John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicag ...

. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the " 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Early life

Johnny Winter was born in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont– Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston ( ...

, on February 23, 1944. He and younger brother

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

(born 1946) were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits. Both were born with

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

. Their father,

Leland, Mississippi Leland is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. It is located within the Mississippi Delta, on the banks of Deer Creek. The population was 4,481 at the 2010 census. It was once a railway town and had long been a center of cott ...

native John Dawson Winter Jr. (1909–2001), was also a musician who played saxophone and guitar and sang at churches, weddings, Kiwanis and Rotary Club gatherings. Johnny and his brother began performing at an early age. When Winter was ten years old, the brothers appeared on a local children's show with Johnny playing ukulele.

Career

Early career

His recording career began at the age of 15, when his 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 the early days, Winter would sometimes sit in with Roy Head and the Traits when they performed in the Beaumont area, and in 1967, Winter recorded a single with the Traits: "

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...

" backed with "

Parchman Farm Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), also known as Parchman Farm, is a maximum-security prison farm located in unincorporated Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. Occupying about of land,The Progressive Blues Experiment'', on Austin's Sonobeat Records.

Signing with Columbia Records

Winter caught his biggest break in December 1968, when Mike Bloomfield, whom he met and jammed with in Chicago, invited him to sing and play a song during a Bloomfield and Al Kooper concert at the Fillmore East in New York City. As it happened, representatives of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

(which had released the Top Ten Bloomfield/Kooper/ Stills ''

Super Session ''Super Session'' is an album by Al Kooper, with guitarists Mike Bloomfield on the first half and Stephen Stills on the second half of the album. Released by Columbia Records in 1968, it peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200 during a 37-week ...

'' album) were at the concert. Winter played and sang B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" to loud applause, and within a few days, was signed to what was reportedly the largest advance in the history of the recording industry at that time—$600,000. Winter's first Columbia album, '' Johnny Winter'', was recorded and released in 1969. It featured the same backing musicians with whom he had recorded ''The Progressive Blues Experiment'', bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner, plus Edgar Winter on keyboards and saxophone on 2 tracks, and (for his "Mean Mistreater")

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

on upright bass and Big Walter Horton on harmonica. The album featured a few selections that became Winter signature songs, including his composition "Dallas" (an acoustic blues, on which Winter played a steel-bodied, resonator guitar), John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's " Good Morning Little School Girl", and B.B. King's "Be Careful with a Fool". The album's success coincided with Imperial Records picking up ''The Progressive Blues Experiment'' for wider release. The same year, the Winter trio toured and performed at several rock festivals, including

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

. With brother Edgar added as a full member of the group, Winter also recorded his second album, '' Second Winter'', in Nashville in 1969. The two-disc album only had three recorded sides (the fourth was blank). It introduced more staples of Winter's concerts, including

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

's " Johnny B. Goode" and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

Highway 61 Revisited ''Highway 61 Revisited'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing band on eve ...

". Johnny entered into a short-lived affair with

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence. ...

, which culminated at a concert at New York's

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

, where Johnny joined her on stage to sing and perform.

Unofficial albums

Contrary to

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

, Johnny Winter did not perform with

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and err ...

on the infamous 1968 Hendrix bootleg album '' Woke up this Morning and Found Myself Dead'' from New York City's the Scene club. According to Winter, "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

umor Umor ( bg, Умор) was the ruler of Bulgaria in 766. According to the Namelist of Bulgarian Rulers, Umor reigned for only 40 days in 766 and belonged to the Ukil clan, which makes him a relative of the former rulers Vinekh and possibly Kormiso ...

got started." Beginning in 1969, the first of numerous Johnny Winter albums was released which were cobbled together from approximately fifteen singles (about 30 "sides") he recorded before signing with Columbia in 1969. Many were produced by Roy Ames, owner of Home Cooking Records/Clarity Music Publishing, who had briefly managed Winter. According to an article from the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

'', 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 remain unclear. As Winter 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."

Johnny Winter And

In 1970, when his brother Edgar released a solo album '' Entrance'' and formed Edgar Winter's White Trash, an R&B/

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

-rock group, the original trio disbanded. Johnny Winter then formed a new band with the remnants of the McCoys—guitarist Rick Derringer, bassist Randy Jo Hobbs, and drummer Randy Z (who was Derringer's brother, their family name being Zehringer). Originally to be called "Johnny Winter and the McCoys", the name was shortened to "Johnny Winter And", which was also the name of their first album. The album included Derringer's " Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" and signaled a more rock-oriented direction for Winter. When Johnny Winter And began to tour, Randy Z was replaced with drummer Bobby Caldwell. Their mixture of the new rock songs with Winter's blues songs was captured on the live album ''

Live Johnny Winter And ''Live Johnny Winter And'' is an album by Johnny Winter, recorded with his group Johnny Winter And live during the fall of 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York City and at Pirate's World in Dania, Florida. It was released in March 1971. Besi ...

''. It included a new performance of "It's My Own Fault", the song which brought Winter to the attention of Columbia Records. Winter's momentum was throttled when he sank into heroin addiction during the Johnny Winter And days. After he sought treatment for and recovered from the addiction, Winter was put in front of the music press by manager Steve Paul to discuss the addiction candidly. By 1973, he returned to the music scene with the release of '' Still Alive and Well'', a basic blend of blues and hard rock, whose title track was written by Rick Derringer. His comeback concert at Long Island, New York's

Nassau Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...

featured the "And" line-up minus Rick Derringer and Bobby Caldwell. Also performing on stage was Johnny's wife Susie. '' Saints & Sinners'' and '' John Dawson Winter III'', two albums released in 1974, continue in the same direction. In 1975, Johnny returned to Bogalusa, Louisiana, to produce an album for Thunderhead, a Southern rock band which included Pat Rush and Bobby "T" Torello, who would later play with Winter. A second live Winter album, '' Captured Live!'', was released in 1976 and features an extended performance of "Highway 61 Revisited".

Muddy Waters sessions

In live performances, Winter often told the story about how, as a child, he dreamed of playing with the blues guitarist

. He got his chance in 1974, when blues artists came together to honor Waters, the musician responsible for bringing blues to Chicago; the resulting concert presented many blues classics and was the start of a TV series, ''

Soundstage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...

'' (this particular session was called "Blues Summit in Chicago"). And in 1977, after Waters' long-time label

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock a ...

went out of business, Winter brought Waters into the studio to record ''

Hard Again ''Hard Again'' is a studio album by American blues singer Muddy Waters. Released on January 10, 1977, it was the first of his albums produced by Johnny Winter. ''Hard Again'' was Waters's first album on Blue Sky Records after leaving Chess Recor ...

'' for

Blue Sky Records Blue Sky Records was a custom record label created by Steve Paul for Columbia Records, featuring acts managed by Steve Paul, primarily blues-oriented performers Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Dan Hartman, David Johansen, and Muddy W ...

, a label set up by Winter's manager and distributed by Columbia. In addition to producing the album, Winter played guitar with Waters veteran James Cotton on harmonica. Winter produced two more studio albums for Waters, '' I'm Ready'' (with Big Walter Horton on harmonica) and '' King Bee'' and a best-selling live album '' Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live''. The partnership produced three

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Waters and an additional Grammy for Winter's own '' Nothin' But the Blues'', with backing by members of Waters' band. Waters told ''Deep Blues'' author Robert Palmer that Winter had done remarkable work in reproducing the sound and atmosphere of Waters's vintage

recordings of the 1950s. AllMusic writer Mark Deming noted: "Between ''Hard Again'' and ''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...

'' 976_concert_film_by_The_Band.html" ;"title="The_Band.html" ;"title="976 concert film by The Band">976 concert film by The Band">The_Band.html" ;"title="976 concert film by The Band">976 concert film by The Band Waters enjoyed a major career boost, and he found himself touring again for large and enthusiastic crowds".

Lawsuit against DC Comics

In 1996, Johnny and Edgar filed suit against DC Comics and the creators of the ''Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such'' limited series, claiming, among other things, defamation: two characters named Johnny and Edgar Autumn in the series strongly resemble the Winters. The brothers claimed the comics falsely portrayed them as "vile, depraved, stupid, cowardly, subhuman individuals who engage in wanton acts of violence, murder and bestiality for pleasure and who should be killed." The California Supreme Court sided with DC Comics, holding that the comic books were deserving of First Amendment protection.

Later career

After his time with Blue Sky Records, Winter began recording for several labels, including

Alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additional ...

, Point Blank, and

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, where he focused on blues-oriented material. In 1992, he married Susan Warford. In 2004, he received a

nomination for his ''I'm a Bluesman'' album. Beginning in 2007, a series of live Winter albums titled the ''Live Bootleg Series'' and a live DVD all entered the Top 10 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' Blues chart. In 2009, ''

The Woodstock Experience ''The Woodstock Experience'' is a box consisting of a set of studio albums and live performances from the 1969 Woodstock Festival by the artists Santana, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, and Johnny Winter. Each set co ...

'' album was released, which includes eight songs that Winter performed at the 1969 festival. In 2011, Johnny Winter released ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'' on Megaforce Records. It includes Winter's interpretation of eleven early blues and rock 'n' roll classics and features several guest artists (

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

, Sonny Landreth, Susan Tedeschi, Edgar Winter, Warren Haynes, and Derek Trucks). His last studio album, '' Step Back'' (which features appearances by Joe Bonamassa,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flash ...

, Leslie West, Brian Setzer,

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

, Paul Nelson, Ben Harper and Joe Perry), was released on September 2, 2014. Nelson and Winter won a Grammy Award in the Best Blues Album category for '' Step Back'' in 2015. Nelson said Winter knew it was an award winner and Winter told him "If we don't win a Grammy for this, they're nuts." Winter continued to perform live, including at festivals throughout North America and Europe. He headlined such prestigious events as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,

Chicago Blues Festival The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and ...

, the 2009 Sweden Rock Festival,

the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam Curated and presented by Grammy Award-winning vocalist-songwriter and revered guitarist Warren Haynes, the Christmas Jam is a one-of-a-kind music marathon. Since its inception in 1988, the concert has provided an opportunity for the performing arti ...

, and

Rockpalast ''Rockpalast'' (''Rock Palace'') is a German music television show that broadcasts live on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). ''Rockpalast'' started in 1974 and continues to this day. Hundreds of rock, heavy metal and ja ...

. He also performed with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater in New York City on the 40th anniversary of their debut. In 2007 and 2010, Winter performed at

's Crossroads Guitar Festivals. Two guitar instructional DVDs were produced by

Cherry Lane Music Cherry Lane Music was an American music publisher based in New York. It was founded in 1960 by Milton Okun in the apartment above the Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York. Cherry Lane Music developed a wide range of high q ...

and the Hal Leonard Corporation. The Gibson Guitar Company released the signature Johnny Winter Firebird guitar in a ceremony in Nashville with

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

presenting.

Teddy Slatus Management

During the time Teddy Slatus was employed as Winter's manager (1984 to 2005) it has been alleged Slatus abused his power and continued to give Winter

Methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroi ...

to stop him from asking about getting paid. Johnny could barely talk or play anymore until Paul Nelson took over Johnny's management in 2005, slowly easing him off drugs, alcohol, and smoking.

Death

Winter was professionally active until the time of his death near

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

, Switzerland, on July 16, 2014. He was found dead in his hotel room two days after his last performance, at the Cahors Blues Festival in France. The cause of Winter's death was not officially released. According to his guitarist friend and record producer Paul Nelson, Winter died of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alv ...

combined with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

.Torem, Lisa (February 9, 2015)
"Paul Nelson: Interview Part 1"
Penny Black Music. Retrieved February 11, 2015. Writing in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine, after Winter's death, David Marchese said, "Winter was one of the first blues rock guitar virtuosos, releasing a string of popular and fiery albums in the late Sixties and early Seventies, becoming an arena-level concert draw in the process" ... e"made an iconic life for himself by playing the blues".

Recognition and legacy

Winter produced three

-winning albums by

– ''

'' (1977), '' I'm Ready'' (1978), and '' Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live'' (1979). Several of Winter's own albums were nominated for Grammy Awards – '' Guitar Slinger'' (1984) and '' Serious Business'' (1985) for Best Traditional Blues Album, and '' Let Me In'' (1991) and '' I'm a Bluesman'' (2004) for Best Contemporary Blues Album. In 2015 Winter posthumously won the

Grammy Award for Best Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Blues Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the blues genre. Honors in sever ...

for '' Step Back''.Tobias, Mike (February 8, 2015)
"Winter's ''Step Back'' Wins Grammy for Best Blues Album"
'' The Beaumont Enterprise''. Retrieved February 9, 2015. The album also won the 2015

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Hand ...

for Best Rock Blues Album. At the 18th Maple Blues Awards in 2015, Winter was also posthumously awarded the B.B. King International Artist of The Year Award. In 1980, Winter was on the cover of the first issue of ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

''. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the first non-African-American performer to be inducted into the Hall. Multiple guitarists have cited Winter as an influence, including Joe Perry, Frank Marino, Michael Schenker, Adrian Smith, and Alex Skolnick. In her audiobook ''May You Live in Interesting Times: A Memoir'' (2021), comedian and founding ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' cast member

Laraine Newman Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, writer and comedian. She was part of the original cast of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''. She took an interest at improv in high school. After graduating, she studied mime with Marcel ...

recounts losing her virginity to Johnny Winter at the age of 17 in the late 1960s. In 2008 Johnny Winter appeared (alongside brother Edgar) in the documentary film '' American Music: Off the Record'' directed by Benjamin Meade.

Guitars and picking style

Winter played a variety of guitars during his career, but he is probably best known for his use of Gibson Firebirds. He owned several, but favored a 1963 Firebird V model. Winter explained: The Firebird V was a departure from Gibson's traditional configuration, with mini-humbucker pickups in place of the company's standard sized PAF humbucker or

P-90 The P-90 (sometimes written P90) is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Gibson is still producing P-90s, and there are outside companies that manufacture replacement versions. Compared to other single coil desi ...

single-coil pickup models. In a 2014 interview, Winter described the tone: In 2008, the Gibson Custom Shop issued a signature Johnny Winter Firebird V in a ceremony in Nashville with

presenting. In 1984,

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

Mark Erlewine approached Winter with his Lazer electric guitar. With its unusual design (for the time) without a

headstock A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the pegs or mechanism that holds the strings at th ...

and having a small body, Winter responded immediately: "the first day I plugged it in, it sounded so good that I wanted to use it for a gig that night." He commented: Other guitars that Winter owned and played include a Gibson ES-125 (his first electric guitar), a Fender Stratocaster, a

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typ ...

/ SG Custom, a Fender Mustang, a

Gibson Les Paul Goldtop The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typica ...

with P-90 pickups, a Gibson Flying V, an Epiphone Wilshire, a Gibson Black Beauty, a

Fender Electric XII The Fender Electric XII is a purpose-built 12-string electric guitar, designed for folk rockers. Instead of using a Stratocaster-body style, it uses one similar to a Jaguar/Jazzmaster body style. It also departed from the typical "Stratocaster"-s ...

(strung with only 6 strings), and an acoustic National Resonator. Winter played with a thumb pick and his fingers. His picking style was inspired by Chet Atkins and

Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exp ...

and he never used a flat pick. Winter preferred a plastic thumb pick sold by Gibson and a steel pinky slide, later marketed by Dunlop.

Discography

Studio albums *'' The Progressive Blues Experiment'' (Sonobeat 1968, re-released by UA/Imperial 1969) *'' Johnny Winter'' (Columbia 1969) *'' Second Winter'' (Columbia 1969) *'' Johnny Winter And'' (Columbia 1970) *'' Still Alive and Well'' (Columbia 1973) *'' Saints & Sinners'' (Columbia 1974) *'' John Dawson Winter III'' (Columbia 1974) *'' Nothin' but the Blues'' (Blue Sky 1977) *''

White, Hot and Blue ''White, Hot and Blue'' is a 1978 album by Johnny Winter. Following on from the previous year's '' Nothin' but the Blues'', it again focuses on blues music but moves back to Winter's traditional formula of mixing original tracks, of which there ...

'' (Blue Sky 1978) *''

Raisin' Cain ''Raisin' Cain'' is an album by Johnny Winter, released in 1980 by Blue Sky Records. A retrospective album review for AllMusic by William Ruhlmann notes the mix of rock and roll, Chicago blues, and New Orleans rhythm and blues/New Orleans blue ...

'' (Blue Sky 1980) *'' Guitar Slinger'' (Alligator 1984) *'' Serious Business'' (Alligator 1985) *''

Third Degree ''Third Degree'' is a 1986 album by Johnny Winter and the final one of the trilogy he made for Alligator Records. For the occasion Winter temporarily reunited with Tommy Shannon and Uncle Red Turner, who were the rhythm section on his first thre ...

'' (Alligator 1986) *'' The Winter of '88'' (MCA/Voyager 1988) *'' Let Me In'' (Point Blank 1991) *'' Hey, Where's Your Brother?'' (Point Blank 1992) *'' I'm a Bluesman'' (Virgin 2004) *''

'' (Megaforce 2011) *'' Step Back'' (Megaforce 2014) Live albums * ''

'' (Columbia 1971) * '' Captured Live!'' (Blue Sky 1976) * '' Together'' (Blue Sky 1976) – with Edgar Winter * '' Live in NYC '97'' (Virgin 1998) * ''

'' (Sony/Legacy 2009) * '' Live at the Fillmore East 10/3/70'' (Collectors' Choice 2010)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Johnny 1944 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Alligator Records artists American blues guitarists Country blues musicians American blues harmonica players American blues mandolinists American blues singer-songwriters American male guitarists American rock guitarists Blues rock musicians Blue Sky Records artists Columbia Records artists Electric blues musicians Grammy Award winners Guitarists from Texas Lead guitarists People from Beaumont, Texas People with albinism Relix Records artists Rock and roll musicians Slide guitarists Singer-songwriters from Texas Texas blues musicians American male singer-songwriters Deaths from emphysema Deaths from pneumonia in Switzerland