![]() As it happened, representatives of Columbia Records (which had released the Top Ten Bloomfield/Kooper/ Stills Super Session album) were at the concert. Winter caught his biggest break in December 1968, when Mike Bloomfield, whom he met and jammed with in Chicago, invited him to sing and play a song during a Bloomfield and Al Kooper concert at the Fillmore East in New York City. Johnny Winter, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1969 In 1968, he released his first album The Progressive Blues Experiment, on Austin's Sonobeat Records. In the early days, Winter would sometimes sit in with Roy Head and the Traits when they performed in the Beaumont area, and in 1967, Winter recorded a single with the Traits: " Tramp" backed with " Parchman Farm" (Universal Records 30496). During this same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. His recording career began at the age of 15, when his band Johnny and the Jammers released "School Day Blues" on a Houston record label. When Winter was ten years old, the brothers appeared on a local children's show with Johnny playing ukulele. Johnny and his brother, both of whom were born with albinism, began performing at an early age. (1909–2001), was also a musician who played saxophone and guitar and sang at churches, weddings, Kiwanis and Rotary Club gatherings. Their father, Leland, Mississippi native John Dawson Winter Jr. He and younger brother Edgar (born 1946) were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits. “When I get the blues, there are two things that are absolutely guaranteed to make me feel better,” confessed Cusick, “One: really, really good marijuana, and two: every time without a doubt, the music of Johnny Winter.Johnny Winter was born in Beaumont, Texas, on February 23, 1944. Though I’m deeply saddened by his passing, I find comfort in the testimonial given by Rick that fateful night at the Fillmore: He was my parents’ all-time favorite musician, and having the opportunity to introduce them to him was one of the great thrills of our lives. When I was about 14 years old, my dad brought me to see him for my very first live concert. On a personal note: the short time I spent with Johnny meant a great deal to me. “There never was a time when I didn’t like smoking weed,” he told me over joint during our interview before the show. As a former addict and alcoholic, Winter had given up all drugs - except for marijuana, which he smoked almost constantly. ![]() Winter’s long career was filled with honors that included gracing the cover of the inaugural issue of Guitar World magazine, being inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Southeast Texas Walk of Fame, as well as winning three Grammy Awards and a High Times Doobie Award for Lifetime Achievement, which Johnny called “The best award I’ve ever been given.” My colleague Rick Cusick and I had the honor of presenting it to him on stage at the Fillmore NY, after a performance with his brother, rocker Edgar Winter in 2009. From his humble debut in the early 1950s to his historic performance at the final night of Woodstock in ’69 and beyond, he entertained audiences for over half a century with an incredible legacy of soulful blues and rock music - and was still going, having last performed just a few nights before his death. He was 70 years old.Ī frail albino from Beaumont, Texas, Winter struggled through a life of alienation, addiction, injuries and illnesses to become one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Last night, blues guitar legend Johnny Winter died in a hotel room in Switzerland. ![]()
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