What happened is that Johnny Winter's publicity came at a time when there were so many messiahs that another one didn't make much difference. So what happened then? Did the world fall down when the first Johnny Winter album was released? Did thousands of teens hurl themselves off building tops because they weren't able to get to the record stores to purchase a first-day-of-release copy? Alas, no. His manager, a man with an eye for theater, required that the president of the label drive several miles from Manhattan for the signing ceremony in a rustic cabin. He was signed to a recording contract for $300,000, which was given as proof of his talent. Back in 1969, with an immense amount of publicity, he was presented as the albino hope of rock-and-roll. Charley Waters, Rolling Stone, 1/30/75. Still, Winter displays an unmistakable maturity that few rock artists achieve. John Dawson Winter III is not without flaws - his vocal on "Sweet Papa John," a blues patterned after the earliest Muddy Waters sides, returns to the thin huskiness he has mostly mastered, and the horns on two cuts would have been best omitted. Shelly Yackus's crisp production shows the proper measure of control. Wisely, Winter continues to borrow from other writers: Derringer, John Lennon and Allen Toussaint are all well represented. Randy Jo Hobbs's bass combines treble tones with the mandatory bottom sound, and muscular drum rolls from Richard Hughes propel the meatier tracks which dominate the album.
Knowing that even the simplest change can revitalize an otherwise staid 12-bar blues, Winter inserts a time-tested ascending chord sequence into the ninth and tenth bars of "Pick Up on My Mojo." Yet he can also succeed with a haunting, gently sung "Stranger," a pop piece reminiscent of Edgar.īut it's never a one-man show. Interestingly, Winter opts for less use of distortion than do most guitarists of this ilk. Delivering cluster after cluster of rapidly picked notes or soaring chords, he has developed a discernible, if not virtuoso, style to replace the awkward pastiches of Chuck Berry and B.B. Winter the guitarist is a constant powerhouse who leaves few spaces in his frequent solos. John Dawson Winter III further refines the oldest's progression from an overanxious white bluesman with a restrained voice into a tasteful and raunch rocker.
Johnny Winter, his brother Edgar and Rick Derringer form an American rock triumvirate that knows little competition.
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