How Good WAS Johnny Winter? Take A Listen! #shorts

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John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and record producer.[2] Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances and slide guitar playing from the late 1960s into the early 2000s. He also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[3]

Early life
Johnny Winter was born in Beaumont, Texas, on February 23, 1944.[4] He and his younger brother Edgar Winter (born 1946) were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits.[4] Both were born with albinism. Their father a Leland, Mississippi native John Dawson Winter Jr. (1909–2001), was also a musician who played saxophone and guitar and sang at churches, weddings, Kiwanis and Rotary Club gatherings. Johnny and his brother began performing at an early age. When Winter was ten years old, the brothers appeared on a local children's show with Johnny playing ukulele.

Career
Early career
His recording career began at the age of 15, when his band Johnny and the Jammers released "School Day Blues" on a Houston record label.[4] 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 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.

Signing with Columbia Records

Johnny Winter, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1969
Winter got his biggest break in December 1968, when Mike Bloomfield, 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 City. As it happened, representatives of Columbia Records (which had released the Top Ten Bloomfield/Kooper/Stills 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 what was reportedly the largest advance in the history of the recording industry at that time—$600,000.[4]

Winter's first Columbia album, Johnny Winter, was recorded and released in 1969.[5] It featured the same backing musicians with whom he had recorded The Progressive Blues Experiment, bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner, plus Edgar Winter on keyboards and saxophone on 2 tracks, and (for his "Mean Mistreater") Willie Dixon on upright bass and Big Walter Horton on harmonica. The album featured a few selections that became Winter signature songs, including his song "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".[5]

The album's success coincided with Imperial Records picking up The Progressive Blues Experiment for wider release.[6] The same year, the Winter trio toured and performed at several rock festivals, including Woodstock.[6] With brother Edgar added as a full member of the group, Winter also recorded his second album, Second Winter, in Nashville in 1969.[7] The two-disc album only had three recorded sides (the fourth was blank). It introduced more staples of Winter's concerts, including Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" and Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited".[7] Johnny entered into a short-lived affair with Janis Joplin, which culminated at a concert at New York's Madison Square Garden, where Johnny joined her on stage to sing and perform

Some of Rod's Teaching Material -

[shakeyjake]

I don't care what anybody says he was a joy to work with! I had the blessing opportunity to open up for his band on multiple occasions! Johnny was one of the greatest slide guitar players on the planet! We all struggle with our addictions and troubles in life. Johnny was one of the greatest of all time! Rest in peace Blues brother

[JP]

One of the most underrated yet most talented.

[DarrelllCampbelll]

Every guitarist was paying attention to him back in the day

[cliffnelson]

I have almost all of his albums and I am 71 and been listening to his playing since I was 13 or so. And will listen till I no longer exist

[frankpantsOU]

I saw Johnny Winter from three feet away at a screaming hot dive bar in Cleveland, Ohio. 300 hot sweaty people packed into a smoke filled bar that only holds 200. All drunk on whiskey and smoking weed as he beat the crap out of us for three solid hours jamming that Texas slide blues git-tar. That's how you're supposed to see Johnny Winter. You're supposed to feel it. RIP Johnny Winter.

[Deetroiter]

Johnny and Edgar winter were the real deal. No nonsense, just pure raw talent.

[bartjoy]

One of the best blues guitarists of my generation. He was incredible live.

[pwd]

Got to see both Johny and Edgar. Great day!

[AlyceTaylor-yc]

Johnny and his brother were both so talented.

[MrIslandman]

I saw Johnny and Edgar at the Jacksonville Beach Civic Center the summer of '70, my ears rang for 3 days!

[Drummerjeffkazee]

Johnny was spectacular, along with his brother and Rick Derringer. He surrounded himself with the greatest musicians

[radiomindchatter]

That's Meantown Blues! Another great tune by Johnny

[jameskolesar]

Oh hell yes Johnny Winters kicked ass.! The man was Great.!!

[pinduro]

Saw him 3 times, each time a relentless onslaught of blues guitar mastery.

[fideliusconcrete]

In 1966 I got my first LP ever for Christmas. It was one of Johnny Winter.

[sbaxsbax]

No question, one of the best blues players.

[MrPorter]

Saw him 4 times and wish I could see today. RIP Johnny.

[michaelhues]

Johnny Winter played the "Royal Canadian Music Festival" on the July long weekend 1979. My bud and I thought it was Edgar Winter of Frankenstein fame so when we realized it wasn't that guy we left the floor and thought we'd grab some rest in the bleachers. By the second verse of the first song we were scrambling to get back to the floor to see Johnny Winter. He and his band BLEW us away. Incredible musicianship.

[LaFloridaHemingway]

Someone introduced me to his work, and I was amazed. He could play beautifully at lightning speed; his talent is otherworldly. Amazing guitarist and talent. Unforgettable.

[ronreith]

One of the greatest guitarists of all time