Johnny Winter  1944
Johnny Winter was born in Beaumont, Texas, in
1944. His mother had returned to her parents' home in
Texas to give birth and returned shortly thereafter to Leland,
Mississippi, where his father was serving in the army.
Winter spent much of his childhood in Beaumont, Texas. He became
interested in music early. His original instrument was
the clarinet, which he began playing when he was four,
but he switched to his father's ukulele. His father taught him
a few chords, and Johnny continued with the ukulele for a couple
of years doing barbershop quartet-type tunes such as 'Ain't
She Sweet" and 'Bye-Bye Blackbird'. Around the age of eleven
, he switched to guitar at the urging of his father.
Around the same time Johnny Winter was getting into rock and
roll and learning guitar, he was introduced to the blues.
A guitarist named Clarence Garlow had a blues show on
a local radio station in Beaumont that Johnny started listening
to. He heard artists such as Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, and Howlin'
Wolf. He got to know Clarence by calling him up and asking for
requests, and they eventually met. Johnny would go down to the
radio station, and Clarence would show him things on the
guitar.
Johnny started playing professionally at around age fourteen.
At the time, blues was black people's music, and all his
friends thought he was crazy for playing it. He used to go to
all the black clubs in town, getting the odd gig and sitting
in whenever he could. He jammed with B.B. King at a club called
The Raven when he was eighteen. Johnny remembers the
meeting fondly.
Johnny Winter signed with Columbia records in 1969, so he
has been playing for over forty years. He formed his first band,
Johnny and the Jammers, in 1959 at the age of fifteen,
with his twelve-year-old brother Edgar on keyboards.
His career has had its ups and down. He is a recovering heroin
addict whose manager apparently made sure that he received anti-depressants,
compounding the problem. Winter's health suffered as did his
mental awareness and his career. His manager (Status) was dismissed,
but much money appears to be missing. A legal case is in progress
against Status's estate.
Winter has been reviving his career. His disc "I'm A Bluesman"
received a Grammy nomination in 2004, and in 2005 Johnny and
Edgar Winter were inducted into the Southeast Texas "Walk
of Fame" at Ford Park in their home town of Beaumont, Texas,
for their contributions to music and career accomplishments.
Winter was also nominated for a W.C. Handy Blues Awards for
"Second Winter Legacy Edition," in 2005.
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Websites
Johnny
Winter's biography is available here on his web site.
Read
the article from Guitar World magazine:
The trials of Johnny Winter...
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