''Third Degree'' is a 1986 album by

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...

and the final one of the trilogy he made for

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

. Following disagreements with Alligator's boss

Bruce Iglauer Bruce Iglauer (born July 10, 1947) is an American businessman and record producer who founded Alligator Records as an independent record label featuring blues music. Early life and career Iglauer was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States ...

during the production of Winter's previous album, ''Serious Business'', the album was produced by

Dick Shurman Richard L. Shurman (born May 23, 1950) is an American record producer, sound engineer, music journalist, music historian, and backing vocalist. He has produced numerous recordings by notable musicians including Johnny Winter, Lurrie Bell, Eddie ...

with Iglauer taking on an Executive Producer role. Next to Winter's previous album, ''Third Degree'' presents more variety. Winter chose not to provide original material, focusing instead on blues standards. For three of the tracks, Winter reunited with bassist

Tommy Shannon Tommy Shannon (born Thomas Lafitte Smedley; April 18, 1946) is an American bass guitarist, who is best known as a member of Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Shannon mov ...

and drummer Uncle Red Turner, who were Winter's backing band on his first three albums in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Another notable guest on the record is

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

, who performed on "Love, Life and Money" and "Tin Pan Alley". (Dr. John and Winter had previously performed together on the occasion of an episode of "In Session TV" in 1983) Winter also included two solo acoustic numbers, "Evil on My Mind" and "Bad Girl Blues", practicing for months with a National Steel Guitar.

Track listing

#"Mojo Boogie" ( J.B. Lenoir) — #"Love, Life and Money" (

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 ...

Henry Glover Henry Bernard Glover (May 21, 1921 – April 7, 1991) was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and trumpet player. In the music industry of the time, Glover was one of the most successful and influential black executives. He gain ...

) — #"Evil on My Mind" (Johnny Winter) — #"See See Baby" (

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

Sonny Thompson Sonny Thompson (probably August 23, 1916 – August 11, 1989), born Alfonso Thompson or Hezzie Tompson, was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography There is some uncertainty over Thompson's origins, as ...

) — #"Tin Pan Alley" (Jerry Jones) — #"I'm Good" (Bill Collins, Bonnie Lee) — #"Third Degree" (

Eddie Boyd Edward Riley Boyd (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994)Dahl, Bill. Eddie Boyd: Biography AllMusic. Retrieved October 13, 2016. was an American blues pianist, singer and songwriter, best known for his recordings in the early 1950s, including the ...

, Willie Dixon) — #" Shake Your Moneymaker" (

Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...

) — #"Bad Girl Blues" (William Borum a.k.a. Memphis Willie B. ) — #"Broke and Lonely" (John Jacob Watson a.k.a. Johnny Guitar Watson) —

Personnel

—

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

, National

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

, vocals *

Ken Saydak Ken Saydak (born August 18, 1951, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American Chicago blues pianist and singer-songwriter. In a long career, he has played as a sideman with Lonnie Brooks, Mighty Joe Young, Johnny Winter and Dave Specter. ...

—

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

— piano on 2 and 5 *Johnny B. Gayden —

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

— bass on 4, 8 and 10 *Uncle Red Turner —

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

on 4, 8 and 10 *

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1864 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Cen ...

— drums

References

{{Authority control 1986 albums Johnny Winter albums Albums produced by Johnny Winter Alligator Records albums