Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter - Live Johnny Winter And - 1971 - Columbia

In its time, this was an enormously popular live album, especially among high-school kids just starting to discover blues-rock in the early '70s. Derived from live performances at the Fillmore East and at Pirate's World in Dania, FL, it is probably, in fairness, the best representation of Johnny Winter's sound from his prime years that one is likely to find -- the pity is that it's only about 40 minutes long, and is weighted very heavily toward Winter's covers of well-known rock & roll numbers. Considering that it was recorded along a tour promoting the Johnny Winter And album, one would expect that the band would have done a considerable number of tracks from that record, none of which are represented here. The highlights are of considerable value, however, including a searing rendition of the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" sandwiched between some much older repertory ("Great Balls of Fire," "Long Tall Sally," "Johnny B. Goode," etc.). Except for the opener, "Good Morning Little School Girl," on which Winter and the band try to show how many notes they can hit as quickly as they can, the players generally try for something a little more subtle and interesting, and one wishes that more of what they did had used the slow blues groove they settle into on "It's My Own Fault." Their version of "Great Balls of Fire" has some of that, mostly by default (no one did the song faster than Jerry Lee Lewis anyway), and also enough energy so one doesn't even "miss" the piano one usually expects somewhere in the song; "Long Tall Sally," by contrast, kicks in on overdrive and takes off from there. But for all of the musical virtues (and obvious joy) that Winter and company bring to those standards, the most interesting cuts here are "It's My Own Fault" and Winter's own "Mean Town Blues," and one wishes that there were more such tracks here. In that regard, it might be worthwhile for someone at Sony/Legacy to do a serious vault search and see if there are surviving tapes of any other numbers recorded from the two shows (and was it just two?) that were recorded for this album. © Bruce Eder © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-johnny-winter-and-r22058/review
Recorded live at Bill Graham's Fillmore East and Pirate's World, Dania, Florida, this is terrific early '70's blues rock from the great Johnny Winter and his band which includes Rick Derringer on guitar and vocals. This album is VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Johnny remains one of the preeminent white bluesmen of his generation. It's a pity the album is so short, but there is a double LP album "And And Live" available which contains both albums "Johnny Winter And" and "Live Johnny Winter And." Check out http://www.yee.ch/winter/winter_bio.html for info on Johnny's early career. Listen to Johnny Winter's classic 1969, "The Progressive Blues Experiment" album. Later albums like "Third Degree" and "Guitar Slinger" are all great examples of Johnny Winters talent. Check out Johnny Winter's "A Rock n' Roll Collection" @ JWINT/AR&RCOLL and his "Live In NYC '97" album @ JWINT/LIVENYC97

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1."Good Morning Little School Girl" - Sonny Boy Williamson 4:35
2."It's My Own Fault" - John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Jules Taub 12:14
3."Jumpin' Jack Flash" - Mick Jagger, Keith Richards 4:26
4."Rock And Roll Medley" - 6:46
a."Great Balls Of Fire" - Otis Blackwell, Jack Hammer
b."Long Tall Sally" - Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, Richard Penniman (aka Little Richard)
c."Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" - Dave "Curlee" Williams, James Faye "Roy" Hall
5."Mean Town Blues" - Johnny Winter 8:59
6."Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry 3:22

BAND

Johnny Winter - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Rick Derringer - Vocals, Guitar
Randy Jo Hobbs - Vocals, Bass
Bobby Caldwell - Drums, Percussion

REVIEWS

The band (And) were miraculous live. The sight of taill, spectral milk white Winter bounding across the stage to tower over the dark, stocky little Derringer, defiantly blowing hot licks and slick tricks right back at him, is one of the definitive images of the rock and roll concertm and the beautiful blistering sound track of those gigs can be heard on: Johnny Winter And Live. For my money Johnny Winter is the finest working white blues guitarist (an outrageous claim but not indefensible. - New Musical Express 15-Jul-1972:

Without doubt a true live classic. Recorded in 1971, mainly at the legendary Fillmore East, the Texan bluesrock albino presents himself from his best side. Tender and bitter blues stands against tough rock 'n' roll remakes like "Great Balls Of Fire", "Long Tall Sally" or "Johnny B. Goode". Despite occasional disharmonies the virtuose guitar fights between Winter and Rick Derringer seek for ones of same birth. In intensity, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is far beyond the Rolling Stones original recording. - ME/SOUNDS 9/93: *****

Johnny Winter And: Live (Columbia 30475, 1971)-If Jimi Hendrix is the definitive interpreter of Bob Dylan ("All Along the Watch Tower," "Like A Rolling Stone"), then Johnny Winter is the definitive interpreter of the Rolling Stones. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is as final a statement in Rock Music as can be hoped for. Add a corrosive "Johnny B. Goode" to the mix and the listener is transported to some Hard Rock Nirvana where Britney Spears and N'Cync are no where to be found. Oh, did I mention Winter could sing the blues? © http://www.yee.ch/winter/Disco2/winter_disco2_andlive.html
Johnny Winter and Live: Wow!!! What a hell of a live performance!! Johnny's slide and lead playing on his gem really pushes Rick Derringer to have to play his ass off! From the opening track of "Good Morning little School Girl", you these guys mean serious business up on the stage, at that time! Their version of Jumpin' Jack Flash" makes me forget who really wrote this song (nothing personal Mick and Keith). They tend to take this classic to the next level, which most artist can't even come close to doing in their lifetime! The first track on side two, Rock and Roll Melody: Great Balls of Fire, Long Tall Sally, into A Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On is nothing to be reckon' with! Again Johnny has Rick pushed to a blistering edge, when he does his solo on "Great Balls of Fire"!!! Also what's amazing is all the lushful playing Johnny does behind Rick to really compliment his! The whole band brings the end of this amazing R&R Melody to a "full tilt peak" at the end of "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On"!!! You can really hear the crowd's response to this classic performance afterwards as well (Damn!! I wish I was there!!)! "Mean Town Blues" is quite a follow up to the R&R Melody, you talk about Johnny's blues playing and singing, it's all there in this track. I once heard Buddy Guy mentioned he was the blues, well nothing personal Buddy, but I think Johnny deserves that under his belt! To me, Johnny is "truly the blues"! Why? He's really lived a hard blues life, plays and sings it like he's going to die the next moment, and is presently in a state of very ill health and condition, while all these other cats like Buddy Guy and BB King are reaping their rewards of digging in dirt to finally enjoy their gold mine they currently have and are well enjoying. Ok, enough of the side line talk, and I want to finish up with the last track "Johnny B. Goode", a great track and performance to end this classic live album with! The only thing I have to say is, I wish it was a double album with more juicy songs from the tour they did that year!!! © Daniel Larsen http://www.yee.ch/winter/Disco2/winter_disco2_andlive.html

SHORT BIO

Blues guitarist Johnny Winter became a major star in the late '60s and early '70s. Since that time he's confirmed his reputation in the blues by working with Muddy Waters and continuing to play in the style, despite musical fashion. Born in Beaumont, TX, Winter formed his first band at 14 with his brother Edgar in Beaumont, and spent his youth in recording studios cutting regional singles and in bars playing the blues. His discovery on a national level came via an article in Rolling Stone in 1968, which led to a management contract with New York club owner Steve Paul and a record deal with Columbia. His debut album (there are numerous albums of juvenilia), Johnny Winter, reached the charts in 1969. Starting out with a trio, Winter later formed a band with former members of the McCoys, including second guitarist Rick Derringer. It was called Johnny Winter And. He achieved a sales peak in 1971 with the gold-selling Live/Johnny Winter And. He returned in 1973 with Still Alive and Well, his highest-charting album. His albums became more overtly blues-oriented in the late '70s and he also produced several albums for Muddy Waters. In the '80s he switched to the blues label Alligator for three albums, and has since recorded for the labels MCA and Pointblank/Virgin. The early-2000s were quiet as far as new Winter recordings, but there were a number of significant reissues. Alligator issued the best of their years with the artist as Deluxe Edition in 2001, Columbia/Legacy covered his 1969-1971 period with their 2002 release Best of Johnny Winter, and Fuel 2000 came up with Winter's earliest recordings and compiled them on 2003's Winter Essentials 1960-1967. Sony reissued Winter's 1969 self-titled album with five bonus tracks in 2004, the same year the man returned with his first new album in nearly eight years, I'm a Bluesman. The archival reissues continued with Fuel's Introduction to Johnny Winter in 2006, which collected sides Winter recorded in his pre-Columbia years between 1960 and 1967 for the Dart, KCRO, Frolic, Todd, Hall-Way, and Pacemaker imprints. © William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

John Dawson "Johnny" Winter II, (b. February 23, 1944), Beaumont, TX, United States is an American blues guitarist, singer and producer. Johnny and Edgar Winter were nurtured at an early age by their parents in their musical pursuits. Johnny Winter is known for his southern blues and rock and roll style, as well as his physical appearance. Both he and his brother were born with albinism. Johnny Winter first began performing at an early age with his younger brother, Edgar Winter. Johnny's very first TV appearance was on a local childrens television show that aired in Houston and Beaumont markets called the Don Mahoney and Jeana Claire show. Don Mahoney was a blind singing cowboy/kiddie show host in the Houston area for many years. Jeana Claire was his sidekick and a former Louisiana Hayride backing vocalist. Their show ran in one form or another on Houston television from the early fifties, on into the late '80's (including reruns on Access Cable). Johnny and Edgar appeared on Mahoney's show when they were about ten years old, playing ukelele and singing. Unfortunately, archival footage of the Winter brothers appearance was destroyed; while Don did save some kinescopes of his shows from the fifties, Johnny and Edgar's duo was not one of them. His recording career began at the age of 15, when their 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 1968, Winter began playing in a trio with bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner. An article in Rolling Stone Magazine, written by Larry Sepulvado helped generate interest in the group. The album Johnny Winter was released near the end of that year. The following year they performed at numerous rock festivals including Woodstock. Contrary to urban legend, however, Johnny did not perform with Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison on the infamous Hendrix bootleg recording "Woke up this Morning and Found Myself Dead" from New York City's Scene Club. In his own words, "...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." Winter struggled with a heroin addiction in the early part of his career. After eventually recovering from the addiction, in 1973, he returned to the music scene in classic form with Still Alive and Well, a song written by Rick Derringer saluting Winter for overcoming his addiction. In live performances, Winter often tells the story about how, as a child, he dreamed of playing with the blues guitarist Muddy Waters. In 1977, he accomplished this goal and produced the Muddy Waters album Hard Again. In 1978, he experienced continued success with the production of Waters' I'm Ready. He followed this in 1980, by producing Muddy's final effort, the album King Bee. Their partnership produced a number of Grammy Award-winning recordings throughout, and he recorded the album Nothing but the Blues with members from Muddy Waters' band. There are quite a few Johnny Winter albums that are considered "non-official." A majority of these albums were produced by Roy Ames, owner of Home Cooking Records/Clarity Music Publishing. According to an article from the Houston Press , Johnny 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 Johnny 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."In a recent interview,Winter explained his current approach to music: "Most of the stuff I do is fairly old," he says, which befits the lifelong bluesman. But don't expect to hear "Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie Koo", (even though that was one of his signature songs back in the day). On this tour, Winter says firmly, "we're not playing any rock and roll at all." Despite experiencing several health crises in recent years, rendering him incapable of performing without being seated, Winter still tours regularly. Sitting down, the venerated musician concentrates on blues numbers and eschews his rock hits. Fans at an August 23, 2008 show in Bowling Green, Kentucky were therefore surprised when he covered not only blues songs such as Jimi Hendrix's "Red House" and Ray Charles' "Blackjack", but also two popular rock and roll songs: the Rolling Stones' "It's All Over Now", and Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited". Winter produced two Grammy Award-winning albums by Muddy Waters, Hard Again and I'm Ready. At least three of his own albums were also nominated for Grammy awards. He was one of the many acts to perform at the Woodstock Festival, playing a nine song set that featured his brother Edgar Winter, on two of the songs. He was on the cover of the first Guitar World in 1980. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. The Smashing Pumpkins paid homage to Winter by recording an instrumental song titled "Tribute to Johnny", in which they try to emulate Winter's unique sound. The song was originally intended for their highly acclaimed 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness but was rejected and eventually turned as b-side on their Zero single and also was included in their box-set The Aeroplane Flies High.