Blues legend Johnny Winter

[ProblemAgain]

Blues legend Johnny Winter dies at 70 in Zurich

By JOHN HEILPRIN 1 hour ago

GENEVA (AP) — Texas blues legend Johnny Winter, known for his lightning-fast blues guitar riffs, his striking long white hair and his collaborations with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and childhood hero Muddy Waters, has died. He was 70.

Winter was a leading light among the white blues guitar players, including Eric Clapton and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, who followed in the footsteps of the earlier Chicago blues masters. Winter idolized Waters — and got a chance to produce some of the blues legend's more popular albums. Rolling Stone magazine named Winter one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.

His representative, Carla Parisi, confirmed Thursday that Winter died in a hotel room in Zurich a day earlier. The statement said his wife, family and bandmates were all saddened by the loss of one of the world's finest guitarists.

There was no immediate word on the cause of death.

Winter had been on an extensive tour this year that recently brought him to Europe. His last performance came Saturday at the Lovely Days Festival in Wiesen, Austria.

The tour, a documentary that premiered at the SXSW Festival exploring his music, youth and substance abuse battles, and a newly released four-CD set of recordings were all part of Winter's celebration of turning 70 this year.

John Dawson Winter III was born on Feb. 23, 1944, in Mississippi, but was raised in Beaumont, Texas. He was the older brother of Edgar Winter, also an albino, who rose to musical fame with the Edgar Winter Group.

Winter was one of the most popular live acts of the early 1970s, when his signature fast blues guitar solos attracted a wide following. But his addiction problems with heroin during that decade and later battles with alcohol and prescription medication, including methadone, also drew attention.

His career received a big boost early on when Rolling Stone singled him out as one of the best blues guitarists on the Texas scene. This helped secure a substantial recording contract from Columbia Records in 1969 that led to an appearance at the Woodstock Festival and gave him a wide following among college students and young blues fans.

Crowds were dazzled by the speed — and volume — of his guitar playing, which had its roots in urban blues but incorporated elements of rock 'in roll.

Winters paid homage to Waters on "Tribute to Muddy," a song from his 1969 release "The Progressive Blues Experiment." He continued to pick up accolades, producing three Grammy Award-winning albums for Waters and recording with John Lee Hooker, which helped revive their careers.

Winter performed often with blues and rock singer Janis Joplin and the two became close during the 1960s.

Among the blues classics that Winter played during that era were "Rollin' and Tumblin'," ''Bad Luck and Trouble" and "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl." He also teamed up with his brother Edgar for their 1976 live album "Together."

He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1988.

There was no immediate word on funeral services.

[frenchy]

wow ... i was just readin a story about him earlier today in premier guitar and they made it seem like he was finally at peace with himself ( which was somethin that was always just out of his grasp for the last 30 years or more ) his problems with drugs are legendary and when he finally kicked heroin he had an even bigger problem with methodone .. but he was quite a sight back in the day .. one of the few guitarists alive who could demand and get respect from jimi hendrix if they went toe to toe onstage .. there were a lot of guitar gods in the late 60's and early 70's , clapton , beck , page, blackmore , alvin lee , green , kirwan , mick taylor , allman , betts , walsh , young, and i'm sure i forgot a few .. but winter could play as good as or better than all of em till the drugs got a hold of him .. and one of the things that surprised me was he said he didn't like playin with rick derringer because he thought rick played too loud .. really ?? anybody ever see johnny winter in the early 70's ?? i'm amazed he could still hear .. i saw him at the garden .. thats madison square garden to you non new yorkers and its right above the train station .. and man .. he shook that place like thunder .. had to stop in the middle of a song because some asshole hit him square in the head with a beer bottle .. definitely not cool . ( new york has no shortage of assholes tho ya know ) but the show went on .. he was a trooper .. i had his johnny winter and album with the mcoys of hang on sloopy fame and learned all the songs on it back in 1970.. i'm still surprised at the remark about rick derringer .. derringer was a very good guitarist in his own write .. this is sad news to me .. don't get me wrong i had no illusions of him ever returnin to the form of his youth .. the last few things i saw of him he looked quite frail and he couldn't even play standin up anymore .. so in my heart i knew the end was close , but after readin that article i thought things were lookin up for him and then 4 hours later i read that he died .. one by one we'll lose em all .. so sad ..click on the link for the article .. 

http://digital.premierguitar.com/premierguitar/201407_1#pg93

[frenchy]

while bein known mostly for straight blues johnny did have a period where he strayed over to the rock and roll side of things ( after all the blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll ) yeah rock and roll is pretty much the same blues progressions played at a faster pace .. think of chuck berry playin johnny be goode .. blues speeded up = rock and roll .. but sometimes he'd slow it down and do somethin almost country .. like this particular number .. cheap tequila .. it never got much play but its a great song ..

[frenchy]

here's another from that same album .. a bit more bluesy .. great guitar on there .. used to play this one back in the day .. still holds up ..

[ProblemAgain]

it must be the age we are getting....i can't seem to read the news without seeing stories about musicians and others cashing it in. and it seems like time is speeding up...just this week there were three prominent musical figures..lorin maazel, johnny winter and (ohoh a rick perry moment) i forget the third..

[frenchy]

here's another one from what i think was his best album ever .. his high water mark so to speak .. with rick derringer and the mcoys .. prodigal son .. now this was made in 1970 but it coulda been recorded in 69 .. pay attention to the dual guitars .. not somethin you saw much back in 69 or 70 .. one guy was rhythym and one was lead .. but here they're all over the place .. hard to tell who's who and where one guy starts and the other guy stops ..

 

[frenchy]

and another from that album.. i guess i'll go away .. 

[frenchy]

here's one where he slows it down a bit .. i believe this one was written by stevie winwood from traffic .. called no time to live .. i guess its finally true .. 

[frenchy]

and another from what i thought was his most commercial album with the mcoys and rick derringer .. out on a limb .. i know that johnny was known more for his blues stuff but to be honest to me that gets kinda borin after about 10 minutes and it all starts to sound the same so i tried to pick stuff that had a good melody and great guitar .. its a shame he abandoned it for a strictly blues diet because in my opinion the blues just wasn't as interestin .. he coulda done both .. but then , we all have to follow our own star don't we ?? 

[frenchy]

ok one more .. look up..