Johnny Winter life and biography

John Dawson “Johnny” Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters.

Since his time with Waters, Johnny Winter has recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums and continues to tour extensively. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 74th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”

Johnny Winter, along with his brother Edgar Winter, were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits. Both he and his brother, who were born with albinism, began performing at an early age. When he was ten-years old, Winter appeared on a local children’s show, playing ukelele and singing Everly Brothers songs with his brother.

His recording career began at the age of fifteen, 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, Texas 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.

In 2004, Winter received a Grammy nomination for his I’m a Bluesman album. Backing him are guitarist Paul Nelson, bassist Scott Spray, and drummer Vito Liuzzi. Beginning in 2007, a series of live Winter albums titled the Live Bootleg Series and a live DVD have all entered the Top 10 Billboard Blues charts. In 2009, The Woodstock Experience album was released, which includes eight songs that Winter performed at the 1969 festival.

Johnny Winter is signed to Megaforce Records, who will release a new studio album titled Roots on September 27, 2011. It will include Winter's interpretation of eleven early blues and rock 'n' roll classics and feature several guest artists.


Studio albums:
-The Progressive Blues Experiment (Sonobeat 1968, re-released by UA/Imperial 1969)
-Johnny Winter (Columbia 1969)
-Second Winter (Columbia 1969)
-Johnny Winter And (Columbia 1970)
-Still Alive and Well (Columbia 1973)
-Saints & Sinners (Columbia 1974)
-John Dawson Winter III (Columbia 1974)
-Nothin' But the Blues (Blue Sky 1977)
-White, Hot and Blue (Blue Sky 1978)
-Raisin' Cain (Blue Sky 1980)
-Guitar Slinger (Alligator 1984)
-Serious Business (Alligator 1985)
-Third Degree (Alligator 1986)
-The Winter of '88 (MCA/Voyager 1988)
-Let Me In (Point Blank 1991)
-Hey, Where's Your Brother? (Point Blank 1992)
-I'm a Bluesman (Virgin 2004)
-Roots (Megaforce 2011)

Live albums:
-Live Johnny Winter And (Columbia 1971)
-Captured Live! (Blue Sky 1976)
-Together with Edgar Winter (Blue Sky 1976)
-Live In NYC '97 (Virgin 1998)
-Live Bootleg Series, Volumes 1–7 (Friday 2007–11)
-The Woodstock Experience (Sony/Legacy 2009)
-Johnny Winter Live Fillmore East 10/3/70 (Collectors 2010)
-Rockpalast Blues Rock Legend Vol. 3 recorded in Essen April, 1979 (2011)

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