Johnny Winter CD

Also available in a 3-pack with SECOND WINTER and CAPTURED LIVE.
Personnel: Johnny Winter (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, harmonica); Johnny Winter; Big Walter Horton (harmonica); Albert Wynn Butler (tenor saxophone); Norman Ray (baritone saxophone); Karl Garin (trumpet); Peggy Bowers, Elsie Senter, Carrie Hossell (background vocals); Edgar Winter (alto saxophone, piano); Willie Dixon (acoustic bass); Tommy Shannon (electric bass); John Turner .
Audio Mixer: Thom Cadley.
Liner Note Author: Steven Paul.
Recording information: Nashville, TN (02/??/1969-03/05/1969); San Francisco, CA (02/??/1969-03/05/1969).
Photographers: Hiro ; Eddie Kramer; Sandy Speiser.
Among white blues singers of the 1960s, there were some who studied the music so intently they amazed even the genre's creators with their technical mastery. A select few, however, seemed to be born oozing authenticity, sounding just as soulful as the greatest black bluesmen while forging a completely new sound. Johnny Winter belonged in the second category. A long-haired hippie albino, he astounded initially skeptical listeners with his Howlin' Wolf-like vocals and wild Johnny Guitar Watson-esque guitar stylings. THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE showcases Winter's first taste of national exposure, first with his 1969 self-titled debut album, and then with his set at the Woodstock festival later the same year. The latter recording is the revelation here--a tornado of raging slide guitar and shouted vocals that sounds as if a late night Lone Star State roadhouse gig has been magically transported to the upstate New York farm. With several tracks clocking in at over 10 minutes ("Mean Town Blues," a hellacious Edgar Winter-led jam on "Tobacco Road"), the album showcases Johnny at his freest and most explosive.
Sony/BMG's Legacy imprint decided to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Woodstock by issuing a slew of double-disc deluxe packages by catalog artists who played the festival. Each slipcase contains the featured artist's entire performance at Woodstock and, as a bonus, an LP sleeve reproduction of a classic album issued near the time the festival occurred, as well as fine, individually,designed double-sided posters. Johnny Winter's volume in this series contains the remastered version of his self-titled debut album in a snazzy LP cover sleeve. It is one of, if not the greatest album in his entire catalog. More importantly, Johnny Winter's performance at Woodstock is, with the exception of one cut -- "Meantown Blues" -- the only one never to have been released in any form before now. This 64-minute, eight-song concert is an important historical document for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the absolutely killer show Winter and band put on. Winter appeared at the festival with his then-rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and "Uncle" John Turner (later to back Stevie Ray Vaughan in Double Trouble). Also appearing with the band on four cuts is Winter's brother Edgar on Hammond B-3. According to the liner notes what was to be played was unplanned, making for a stellar, unself-conscious public offering by an all but unknown artist to the Woodstock audience -- to be fair, there were two others at the time: Joe Cocker, and Crosby, Stills & Nash (with and without Neil Young). The set is divided between smoking originals -- an electric 12-string attack on "Meantown Blues" and a stomping "Leland Mississippi Blues," as well as well-chosen covers from his blues repertoire, including an electrifying version of J.B. Lenoir's "Mama, Talk to Your Daughter" to open the show. The version of B.B. King's "You Done Lost Your Good Thing" is the best cover version ever. The rhythm section here is so tight -- despite Winter's high-flying free-form improvisational attack. They are not only rocksteady, they help to control the dynamic and keep the show firmly on the ground. Of the material with Edgar, the reading of Bo Diddley's "I Can't Stand It," (which had recently been cut forQ (5/97, p.144) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...Winter's vocals rasp with a raw edge that matches his cranium-scooping guitar sound...Before the '70s, Winter was burrowing beneath some deep blues roots."
Down Beat (p.68) - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 - "His lines, even the speediest and the wildest, have a sense of order. Back then, Winter could really sing, too..."