Finally, he decided that there enough people who wanted to hear me that, no matter if I was good or not, it would be worth it to let me on stage. Also, I kept sending people over to ask him to let me play. He asked me for a union card, and I had one. But Johnny already had his chops down and wanted to play with the revered B.B.”I was about 17,” Johnny remembers, “and B.B. The only whites in the crowd, they no doubt stood out. King at a Beaumont club called the Raven. There’s a famous story about a time in 1962 when Johnny and his brother went to see B.B. Clarence, who recorded for the swamp boogie specialty label Goldband, KRCO, Frolic, Diamond, Moon-Lite, Hall-Way and other regional labels. Who opened Winter’s eye’s and ears to rural blues and Cajun music. I always felt welcome.” He also became friends with Clarence Garlow, a deejay at the black radio station KJET in Beaumont. I went to black clubs all the time, and nobody ever bothered me. Looking back, he believes people in the black community knew that he was sincere, that he was genuinely possessed by the blues.
Despite the brutal legacy, Johnny remembers never hesitating as a kid to venture into black neighborhoods to hear and play music. Mobs wandered the streets, businesses burned, martial law went into effect, and more than 2,000 uniformed National Guardsmen and Texas Rangers sealed off the town from the rest of the world until tempers cooled. The town had been side to one of the worst race riots in Texas history just nine months before Johnny’s birth. Racial tensions in Beaumont were still high in those days. He formed his first band, Johnny and the Jammers, in 1959 at the age of 15, with his 12-year-old brother Edgar on keyboards. Richardson – The Big Bopper of “Chantilly Lace” fame – and became hooked on 50’s rock & roll. Growing up in a rough-and-tumble town populated by oilfield wildcatters and shipyard workers, he spent long hours listening to a local deejay named J.P. Constantly shifting between simple country blues in the vein of Robert Johnson, to all-out electric slide guitar blues-rock, – Johnny has always been one of the most respected singers and guitar players in rock and the clear link between British blues-rock and American Southern rock (a la the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.) Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Johnny was the unofficial torch-bearer for the blues, championing and aiding the careers of his idols like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Signing to Columbia records in 1969 called largest solo artist deal of it’s time, Johnny immediately laid out the blueprint for his fresh take on classic blues a prime combination for the legions of fans just discovering the blues via the likes of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. From blazing boogie tunes like “Hustled Down in Texas” through acoustic showcases like “Dallas,” Johnny affirms his legendary status on this well-chosen 16-track collection.Has been a guitar hero without equal. The rollicking “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” shows Winter’s ability to bid for mainstream success without sacrificing his integrity. King’s “Be Careful with a Fool” affirm his effortless command of classic blues material. Goode” bristle with energy and attitude, while his treatment of Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” and B.B. Scorching takes on Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Tracks from Winter’s self-titled Columbia debut like the hard-rocking “I’m Yours and I’m Hers” and the gospel-tinged “I’ll Drown in My Tears” have a brash confidence that remains riveting. The Best of Johnny Winter distills his most seminal work from 1969 through 1971, highlighting his strengths both as soloist and band leader. His long and productive recording career took him from his traditional roots into hard rock and back again. For speed, cogency, and sheer emotional fire, few blues guitarists have been the equal of Johnny Winter.
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