I always knew I d make it, Johnny Winter, cigarette dangling from his lips, told me after a gig one night in 2007 as his tour bus rolled on through the darkness of rural Virginia. I never doubted it. I always knew that playing music was what I was meant to do, and I never even thought about doing anything else.
Live Bootleg Series Volume II the second installment in Friday Music s artist-approved releases displays the same unshakable confidence that made Johnny Winter one of the 20th century s most important and influential guitarists. It also illuminates the native Texan s lifelong love affair with the blues, not to mention his absolute mastery of the guitar.
Johnny s own searing Black Cat Bone, a tune he first recorded for 1969 s The Progressive Blues Experiment, kicks things off, and it s followed by a true blues story: a tale of persecution, the Mose Allison-penned Parchman Farm, which Johnny transforms into a heavy, groove-laden rocker.
Up next is Rock Me Baby, a hit for B.B. King. To this day, Johnny fondly recalls the night in 1962 in his native Beaumont when B.B., playing a local blues club called The Raven, hesitantly allowed a young Johnny Winter after first checking to see if he had a union card to sit in with his band. (Johnny did, in fact, take the stage that night, and he earned a standing ovation for his efforts.) This riff-heavy reading of B.B. s classic is vintage Johnny, sporting his deep-throated growl and soaring, overdriven blues-rock guitar lines.
An undeniable highlight of this collection is the jaw-dropping, 15-minute reading of Willie Brown s Mississippi Blues. Alongside a wailing harmonica, Johnny expertly builds the tune from the bottom up, each turnaround giving way to yet another verse that seems to up the ante even more. By the time the tune concludes its sixth minute and the entire band kicks in, the guitar lines have become simply torrid and there s still a lot more ahead. It sets the table beautifully for what comes next, Johnny s incendiary take on Robert Johnson s Crossroads, which rocks firmly in the spirit of Cream. Closing this collection is a simply unforgettable Red House, in which Winter dedicates the tune to Al Hendrix in memory of his late son Jimi.
Johnny Winter s blues have always run deep. The disc you hold in your hands is proof.
.........liner notes by Sean McDevitt
More Albums by Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter "Live Bootleg Series, Vol. 1"
$10.29
Johnny Winter has been flattening audiences since he blew out of Texas like a white tornado in 1968. At the tail end of the blues revival when British blues rockers were co-opting America's only indigenous art form, Johnny staked his claim to the title of reigning blues guitar hero with blinding chops as hot as a jalapeno and authentic blues feel as deep, wide and muddy as the Rio Grande.
Johnny's studio releases are an unparalleled record of the evolution of a blues master who has never stopped growing and perfecting his unique artistic vision of the music as a living, breathing entity meant to be expressed with spontaneity and unbounded enthusiasm in concert. To the everlasting gratitude of his fans, he has recorded a tremendous number of his shows, amassing an archive of forty plus years of musical treasures. They are now being carefully and painstakingly mastered and will be released over the next several years as the Live Bootleg Series on Friday Music.
Volume One covers a collection of Johnny's vintage performances featuring bassist Jon Paris and drummer Bobby T, his power trio at the time playing with fiery abandon and thundering drive. From his signature hair-raising scream of A LITTLE ROCK AND ROLL! that introduces Johnny B. Goode to his stomping bonus track cover of Bobby Womack's R&B classic It's All Over Now, this musical journey is one of blues and rock, heart and soul. If there is any doubt that he is the premier interpreter of the Rolling Stones, one need only to listen to his cataclysmic version of Jumpin' Jack Flash, to dispel any rumors. It's no wonder Keith and Mick gladly handed him their Silver Train to cover. Any Texan worth his salt and tequila includes Freddie King's Hide Away in his repertoire, but Johnny knows it from the inside out and makes the well- worn classic his own. Ever conscious of his true roots in country blues, he delivers a Southern fried Rollin' and Tumblin' for the ages, stamping it as bonafide with his slashing slide guitar. Further demonstrating his versatility, his original, brooding Stranger makes a case for this overlooked aspect of his talent.
As Johnny is quick to point out when anyone calls his recent resurgence as a comeback, But I never went anywhere! These priceless, previously unreleased live recordings only further serve to fill in the gaps in a legacy that continues to be added to with every passing contemporary show and recording. Dave Rubin - Guitar Player Magazine
