Winter

I have been tempted for a while to have a little thing on the side bar of the blog so y’all can see what’s spinning in my CD player from day to day, but I feel like I spend too much time on this blog already, so if you don’t mind I’ll just do an article about what’s in there right now.

This week I took myself back to 1969 and to the release of the first Johnny Winter album. I haven’t listened to this collection for at least 25 years, and I’m surprised just how well it has held up musically.

While growing up I found the British Invasion mimic of the blues somewhat insincere in a “Polly Want a Cracker” kind of a way. Yes the Brits had drive, but it just sounded like they were trying to hard to fuse it all together.

But then there was Johnny Winter. He was the real deal. With guitars and dobros that could scream the blues equally as loud as Winter’s uvula juggling voice; there was no match for blues in the late 60s and early 70s. These blues were real and not the Mod-Rock version the Brits were trying to sell us.

Though all tracks on this album were totally reminiscent of that which you would expect to hear in a Texas roadhouse, there are still some that evoke memories of Ray Charles (Drown in my own tears) with overtones of a gospel choir. Winter, one of the few people who knows how to get the most out the saxophones in the band; sax textures are reminiscent of Van Morrison, Steely Dan and Zappa.

I once thought of Winter as a guitar deity and oddly I don’t find his technique as good as I did 38 years ago. However I do find his ability to create a mood with his strings stronger than I had way back then. His fingering isn’t as clean as I thought, but that’s the blues. That’s the roadhouse music thing. It has to be a bit raw, gritty and ratty.

If you love real blues, the kind that isn’t being played by some fake white boys, who drive Toyotas and drink Starbucks, who can parrot songs, you may want to spend some time with this collection. You won’t be disappointed.

If you want to listen to this music the way it was meant to be heard, and if Johnny Winter isn’t playing at your local roadhouse, just put on a pair of tight jeans put on a pair of boots, grab a long neck bottle of Texas beer, rest your chair on two legs and put you feet up on the table. Hit play, turn it up and enjoy the ride.

By the way, while driving the other day I tried to belt out a uvular Johnny Winter "Yeah" and I think I hurt myself.