Blues Legend Johnny Winter at Toad's Place!
The lifelong bluesman will be gracing the Toad's Place Richmond stage on Thursday, March 27th! Born Feb. 23, 1944, to a musical family, Winter’s albino complexion may have created an unusual pairing with the then-dominated African-American blues genre. But after 30 years in the business, Winter remains among the highest acclaimed musicians of his time.
“Signing to Columbia records in 1969, Winter immediately laid out the blueprint for his fresh take on classic blues, a prime combination for the legions of fans just discovering the blues via the likes of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. Constantly shifting between simple country blues in the vein of Robert Johnson, to all-out electric slide guitar blues-rock, Winter has always been one of the most respected singers and guitar players in rock and the clear link between British blues-rock and American Southern rock (a la the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd).
Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, Johnny was the unofficial torch-bearer for the blues, championing and aiding the careers of his idols like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker,” states the musician’s Web site.
Winter grew up in a rural Texas oil town, his first love of ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll came from listening to the Big Bopper radio deejay J.P. Richardson of “Chantilly Lace” fame. By 15 years old, in 1959, he had formed his first band with his 12-year-old brother Edgar on keyboards.
“Racial tensions in Beaumont were still high in those days. The town had been the site of one of the worst race riots in Texas history just nine months before Johnny’s birth. Mobs wandered the streets, businesses burned, martial law went into effect, and more than 2,000 uniformed National Guardsmen and Texas Rangers sealed off the town from the rest of the world until tempers cooled. Despite the brutal legacy, Johnny remembers never hesitating as a kid to venture into black neighborhoods to hear and play music,” states the musician’s Web site.
“Nothing ever happened to me. I went to black clubs all the time, and nobody ever bothered me. I always felt welcome,” said Winter on his Web site.
The musician feels the black community always knew he was sincerely interested in the music and he soon became friends with a famous black deejay, Clarence Garlow. Garlow further exposed Winter to rural blues and Cajun music, solidifying a musical education that would influence Winter for the rest of his career.
“Winter’s big breakthrough came a few years later in 1968 when Rolling Stone writers Larry Sepulvado and John Burks featured him in a piece on the Texas music scene, which prompted a bidding war among labels that Columbia eventually won. Johnny’s self-titled 1969 disc announced loudly that there was a new guitar-slinger on the new national scene. The disc included audacious covers such blues classics as B.B. King’s ‘Be Careful with a Fool,’ Sonny Boy Williamson II’s ‘Good Morning Little School Girl,’ Robert Johnson’s ‘When You Got a Good Friend’ and fellow Texan Lightin’ Hopkins’ ‘Back Door Friend.’
In 2004, Winter’s album “I’m A Bluesman” garnered a Grammy nomination nod, proving the musician continues to influence the genre.
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