Pic of the day: Jimi Hendrix …

… on bass and Johnny Winter on guitar:

Johnny Winter – Live At Hollywood Bowl (Hot) (1969)

John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award–winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.

Johnny Winter was born in Beaumont, Texas, on February 23, 1944. He and younger brother Edgar (born 1946) were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits. Their father, Leland, Mississippi native John Dawson Winter Jr. (1909–2001), was also a musician who played saxophone and guitar and sang at churches, weddings, Kiwanis and Rotary Club gatherings. Johnny and his brother, both of whom were born with albinism, began performing at an early age. When he was ten years old, the brothers appeared on a local children’s show with Johnny playing ukulele.

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. During this same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Bobby Bland. 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). In 1968, he released his first album The Progressive Blues Experiment, on Austin’s Sonobeat Records.

Beginning in 1969, the first of numerous Johnny Winter albums was released which were cobbled together from approximately fifteen singles (about 30 “sides”) he recorded before signing with Columbia in 1969.[3] Many were produced by Roy Ames, owner of Home Cooking Records/Clarity Music Publishing, who had briefly managed Winter. According to an article from the Houston Press, Winter left town for the express purpose of getting away from him. Ames died on August 14, 2003, of natural causes at age 66. As Ames left no obvious heirs, the ownership rights of the Ames master recordings remains unclear. As Winter stated in an interview when the subject of Roy Ames came up, “This guy has screwed so many people it makes me mad to even talk about him.” (wikipedia)

And here´s a very early Johnny Winter bootleg … listen and enjoy the power of the blues as Johny Winter plays it

Recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl, August 1, 1969
excellent mono audience recording

Personnel:
Tommy Shannon (bass)
John Turner (drums)
Edgar Winter (keyboards)
Johnny Winter (guitar, vocals)

Tracklist:
01. Help Me (Williamson) 4.19
02. Leland Mississippi Blues (Winter) 4.22
03. Mean Town Blues (Winter) 8.42
04. It´s My Own Fault (King/Taub) 11.25
05. I Hate Everybody (Winter) 4.50
06. Tell The Truth (Winter) 7.10
07. What’d I Say (Charles) 4.28

Alternate frontcover:

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More from Johnny Winter:

Johnny Winter – Second Winter (1969)

Second Winter is the third studio album by Texas blues guitarist Johnny Winter, released in 1969. The original plan was to edit the songs from the recording session into one album but it was later thought that all the recordings were good enough to be released. The album was released as a “three-sided” LP, with a blank fourth side on the original vinyl. Two more songs, “Tell the Truth” and “Early in the Morning” were left unfinished but released on a 2004 re-release of the album. (by wikipedia)

Just as Jimi Hendrix transformed Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower into a veritable tour de force, Johnny Winter put his own unique Texas-born stamp upon Highway 61 Revisited. Fitted with a rampaging rhythmic groove — one which Dylan himself later would adapt for his own concert renditions of the tune — as well as a string of searing slide guitar licks, the song served as the centerpiece of Second Winter, an 11-song, three-sided album released in late 1969 that many still consider to be the finest studio effort of Winter’s career. Indeed, save for a trio of adrenaline-soaked, but otherwise unremarkable interpretations of tunes by Little Richard (Slippin’ and Slidin’ and Miss Ann) and Chuck Berry (Johnny B. Goode), there was nary a misstep on the collection, which largely featured a thunderous display of blues, rock, and psychedelia that sounds as fresh and inspired today as it did when it was originally released.In particular, a cover of Percy Mayfield’s Memory Pain was rendered as a raw, blistering meltdown of blazing guitar, while the frenzied assault of keyboards and electric mandolin that graced Winter’s I’m Not Sure as well as the heavy turbulence that propelled Dennis Collins’ The Good Life offered further proof that Second Winter was anything but a sophomore slump. Even the famed guitarist’s own compositions — the rousing swing of I Hate Everybody, the rapid-fire charge of Hustled Down in Texas, the burning bite of I Love Everybody, and the improvisational freak-out of Fast Life Rider — were marked improvements over those on his self-titled debut.

In addition to the pair of studio outtakes — a sturdy romp through Louis Jordan’s Early in the Morning and a Booker T and the MG’s-meets-Ray Charles instrumental cruise through Lowman Pauling’s Tell the Truth — that have been appended to the recent reissue of Second Winter, the album’s reincarnation also includes a second disc of mind-blowing material, which was taken from a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall in April 1970. Full of raging energy, the 72-minute event highlighted Winter’s ability to reinterpret his material with extraordinary skill and endless imagination. The scorched earth, screaming guitar solos that fueled Sonny Boy Williamson’s Help Me; the stampeding, almost out of control fury that provided the thrust for Johnny B. Goode; and the onslaught of pyrotechnics that colored J. B. Lenoir’s Mama, Talk to Your Daughter merely set the stage for what was to come. The slow, churning cover of B.B. King’s It’s My Own Fault erupted with an anguished cry as Winter sprayed notes that fell like tears upon the rumbling groove provided by his backing band, while Mean Town Blues became a showpiece for the guitarist, who not only unleashed a blast of incendiary riffs over the song’s chugging cadence but also seamlessly interjected into the proceedings a portion of Robert Johnson’s Walkin’ Blues.

Elsewhere, Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein was given a thorough thrashing, J. D. Loudermilk’s Tobacco Road began with a flurry of scat singing before settling into a steamy swirl of saxophone and guitar, and Tell the Truth exploded in an exhausting exhibition of funk-blues mayhem. Like many astoundingly proficient instrumentalists, Winter has struggled, at times, in his career to find the balance between the emotional and technical aspects of his performance. The concert at the Royal Albert Hall is the epitome of perfection in this regard. That it took this long to unearth is a shame, but at least, now, it’s available for all to hear. (by John Metzger)

Personnel:
Tommy Shannon (bass)
Uncle John Turner ( drums, percussion)
Edgar Winter (keyboards, saxophone, vocals)
Johnny Winter (guitar, mandolin, vocals)
+
Dennis Collins (bass on 04.)

Tracklist:
01. Memory Pain (Mayfield) 5.31
02. I’m Not Sure (J.Winter) 5.22
03. Slippin’ and Slidin’ (Bocage/Collins/Penniman/Smith) 4.41
04. The Good Love (Collins) 2.44
05. Miss Ann Enotris (Johnson/Penniman) 3.41
06. Johnny B. Goode (Berry) 2.47
07. Highway 61 Revisited (Dylan) 5.06
08. I Love Everybody (J.Winter) 3.45
09. Hustled Down In Texas (J.Winter) 3.32
10. I Hate Everybody (J.Winter) 2.36
11. Fast Life Rider (J.Winter) 7.03
+
12. Early In The Morning (Bartley/Hickman/Jordan) 3.49
13. Tell The Truth (Pauling) 4.30

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Various Artists – Crossroads Guitar Festival (2007)

Released almost exactly three years after the first, tremendously successful Crossroads DVD, this double-disc documents the 2007 benefit concert for Clapton’s Crossroads Center substance abuse facility. “Guitar” is the operative word here, since all the participants are six-string players. As in the last show, the genres include country (Willie Nelson, Vince Gill), gospel (Robert Randolph), Latin rock (Los Lobos), pop (Sheryl Crow, John Mayer), jazz fusion (John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck) and lots of blues (everyone else). Some performers such as Randolph, Mayer, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Cray, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, and of course Clapton return from the 2004 lineup. That was a two-day event held in Dallas, TX. This was a one day — a very long day — show moved to the home of the blues, a stadium just outside of Chicago, and features a very funny Bill Murray introducing the acts.

Based on the sunlight, it seems to be in chronological order, or close to it. Each artist gets one or two tunes cherrypicked from longer sets which keeps this album fast paced, even at its three-hour length. Still, it would make sense to release more music on a separate DVD or even CD for those who would like to hear the rest of the material. That is especially the case with Jeff Beck and Robert Randolph, two artists that burn up the stage with abbreviated performances. A highly anticipated reunion with Clapton and his Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood results in three songs, “Presence of the Lord,” “Can’t Find My Way Home,” and “Had to Cry Today” from that band’s only album.

While it sounds fine, there is a noticeable spark and edge missing from the interaction, leaving it somewhat bland and certainly anti-climactic. Derek Trucks burns through Layla’s “Anyday,” though, and Clapton sounds inspired on “Tell the Truth,” another Layla track cranked up with Trucks taking the Duane Allman slide part. Collaborations also bring out the best in some axe slingers, with Vince Gill and Albert Lee’s hot-wired “Country Boy,” and Jimmie Vaughan fronting the Robert Cray band on a sizzling slow blues “Dirty Work at the Crossroads.” (by Hal Horowitz)

Tracklist:
01. Sonny Landreth: Hell At Home (with Eric Clapton) (Landreth) 6.38
02. John McLaughlin: Maharina (McLaughlin) 8.00
03. Doyle Bramhall II; Outside Woman Blues (Reynolds) 3.45
04. Derek Trucks Band: Highway 61 Revisited (with Johnny Winter) (Dylan) 9.17
05. Robert Randolph & The Family Band: The March (Randolph) 12.04
06. The Robert Cray Band: Poor Johnny (Cray) 6.20
07. Jimmie Vaughan: Dirty Work At The Crossroads (with The Robert Cray Band) (Brown/ Robey) 4.09
08. Hubert Sumlin: Sitting On The Top Of The World (with he Robert Cray Band & Jimmie Vaughan (Burnett) 4.29
09. B.B. King: The Thrill Is Gone (Benson/Pettie) 7.14
10. John Mayer: I Don´t Need No Doctor (Ashford/Simpson/Armstead) 7.10
11. Vince Gill: Sweet Thing (Nicholson/Gill) 5.04
12. Albert Lee: Country Boy (with Vince Gill) (Lee/Smith/Colton)
13. Eric Clapton & Sheryl Crow: Tulsa Time (with Vince Gill & Albert Lee) (Flowers) 6.32
14. Willie Nelson: On The Road Again  (with Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill & Albert Lee) (Nelson) 2.50
15. Los Lobos: Chains Of Love (Hidalgo/Pérez) 6.53
16. Jeff Beck: Big Block (Beck/Bozzio/Hymas) 5.44
17. Eric Clapton: Little Queen Of Spades (Johnson) 12.59
18. Eric Clapton & Robbie Robertson: Further On Up The Road (Robey‎/Veasey) 7.18
19. Steve Winwood & Eric Clapton: Pearly Queen (Capaldi/Winwood) 5.47
20. Steve Winwood & Eric Clapton: Had To Cry Today (Winwood) 6.24
21. Steve Winwood & Eric Clapton: Cocaine (Cale) 9.30
22. Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood: Crossroads (Johnson) 5.59
23. Buddy Guy: Stone Crazy
24. Buddy Guy: Damn Right I’ve Got The Blues (Guy) 5.21
25. Buddy Guy & Eric Clapton: Hoochie Coochie Man (Dixon) 9.18
26. Buddy Guy: Sweet Home Chicago (with Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, John Mayer, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmie Vaughan, Johnny Winter) (Johnson) 8.53

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Johnny Winter – Texas Pop Festival 1969

It was 1969 when Lewisville, a small farm town of approximately 9,000 residents, became the site of a music festival that attracted 150,000 hippies, bikers and music lovers. As a result of that momentous event, the Texas Historical Commission (THC) has recognized the Texas International Pop Festival as a significant part of Denton County history by awarding it an Official Texas Historical Marker.

The Texas festival featured 25 musical acts. In Hayner’s historical narrative submitted to THC, he wrote: “The festival opened with an unknown band named Grand Funk Railroad. The line-up included rock and roll and rhythm and blues. B.B. King played all three days. Other blues acts were present such as Johnny Winter, The James Cotton Blues Band, Canned Heat, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, and Freddie King. Rhythm and blues was represented by Sam & Dave and Sly & The Family Stone. Rock and blues crossover acts Rotary Connection, Ten Years After and Janis Joplin tied the genre together. Jazz was represented by flutist Herbie Mann, and even a bit of Cajun sound was made by Tony Joe White. Mainstream rock music was represented by Chicago Transit Authority, Spirit, Santana, Nazz, Sweetwater and an up-and-coming blockbuster band from England named Led Zeppelin.”

In addition, a free stage was constructed at a public campground at Lewisville Lake, which was five-and-one-half miles north of the festival grounds at the motor speedway. Each evening the campground attracted thousands of festival campers. Local bands performed on the free stage along with some of the big name acts after playing the main stage. Famous icon of the 60s, Wavy Gravy, acquired his moniker at the free stage. (blogs.dallasobserver.com)

And here´s the show of the very young Johnny Winter … and if you listen to thsi high quality recording, you will understand, why he became in 1969 a super star in Rock & Blues … He´s exploding more than one time … his guitar playing was and is unbelieveable ! And we hear some songs from his pre-Columbia period … very early Johnny Winter songs !

This is disc 9 of a 13-disc set. Maybe more recordings from this set will come.

Personnel:
Tommy Shannon (bass)
John Red Turner (drums)
Johnny Winter (guitar, vocals)

Tracklist:
01. Introduction + Mean Town Blues (Winter) 9.42
02. Black Cat Bone (Winter) 4.40
03. Mean Mistreater (Gordon) 12.53
04. Talk To Your Daughter (Lenoir/Atkins) 4.25
05. Look Up (Suprane/Derringer) 4.29
06. I Can Love You Baby (Winter) 2.48
+
07. Johnny Winter – Texas Pop Festival (uncut edition) 41.02

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Various Artists – Mindrocker Volume 4 (1982)

Mindrocker is an extensive series of compilation albums that was circulated through Line Records and then Impact Records in the 1980s. The complete series compacted nearly 200 songs of rare, and obscure material primarily from American garage and psychedelic rock musical artists that were originally recorded in the 1960s, and previously made available to only a handful of collectors. It was organized by record producer Hans-Hermann Pohle, named after a single by California band, Fenwyck, and initially distributed in Germany. The first volume was released in 1981 and by 1986 the thirteenth and final installment of the series was issued.

Initially, Mindrocker was comparable to the popularity and specialization of the Pebbles series, however, with the ready availability of most of its material via digital means or specified anthologies, the series has not managed to endure as long as other relatable collections. Nonetheless, during its original run, Mindrocker was pivotal to the revival of garage rock. Most of the volumes were arranged to a certain region or record label, though some pieces of the series hold no such pattern. (by wikipedia)

And this is the story of the great Line Records Label:

Back in 1979.
Several major labels had just squeezed out the Punk movement and its followers such as New Wave, when a new small independent record company based in Hamburg made a bold step back into the future: LINE RECORDS.
Virtually nobody still cared about the music of the glorious 60s and 70s then – except Uwe Tessnow, a former A&R rep of Kinney Music and Teldec Records.
Surprise releases by almost forgotten rock stars such as Mitch Ryder and Roger Chapman made their way into the shops and were sold by the vanload immediately.
The news was spread almost overnight, and many musicians got in touch with LINE to find a new platform for their products nobody else was interested in.

A highly attractive artist roster took shape almost by itself, the term “re-release” was (re)born and has become a substantial part of the international recording industry since.
Highly acclaimed (but almost forgotten) artists from America and Great Britain were back in the biz, critics’ darlings got their second chance, lost vinyl rarities were available once again, unknown bands and soloists made their marks on LINE.
Uwe Tessnow signed contracts, acquired rights, the so-called “small label with the scale-paper” had fulfilled groundbreaking, pioneering work – fans and collectors cheered alike.

LINE also set a new standard in extracting valuable material from foreign label catalogues:
LINE got the meat out of cult labels such as BOMP and Star-Club, and took over product from newly established indies from the likes of Stiff, Albion, Beserkley among others for the German market.
There seemed to be a niche for everything: Rock and Rock’n’Roll; R&B and Soul; Blues and Pubrock; 60s Garage Rock, Punk and New Wave. Promoting sound from the past and present, LINE had finally arrived.

Furtheron the label set even more new standards – sometimes with a twinkle in the eye: Uwe Tessnow offered coloured vinyl, double LPs with only three sides housed in normal one-album sleeves, 10-inch promo items, special cassette editions – LINE paved the way once more, got imitated but was hardly conquered.

In the mid-80s, comprehensive parts of the label’s catalogue were transferred onto the new compact disc format.
It was the starting shot for special compilation series as well, making LINE a forerunner once again: Rock File, Pop File, and the Backline series – presenting the US pop history from the 40s to the mid-50s – have become legendary projects since, got copied by many competitors but are still a distinctive part of the label’s catalogue.

These days Uwe Tessnow is marketing classical music (core theme: rare opera recordings) – with his pop job expertly done and left behind.
Without his bold reanimation strategy at times when nobody cared, the international rock scene would have been much poorer.

Rock and pop re-issues these days are still a significant part of the record business.
The crucial pattern has got a name: LINE.

The Moving Sidewalks (pre-ZZ Top)

And this is volume 4 of this series … What a great compilation … lot´s of very rare stuff including The Moving Sidewalks (pre-ZZ Top), a rare Johnny Winter song (taken rom a single by Pacemaker Records) and bands like The Scotty McKay Quintet or The Bad Roads (had vever heard of them). You´ll find more informations on the backcover of this LP.

This entry is dedicated to all music maniacs like me !

More compilations like this will come !

Tracklist:

The Moving Sidewalks:
01. 99th Floor (Gibbons) 2.13
02. What Are You Going To Do (Gibbons) 2.24
03. Need Me (Gibbons) 2.10
04. Every Night A New Surprise (Ames) 2.54

The Great Believers:
05. Comin’ Up Fast (Boynton/Winter) 2.37

The Scotty McKay Quintet:
06. he Train Kept A Rollin’ (Kay/Mann/Bradshaw) 2.20

A-440:
07. Torture (Clark/Romano/Sartie) 2.00

Johnny Winter:
08. Birds Can’t Row Boats (Winter) 2.58

The Things:
09. I Don’t Believe It (Things) 3.04

The Stoics:
10. Enough Of What I Need (Marechal/Quillian/Ash) 2.15

The Pandas:
11. Walk (Bellams/Kelso) 2.28

The Bad Roads:
12. Blue Girl (Bad Roads) 2.07

The Stoics:
13. Hate (Ash) 2.43

Satori:
14.  Time Machine (Warkentin) 1.39

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Various Artists – The Many Faces Of The Rolling Stones (2015)

This is a great sampler from Mexico !

The Rolling Stones have become the reincarnation of rock itself, being the representation, both musically and in terms of image and behavior, what rock & roll represents. In The Many Faces Of The Rolling Stones, we will highlight their side-projects, their roots, their favorite songs and even a brand new song, which becomes and event in itself, for all the Stones’ fans around the world. The idea sounds wonderful right?. Well, The Many Faces Of The Rolling Stones will meet the expectations of even the most demanding Stones fan. We have a lost recording by Leslie West (Mountain’s guitarist) with Mick Jagger playing guitar, a duet by Keith Richards with Ian McLagan (Faces’ keyboardist), and also the hard-to-find single versions of Bill Wyman’s solo hits.

Also we have Mick Jagger and Keith Richards all time favorite songs (handpicked by themselves), and an extremely rare track titled Catch As Catch Can, that was released only in a limited edition in France as a 7″ and never previously available on CD single, by musician and producer Robin Millar (Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Sade) recorded in 1973 along with Mick Taylor, Bobby Keys and Mick Jagger!!!.

Finally, we have the originals versions of the best songs the Stones covered during his long and illustrious career. This is a marvelous project that with remastered sound, beautiful cover art extended liner notes is an essential addition to your collection. (promo text)

Yes, yes, yes … a real great and intersting Project … Listen and discover the many faces of The Rolling Stones !

Tracklist:

CD 1:
The Adventures Of The Stones:

01. Leslie West feat. Mick Jagger:High Roller (Jagger/Richards/Laing/Palmer) 4.13
02. Ron Wood & Ian McLagan: She Stole It (McLagan) 3.45
03. Bill Wyman: Monkey Grip (single edition) (Wyman) 3.17
04. Ian McLagan & Keith Richards: Truly (McLagan) 5.58
05. Toots & The Maytals feat. Keith Richards:- Careless Ethiopians (Hibbert) 3.22
06. Ron Wood & The Jones Gang: Had Me A Real Good Time (Lane/Wood) 4.45
07. Ian McLagan feat. Bobby Keys: Somebody (McLagan) 3.00
08 .British Invasion All-Stars feat. Dick Taylor: Gimme Some Loving (Winwood) 4.15
09. Bill  Wyman: (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star (single edit) (Wyman) 3.23
10. Robin Millar feat. Mick Taylor, Nicky Hopkins & Bobby Keys: Catch As Catch Can (Millar)  3.33
11. John Phillips feat. Mick Jagger, Mick Taylor & Keith Richards:- Zulu Warrior (Phillips/Jagger) 3.30
12. Ron Wood & The Jones Gang: Stay With Me (Wood/Stewart) 5.09
13. Chris Farlowe produced by Mick Jagger: Out Of Time (Jagger/Richards) 3.15
14. Johnny Winter: Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Jagger/Richards) 4.42

CD 2:
Mick & Keith’s Favourite Tracks:

01. Little Walter: I Go To Go (Walter)  2.41
02. Muddy Waters: Forty Days And Forty Nights (Roth) 2.50
03. Robert Johnson: Stones In My Passway (Johnson) 2.28
04. Ray Charles: Lonely Avenue (Pomus) 2.34
05. Z.Z. Hill: Everybody Knows About My Good Thing (Grayson /Horton) 4.57
06. Blind Willie Johnson: Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground) (Johnson) 3.20
07. Howlin’ Wolf: Forty Four (Burnett) 2.48
08. Jesse Fuller: Stagolee (Traditional) 3.44
09. Bill Broonzy: When Did You Leave Heaven (Bullock/Whiting) 3.29
10. Elmore James:- It Hurts Me Too (Red/James/London)  3.19
11. Little Walter: Key To The Highway (Segar) 2.45
12. Erna Franklin: Piece Of My Heart (Ragovoy/Berns) 2.38
13. Chuck Berry: Memphis (Berry) 2.14
14. Robert Johnson: 32-20 Blues (Johnson) 2.52

CD 3:
The  Originals:

01. Chuck Berry: Around And Around (Berry) 2.40
02. Larry Williams: She Said Yeah (Jackson/Williams) 1.50
03. Nat King Cole Trio: Route  66 (Troup) 3.01
04. Muddy Waters:  Just Want To Make Love To You (Dixon) 2.51
05. Howlin’ Wolf: Little Red Rooster (Burnett/Dixon) 2.26
06. Buddy Holly: Not Fade Away (Holly/Petty) 2.23
07. Jimmy  Reed: Honest I Do (Reed/Abner) 2.42
08. Dale Hawkins: Suzie Q (Hawkins/Lewis/Broadwater)  2.19
09. The Coasters: Poison Ivy (Leiber/Stoller) 2.42
10. Jim Harpo: I’m A King Bee (Harpo) 3.04
11. Robertt Johnson: Love In Vain (Johnson) 3.20
12. Bo Diddley: Mona (McDaniel) 3.39
13. Gene Allison: You Can Make It If You Try (Jarrett) 2.09
14. Eric Donaldson: Cherry Oh, Baby (Donaldson) 3.07

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Johnny Winter – Still Alive And Well (1973)

Johnny Winter, a Texas-bred guitarist and singer who was a mainstay of the blues-rock world since the 1960s, died on Wednesday in his hotel room in Zurich. He was 70 and had been on tour in Europe.

Mr. Winter’s family was awaiting information about the cause, a spokeswoman, Carla Parisi, said on Thursday.

A virtuosic, high-energy blues guitarist, Mr. Winter was perhaps as well known for his appearance as he was for his playing. Tall and thin, with pinkish eyes and chalk-white skin and hair, he — like his brother and occasional collaborator, Edgar, a keyboardist and saxophonist — had albinism, a fact that commentators rarely failed to mention. “If you can imagine a 130-pound, cross-eyed albino with long fleecy hair playing some of the gutsiest, fluid blues guitar you ever heard, then enter Johnny Winter,” Rolling Stone wrote in a 1968 article that introduced Mr. Winter, then 24, to the wider public and the music business.

In less than a year he would sign a lucrative contract with Columbia Records, perform at Woodstock and be widely hailed and hyped as one of the most talented guitarists of his generation. Performing blues standards like “Good Morning Little School Girl” with a fiery touch, he became a fixture on the rock touring circuit and had solid record sales during his 1970s peak.

John Dawson Winter III was born on Feb. 23, 1944, in Beaumont, Tex., and took to music while still very young, playing clarinet, ukulele and eventually guitar.

When Mr. Winter was 11, he and Edgar, who is two years younger, performed Everly Brothers songs at local talent shows, and by 15 he had cut his first record: the Chuck Berry-esque “School Day Blues,” credited to Johnny and the Jammers, one of his many teenage bands. Around that time Mr. Winter also discovered the music of blues heroes like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and their sound became his lifelong muse.

“I loved the blues,” Mr. Winter told Look magazine in 1969. “You can feel that nobody cares about you, and you sing, and it doesn’t make any difference and you don’t care. It’s not a happy feeling, it’s not sad. You can cry, and it’s good.”

His first album with Columbia, called simply “Johnny Winter,” arrived in mid-1969 on a wave of media attention. (An earlier LP, “The Progressive Blues Experiment,” released by a small Texas label, was hastily reissued to capitalize on the publicity.)

A second Columbia album, “Second Winter,” came out soon after, followed by “Johnny Winter And,” on which he introduced a new backing band featuring the guitarist Rick Derringer. That album included a Derringer song, “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” that would become a Top 40 hit when rerecorded by Mr. Derringer as a solo artist a few years later.

Mr. Winter continued to record and tour prolifically in the ’70s, and he was also open about the drug problems that he developed along the way. In 1973, after taking a brief break, he released “Still Alive and Well,” one of his best-selling albums. In 1976 he released “Together,” a live album with his brother, Edgar, who survives him, as does Mr. Winter’s wife, Susan Warford Winter.

In 1977 Mr. Winter began a series of collaborations with Mr. Waters, producing his album “Hard Again.” That record, and two that followed in the late ’70s, won acclaim for their raw sound, and each won a Grammy Award. From there Mr. Winter’s own albums increasingly focused on the blues. His most recent, “Roots” (2011), features songs by Robert Johnson, Elmore James and Little Walter.

Mr. Winter has been ranked the 63rd greatest guitar player of all time by Rolling Stone, and throughout his career he and his musicianship have been particularly admired by other musicians.

“Roots” features guest appearances by the guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks of the Allman Brothers, the country star Vince Gill and many others, including Edgar Winter. His next release, “Step Back,” scheduled for September, features the guitarists Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. (by Ben Sisario, NYT).

And this is his comeback-album from 1973:
Still Alive and Well proved to the record-buying public that Johnny Winter was both. This is a truly enjoyable album, chock-full of great tunes played well. Johnny’s version of the Rolling Stones’ “Silver Train” revealed the potential of this song and what the Stones failed to capture. Everything here is good, so get it and dig in. (by James Chrispell)

Winter will never be an especially personable singer, but I like what’s he’s putting out on this monkey-off-my-comeback: two late-Stones covers, plenty of slide, and a good helping of nasty. Nastiest: the Delta-styled “Too Much Seconal” and “Ain’t Nothing to Me,” dedicated to the subversive notion that sometimes the impassivity of country music is a little sadistic. White blues lives: the best and heaviest track is a Hoodoo Rhythm Devils song. (by Robert Christgau)

Personnel:
Rick Derringer  (guitar)
Randy Jo Hobbs (bass)
Richard Hughes (drums)
Johnny Winter (guitar, harmonica, mandolin, vocals)
+
Mark “Moogy” Klingman (piano)
Todd Rundgren (keyboards, mellotron)
Jeremy Steig (flute)

Tracklist:
01. Rock Me Baby (Broonzy/Crudup/Josea/King) 3.49
02. Can’t You Feel It (Hartman) 3.01
03. Cheap Tequila (Derringer) 4.05
04. All Tore Down (Crane) 4.30
05. Rock & Roll (Derringer/Reed/Winter) 4.43
06. Silver Train (Jagger/Richards) 3.35
07. Ain’t Nothing To Me (Dunbar) 3.06
08. Still Alive & Well (Derringer) 3.43
09. Too Much Seconal (Winter) 4.22
10. Let It Bleed (Jagger/Richards) 4.10
+
11. Lucille (Collins/Penniman) 2.26
12. From A Buick 6 (Dylan) 2.28

*
**

REST IN PEACE … JOHNNY !