Johnny Winter – The Johnny Winter Story – 2-CD GRT/Janus Recordings
This double CD collects 33 blues tracks from Johnny Winter’s career before signing with Columbia Records (1969). Rare versions of songs when his name & image weren’t yet known to blues enthusiasts. Early riveting takes & some surprises from the Beaumont, Texas-based Grammy Award-winning guitarist & Blues Hall of Fame inductee.
The songs are a variety of singles & cuts producers Ken Ritter & Roy C. Ames captured for the GRT label which became “The Johnny Winter Story” & on the Janus label for “About Blues” & “Early Times” LPs. Elvis had his Sun Records period before RCA & The Beatles had their early period with Tony Sheridan. What makes this set unique is that it’s collected on one CD now for prosperity. For young aficionados of the blues, it’s a good introduction. For older admirers an excellent document for completists.
The Johnny Winter Story – The GRT/Janus Recordings (Dropped Dec. 13–Omnivore/CD #1 – 18 @ 46:00/15 @ 43:00) is newly remastered & includes the 1969 liner notes in a handsome 16pp stitched insert.
Winter wanted only to play raw country blues & the corporate machinery preferred he develop into another Jimi Hendrix or Cream. Johnny wasn’t about flash as much as tradition in his high-energy blues showcase. The story of how he developed & detoured from the big attraction back to his roots is compelling.
The recordings while not perfectly pristine, do have clarity thanks to the remastering. The appreciation needs to be more of a historical nature, much the same as the early John Mayall collections. There are several Winter blues originals along with classics by John Lee Hooker, Mose Allison, John D. Loudermilk & Hank Ballard. Quite interesting.
Winter’s vocals aren’t the raw hard-boiled John Lee Hooker/Muddy Waters type. In the beginning, he’s more commercially toned whereas Johnny gets more engaged on “Crying In My Heart,” where he’s down deeper vocally. His guitar is juke-joint savoring with a dash of horns. An instrumental “Creepy,” is mindful of the “Love Is Strange,” melody approach.
Johnny’s vocals are eminently listenable but strained through an early 60s vocal style of Floyd Robinson, Roy Head, Bobby Lewis & Dee Clark. There are dips into novelty like “Road Runner,” done well but not what Winter was later famous for.
“Livin’ In the Blues,” while not a genuine Winter style has fire. It teeters in the fuzz-toned psychedelic style of Jimi Hendrix & guitarist Adrian Gurvitz & Gun (“Race With the Devil”). Winter falls back into a style more suitable to his image on “Leavin’ Blues” & plays slide guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL58ULBZuRk
“Going Down Slow” vocals developed closer to a slinky bluesy edge & away from the contrived mainstream blues vocal tone of the others. JW’s guitar is captured quite well on this. “Avocado Green,” is a Winter vocal strained through a Dylan colander with that intonation & phrasing. Interesting effort.
Johnny Winter could’ve been a crooner if “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” is any measure. His vocalism goes into a deep Johnny Tillotson-type vocal. A surprise. However, “Spiders of the Mind,” sounds closer to The Byrds with the chiming guitars & a return to Dylan’s vocalese. Not very bluesy. Concluding with “Please Come Home For Christmas,” it’s soaked in doo-wop street corner harmony. Another roll of the dice that sounds like it was recorded in the 50s.
No detailed information about additional musicians. Compilation produced by Cheryl Pawelski.
Highlights – CD #1: “That’s What Love Does,” “Crying In My Heart,” “The Guy You Left Behind,” “Broke & Lonely,” “Livin’ In the Blues” & “Leavin’ Blues.”
CD #2: “Bad News,” “Kind Hearted Woman,” “Going Down Slow” & “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.”
Johnny Winter (1944-2014) – B&W image courtesy of the Michael Ochs Archives. CD @ https://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/johnny-winter-story/ & eBay.
