Johnny Winter
Texas lightning: the fastest, fiercest slide in blues rock
John Dawson Winter III was born in Beaumont, Texas, in 1944. Like his younger brother Edgar, he was born with albinism, and both boys grew up surrounded by music thanks to a father who played saxophone and guitar. Johnny absorbed the blues from radio and records, idolising Muddy Waters and B.B. King, and he was already recording as a teenager: his first single, School Day Blues, came out in 1959 when he was just fifteen. Through the 1960s he gigged across the Gulf Coast club circuit and cut a string of regional singles.
His breakthrough came quickly. After a national magazine spotlighted him as a hidden Texas guitar sensation, he sat in at the Fillmore East in December 1968, and Columbia Records signed him to what was reported as the largest advance of its time. His 1969 Columbia debut, Johnny Winter, and Second Winter, an unusual three-sided double album, showcased his trio with bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner. That summer he played Woodstock, cementing his reputation as one of the most explosive guitarists of the era.
In 1970 he formed Johnny Winter And with Rick Derringer, adding a harder rock edge. Live Johnny Winter And (1971), recorded at the Fillmore East and in Florida, became his only gold record. A battle with heroin sidelined him, but he returned in 1973 with Still Alive and Well. Later in the decade he produced Muddy Waters' Hard Again, I'm Ready and a live album, each of which won a Grammy, giving his hero a triumphant late-career revival and making Winter a key custodian of Chicago blues.
The 1980s and 1990s brought steady blues albums and touring, though his health and business affairs suffered under poor management. From 2005 guitarist Paul Nelson helped him recover and rebuild his career. Roots (2011) and Step Back (2014) found him revisiting the songs he loved with star guests including Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons and Joe Bonamassa. He died in a Swiss hotel in July 2014 while on tour, just days after a show in France, and Step Back won a posthumous Grammy for Best Blues Album.
The 10 greatest Johnny Winter solos
- 1Johnny Winter And · solo by Johnny Winter · 1971
- 2Johnny Winter · solo by Johnny Winter · 1969
- 3Johnny Winter And · solo by Johnny Winter · 1971
- 4Johnny Winter · solo by Johnny Winter · 1969
- 5Johnny Winter And · solo by Johnny Winter · 1970
- 6Johnny Winter · solo by Johnny Winter · 1969
- 7Johnny Winter · solo by Johnny Winter · 1969
- 8Johnny Winter · solo by Johnny Winter · 1969
- 9Johnny Winter · solo by Johnny Winter · 1969
- 10Johnny Winter · solo by Johnny Winter · 1973
The sound
Winter played with a plastic thumb pick and bare fingers, a hybrid approach inspired by country pickers like Chet Atkins and Merle Travis, which gave him both snap and speed. His signature was blistering slide guitar, played with a steel tube on his little finger, often on a Gibson Firebird, with a stinging, trebly bite. His lines tumbled out in rapid-fire flurries mixing Texas shuffle, Chicago blues and raw rock and roll energy. Few players could match his relentless intensity, and his gravelly howl of a voice matched the guitar's ferocity.
- Gibson Firebird V (1963) (guitar) His most famous instrument, especially for slide; Gibson later issued a signature model in his honour.
- Gibson ES-125 (guitar) An early hollow-body he played before his fame.
- Erlewine Lazer (guitar) A compact headless guitar he favoured from the 1980s onward.
- National resonator (guitar) Used for acoustic slide numbers such as Dallas.
- Fender Stratocaster (guitar) One of several electrics he used alongside his Gibsons.
- Gibson Flying V (guitar) Another Gibson he played at times during his career.
Covers
- Highway 61 Revisited, originally by Bob Dylan He turned Dylan's wordy rocker into a slide-guitar tornado.
- Johnny B. Goode, originally by Chuck Berry Faster and louder than the original, it became a crowd favourite.
- Memory Pain, originally by Percy Mayfield A soul-blues tune given a heavy, grinding trio treatment.
- It's My Own Fault, originally by B.B. King An extended live reading that turns B.B.'s blues into a marathon of tension and release.
- Jumpin' Jack Flash, originally by The Rolling Stones A twin-guitar assault with Rick Derringer that out-rocks many versions of the original.
- Silver Train, originally by The Rolling Stones A Jagger-Richards song he recorded with loose, rollicking slide.
Timeline
- 1944 Born on 23 February in Beaumont, Texas
- 1959 Releases his first single, School Day Blues, at fifteen
- 1968 Sits in at the Fillmore East and wins a record-breaking Columbia deal
- 1969 Releases Johnny Winter and Second Winter; plays Woodstock
- 1970 Forms Johnny Winter And with Rick Derringer
- 1971 Live Johnny Winter And becomes his only gold album
- 1973 Returns from addiction with Still Alive and Well
- 1977 Produces Muddy Waters' Grammy-winning comeback, Hard Again
- 1988 Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
- 2014 Dies near Zürich on 16 July; Step Back later wins a Grammy
Facts
- He was the first performer who was not African American to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
- His brother Edgar Winter, also born with albinism, became a star in his own right with the Edgar Winter Group.
- Second Winter was released as a three-sided LP, with the fourth side left blank.
- He produced three Muddy Waters albums that each won a Grammy.
- He cut his first record, School Day Blues, at the age of fifteen.
- He sued DC Comics over two characters in Jonah Hex, but the California courts ruled for the publisher on free-speech grounds.
- Gibson's Custom Shop released a Johnny Winter signature Firebird in 2008, presented to him by Slash.
- Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins wrote a song called Tribute to Johnny in his honour.
- Rolling Stone ranked him 63rd in its 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists.
- His last concert was at a blues festival in Cahors, France, just days before his death.