winter of '88The Winter of '88- Track listing :#"Close To Me"#"Rain"#"Stranger Blues"#"Ain't That Just Like A Woman"#"World of Contradictions"#"Lightning"#"Looking For Trouble"#"Show Me"#"Anything For Your Love"#"Look Away"#"Mother Earth"...
(MCA/Voyager 1988) - Let Me In (Point Blank 1991)
- Hey, Where's Your Brother? (Point Blank 1992)
- I'm a Bluesman (Virgin 2004)
- Roots (Megaforce 2011)
Live albums
- Live Johnny Winter AndLive Johnny Winter AndLive Johnny Winter And is a 1971 album by Johnny Winter recorded live at various locations during the fall of 1970 including the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, and Pirate's World in Dania, Florida.- Track listing :...
(Columbia 1971) - Captured Live!Captured Live!- Track listing :# "Bony Moronie" - 6:49# "Roll With Me" - 4:48# "Rock & Roll People" - 5:37# "It's All Over Now" - 5:48# "Highway 61 Revisited" - 10:38...
(Blue Sky 1976) - TogetherTogether: Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter LiveTogether: Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter Live is a 1976 album by brothers Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter.-Track listing:#"Harlem Shuffle"#"Soul Man"#"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"...
with Edgar Winter (Blue Sky 1976) - Live In NYC '97Live In NYC '97Live in NYC '97 is a live album by blues musician Johnny Winter, recorded at the Bottom Line in Manhattan. Additional recording took place at Studio 900, New York City.-Track listing:# "Hide Away" - 7:28# "Medley:"...
(Virgin 1998) - Live Bootleg Series, Volumes 1–7 (Friday 2007–11)
- The Woodstock ExperienceThe Woodstock ExperienceThe Woodstock Experience is a box consisting of a set of studio albums and live performances from the 1969 Woodstock Festival by the artists Santana, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, and Johnny Winter. Each set consists of the 1969 studio album by the artist as well as...
(Sony/Legacy 2009) - Johnny Winter Live Fillmore East 10/3/70 (Collectors 2010)
- Rockpalast Blues Rock Legend Vol. 3 recorded in Essen April, 1979 (2011)
Compilation albums
- The Johnny Winter Story aka Raised on Rock (Columbia 1980)
- Scorchin' Blues (Columbia 1992)
- A Rock N' Roll Collection (Columbia 1994)
- Anthology (Columbia 1995)
- Return of Johnny Guitar (The Best of Johnny Winter 1984–86) (Empire 1996)
- White Hot Blues (Sony 1997)
- Deluxe Edition (Alligator 2001)
- The Best of Johnny Winter (Sony 2002)
- The Johnny Winter AnthologyThe Johnny Winter AnthologyThe Johnny Winter Anthology is the first collection to include songs from blues musician Johnny Winter's entire career, from his start at Imperial Records, to his rise to worldwide fame on Columbia and Blue Sky, to his late-career renaissance at Alligator, Pointblank and Virgin.-Disc one:# "Rollin'...
(Shout 2009)
As producer and guitarist
- Hard AgainHard AgainHard Again is a 1977 Chicago-style electric blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by its producer, Johnny Winter, in a rough, bare-bones style...
– Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
(1977) - I'm ReadyI'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)I'm Ready is a 1978 album by Chicago blues veteran Muddy Waters. The second of Waters' Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978...
– Muddy Waters (1978) - Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live – Muddy Waters (1979)
- King BeeKing Bee (album)King Bee is the final release by blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. Released in 1981, it is third in a series of records done for the label Blue Sky Records under producer/guitarist Johnny Winter. Recorded in three days some of the band members, namely Winters and guitarist Bob Margolin,...
– Muddy Waters (1980) - Whoopin – Sonny TerrySonny TerrySaunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.-Career:Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia...
(1984) - Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down – Muddy Waters & James CottonJames CottonJames Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
(2007)
External links
- JohnnyWinter.net - the official webpage
- Sonobeat Records website
- - website
- The Johnny Winter Story
- Thunderhead produced by Johnny Winter
- The JB's Johnny Winter Bootlegs Website
- Johnny Winter, The Guitar Slinger
- Paul Nelson, Guitarist w/Johnny Winter
- Wayne June, Drummer, Vocalist w/Johnny Winter
- Scott Spray, Bassist w/Johnny Winter
- Johnny Winter Interview with Jarrod Dicker @ Jambase(Nov 2009)
- Review of Breakin' It Up Breakin' It Down CD
- Johnny Winter By Don Menn - August 1974 Guitar Player
- Johnny Winter By Tom Guerra - January 2007 Vintage Guitar Magazine