![]() He owned and ran The Scene, a celebrated East Coast nightclub, managed Tiny Tim and (among other ventures) had an ear for finding talent. ![]() Steve Paul was a self-styled entrepreneur in New York City. In their 1968 feature, writer Larry Sepulvado described Wmter vividly as “a 130-pound, cross-eyed albino with long, fleecy hair, playing some of the gutsiest, fluid blues guitar you’ve ever heard.” This review set in motion a chain reaction that catapulted Johnny to the forefront of the eras blues and rock movement. While he was busy shopping this record (which ultimately was released by Imperial Records as The Progressive Blues Experiment) to the bigger companies, Rolling Stone magazine printed a glowing article on the ambitious Texas blues scene and the sensational unsigned local gui¬tarist. During this period he recorded some demo tracks which have since appeared on numerous unauthorized collections including “First Winter”, “About Blues” and “Early Times”Įventually, Johnny cut a proper demo album for the Sonobeat label. After a series of abortive groups with Edgar (It and Them, Johnny and the Jammers, the Black Plague), Johnny traveled and worked as a backup guitarist for regional touring bluesmen. By then he had accumulated an enormous record collection and had in fact learned to play much of it note-for-note his tastes ranged from rock’n’roll (Elvis, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino) to r&b (Little Richard, Chuck Berry) and post-war Chicago blues (Muddy Waters, Otis Rush). Most of his practical musical education, however, came from “learning to play a record note by note”Īt around age 14, Johnny began playing professionally. Additionally, Winter sought out local guitarists Luther Naley (who played with cow-boy star Roy Rogers) and Seymore Drugan to show him some country and jazz licks and chords. Garlow, a recording artist in his own right, became something of a mentor to Johnny, sharing obscure blues records with him and teaching him the basics of playing and important details like using an unwound third string to facilitate bending notes. Already enamored of rock’n’roll, he was drawn to Clarence Garlow’s radio show and the intriguing sounds of artists such as Howlin’ Wolf, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Otis Rush and Muddy Waters. These early experiences sharpened the Winter ears and vocal cords and provided a natural and supportive environment of invaluable musical training.Ĭoncurrent with his switch to the guitar was Johnny’s discovery of the blues. Encouraged by their father, who played sax and banjo, sang in the church choir and was an ardent fan of big-band jazz, Johnny and younger brother Edgar participated in family songfests that included involved barbershop quartet harmonies, accompanied by their mother on piano. The young musician was unable to continue on the instrument due to his overbite, and switched to ukulele and, finally, to guitar when he was around 11. Inundated and inspired by the multifarious sonic currents, he embarked on an irrevocable artistic course while still in his preteen years, assembling his musical lexicon from radio and records, and building the foundation of his striking instrumental and vocal style with a no-compromise philosophy of approaching the blues.īorn in Leland, Mississippi, and raised in Beaumont, Johnny took up the clarinet at age four. These musicians made an indelible impression on a young and receptive Johnny Winter. This was the land of T -Bone Walker, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lightnin’ Hopkins of Buddy Holly and Bob Wills of Clifton Chenier and Gatemouth Brown. The sounds emanating from the regional radio stations in the 1950s and early 1960s were no less diverse. Here rock’n’roll, blues, western swing, gospel and r&b ingredients mix with Cajun and Creole flavors to yield a rich, complex and hearty musical gumbo. Lying near the Gulf Coast and very close to Louisiana, the Triangle plays host to a variety of cultural and ethnic influences: French and European, Native American, African, Caribbean and Mexican. It is a region of oil and sulfur production, shipbuilding, rice farming and shrimping. The cities of Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange in southeast Texas form an area called the Golden Triangle. A six page article by Wolf Marshall in June on Johnny Winter’s biography and guitar playing style, include guitar tabsĬomplete transcript of the Guitar Magazine June 1995
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