Al Kooper on Johnny Winter (extension of cut #10) and worth the history: 11. RIP Johnny Winter, 1944 - 2014: Its My Own Fault Baby — Johnny Winter (9:50) This is a recording from the first night I met Johnny Winter and heard him play. Mike Bloomfield and I were playing the Fillmore East in 1969 and Mike showed up with Johnny in tow and asked me if it was okay if he sat in. I knew of his reputation—a Texas Terror of the Blues—but never actually heard him play. But I certainly trusted Bloomfield’s taste and a slow blues didn’t really need to be rehearsed to get the point across. So Michael introduces Johnny halfway through our show, and the audience obviously has NEVER heard of him and when this long-haired albino walks out, the applause is slight. But after the first four and a half minutes of his playing and singing, Johnny hands it over to Bloomfield, receiving a much more respectful response. Bloomfield plays right back at him for three more minutes, and then Johnny takes the last three minutes home like he was playing for his life. It was pretty incredible. The audience went nuts, as you can hear. The top brass from Columbia Records were in the front row to hear Mike and me play live and fortunately we were recording the show. Within the next two weeks, they signed Johnny to a big contract and the rest is history. This is the actual start of that history. I am proud to have been a part of it and I am really sad to see him go. He played right to the very end and died on the road like the true bluesman he always was
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 16:42:24 +0000
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