Johnny Winter
Instruments: electric guitar, slide guitar, vocals
Lifespan:1944-
Style synopsis: There is no question that for pure blues guitar
talent, Johnny Winter needs to be mentioned when looking at blues
musicians. Johnny has spent his life mastering a number of varied
blues styles and that what makes him such a treat to listen to. In
general, though, when you think of Johnny's style you think of
undiminished scorchin' fury and passion. Using an unwound G string and
lighter guage strings helps Johnny do the bending that is his
trademark. You here the influence of T-Bone Walker in his songs by the
way the feel of his songs change by starting in one meter and changing
to another. With Johnny it is hard to say where the blues stops and
rock 'n' roll begins. He always has played both of them. While this
seems to bother some blues purists, as Muddy said "The Blues had
a baby and they named it Rock 'N' Roll".
Representative Recordings: I started listening to "The Guitar Slinger" to hear him play Jonny B. Goode and Jumpin' Jack Flash in the late Sixties. He also had some blues songs on those primarily rock albumns. This helped me discover the blues and I am glad they did. My favorite recordings are:
(1) Scorchin' Blues (1992), Sony Music - part of an excellent blues masters series by Sony
(2) Nothin' But The Blues (1977, Blue Sky) - backed by Muddy Waters band
(3) Walkin' By Myself (1992, Relix Records) - live Johnny, which is always the best
Contributor: Mike "Mojo" Sutton(msutton@iadfw.net)
Contributor's comments: Johnny is one of the truly fine blues revival musicians. By revival I mean that it is people like Johnny, Stevie Ray, Robert Cray, etc that through their deep committment to their music and the informing of their fans about the originators of the blues they idolize, they have helped the blues stay alive and not fade like so many other music styles. It was Johnny serving as Muddy Water's producer that helped get some of the best from Muddy in the recording studio.
Johnny best describes blues music by saying, "It's a living music. It makes me feel good, whether, I am playing it or listening to it. That hasn't changed since the first day I heard it. One of things that's fascinating to me is not quite understanding why I like it. It's mysterious, but, whatever it is, it still works the same way on me. I don't feel good if I'm not playing, not hearing it, there's a real hole in my life. For me, blues is a necessity." I know as real fan of the blues, I don't think anybody has said it better.
Picture of Johnny walkin down the road was done by the Contributor (i.e. "Mojo")