Warmth in the Winter – Johnny Winter on tour

by Joe Scopin, Donne Tempo

Annapolis, Maryland -- January 24, 2008, Rams Head Tavern was turned into a Texas blues joint when blues original Johnny Winter appeared.

The show started with guitarist, friend and manager, Paul Nelson’s instrumental warm up set, playing with Scott Spray on bass and drummer Tony Beard.

After a raucous introduction of impressive blues licks, the boys toned down and Johnny Winter was led into the room.

He sat down center stage to a standing ovation kicking right into a Freddie King and Sonny Thompson’s “Hideaway” the evening’s tone that included really remarkable, and emotional guitar playing and singing from a blues master.

The bassist and drummer were introduced with brief solos in the first song and they provided an understated bottom of solid bass and drums throughout the evening.

He sang all of the sets songs, save “Tore Down,” which drummer Tony Beard more than adequately handled, and while his easily recognizable growling blues voice might have lost some of the power of brash youth, you have to appreciate the emotion gained through years of experience.

Now, in the twilight of his career, Johnny’s guitar work is, understandably, not quite as fast and fluid as it once was, but he still plays with excitement, creativity and a rawness that is authentic.

And while he may be marching into his fifth decade as a performer, he remains a wonder to watch.

This evening, Mr. Winter played an unusual shaped white Erliwine Lazer guitar, dressed totally in black with a short-sleeved shirt showing off his thin, well-tattooed arms.

His trademark long white ponytail could be seen sticking out from under a large western hat that kept his face in shadow.

He hunched over his guitar and looked and performed like a man who has experienced a lot in life and still has his stories to tell.

While sitting all night due to a recent hip operation, he played with intensity and feeling, with an occasional “yeah” voiced between hot leads. He let the crowd know that he is very capable of wringing some audaciously raunchy sounds from his voice and instrument.

Keeping the audience waiting he did not pull the slide out until the encore, but his picking with his thumb pick and fingers throughout the night was exciting and masterful.

During our pre show interview, Mr. Winter said that touring is what he enjoys most these days, though her prefers bus to airplane travel.

The 63 year old blue’s statesman has a winter/spring schedule that has him traveling from Connecticut to California, with plenty of Midwestern stops in between.

Which is fortunate for the leagues of blues, rock, and guitar fans of all ages. Here is an opportunity to see not only a legend, but also one of the best guitarists today.

Asked about his influences he said simply “ I listened to everybody, “ reflecting that the first bluesman he ever heard was Howling Wolf on the radio and that he saw him live, just one time.

Today, Johnny Winter is a preeminent bluesman, and he does consider himself a bluesman, but there is just enough rock and roll influence to be heard in his songs to hearken back to his days playing rock with his brother Edgar Winter.

The older crowd was appreciative and enthusiastic in response to the performance.
They were blues fans that came for the blues and they got them with a nicely paced set list that included “Miss Ann,” a particularly hot version of Ray Charles’ “Black Jack” that got the crowd to their feet, Muddy Waters “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and Johnny's “Johnny Guitar,“ and “Lone Wolf.”

He ended with Bobby Womack’s “Its All Over Now,” with Paul Nelson returning, finishing the night with an encore of “Mojo Boogie” and Bob Dylan's “Highway 61” coming back to the stage with his Gibson Firebird and his slide.

The crowd was on its feet with several standing ovations during the set. They got what they came for, an exciting exhibition of a blues master proving he is still quite capable of performing like few others.

Johnny Winter will continue to perform, create and collaborate, adding to a body of work that reaches back to his roots in the late 1950’s with Brother Edgar and Johnny Macaroni and the Jammers, and their first songs “School Day Blues” and “You Know I Love You.”

Mr. Winter has played with the blues and rock greats of the 20th century, Lonnie Brooks, Long John Hunter, fellow Texan Buddy Holly and even B.B. King, when he, Johnny, was but a fresh faced boy of 17.

More recently, Mr. Winter has released the first of a series of archival albums, with live material from different periods. These albums will not be “Johnny Winter and someone else” collaborations, he said. They will be, predominately, his chosen blues.

Mr. Winter confirmed that he has a collection of several guitars, including several Firebirds and Nationals. He doesn't use the Nationals on stage but wants do some more recording with them.

Confirming his continuing influence on musician young, and those not so young, Mr. Winter stated that he is excited about the release of the Johnny Winter signature Firebird guitar by Gibson.

However he said “I only let them have my original to study for a very short time.”

There is also a new “Johnny Winter Texas slide,“ based on his personal pinky slide.

Unfortunately he doesn't have the Fender Mustang he played early in his career or the Fender twelve string he played, strung with only six strings, at Woodstock.

Starting his career in the late 60’s, Mr. Winter has gone through many successes, trials and tribulations. He has continued on through health and management problems, to release the 2004 Grammy nominated album, “I’m a Bluesman.

Most recently the veteran performed on Eric Clapton’s 2007 “Crossroads“ DVD, giving a fiery performance on “Highway 61, ” that he revisited on his signature, soon to be copied, Gibson Firebird while being backed by the Derek Trucks band.

For today, Johnny Winter has returned to good health and his singing and playing reflect his deep blues roots and innate understanding of how the blues should be played.

It was a night I am sure all will remember.

He is not writing much now, saying he’s not very good at it anymore and doesn't play much between touring.

He feels “excellent“ about his current resurgence and liked his live performance of “ Highway ‘61” on Eric Clapton’s Crossroads tour.

He really playing liked Derek Trucks, saying he thought he was a better player than Duane Allman, who he played with when sitting in with the Allman Brothers.

He said he played with Stevie Ray Vaughan at his bass players home, but never on stage, and he never saw Stevie Ray perform live.

He prefers blues to rock and roll, saying “Blues is a little bit more soulful and blues people are a little cooler”

This preference came over loud and clear during his very cool performance.

Johnny Winter plays Highway 61

Johnny Winter at Rams Head Tavern (more of the best)