Opening Acts: Wishbone Ash and James Cotton
David Rensin:
Armed with a repertoire of hot licks and a legendary charismatic personality, a relaxed but careful Johnny Winter faced a record Winterland crowd and managed to satisfy both his older, more faithful fans and the newer followers attracted by the success of his younger brother Edgar.
Ever since his auspicious debut in the mid-sixties, Winter has remained in name—if not in fact—a prince amongst mere pretenders. Yet, like Eric Clapton, drugs toppled him from guitardom's Mount Olympus, and he has been forced to renegotiate the comeback trail. "His initial return tour was a major disappointment," conceded Winter's manager Steve Paul. "Everything was sloppy and Johnny was trapped into playing everyone's favorite numbers instead of doing what he wanted to do." This time around, however, Winter seemed able to follow his musical mind wherever it led, discarding once-automatic renditions of older songs to dwell more on new material.
Backed by Randy Jo Hobbs on bass, Floyd Radford on rhythm/lead guitar, and Richard Hughes on drums, Winter opened the set with a spirited version of "Rock and Roll People," penned for him by John Lennon. Wisely, Winter immediately allowed Radford the freedom to play extended leads, which in turn forced the albino axeman to maintain a similar excellent level throughout the song and set. This provided an ecstatic crowd with more than enough guitar calisthenics to satiate their hunger.
Continuing with songs from the *John Dawson Winter III* album, the band followed Rick Derringer's "Roll with Me" with "Stranger," a slower original number that changed the performance's pace while permitting Winter and Radford to stretch out through the song's fluidity. After a blazing "Bony Moronie," the band launched into three extended blues/rock jams which dragged a bit, even as they showcased Winter's slide work and the group members' individual talents. However, they recovered with "Johnny B. Goode," a rouser that inspired some agitated fans to urge Winter on by repeatedly echoing the refrain, "Go, go, go Johnny go!"
Winter came back for two much-demanded encores (lighted matches, thunderous applause, and the usual howling), one of which was the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash." "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" was conspicuously absent, but there were few calls for the tune.
Backstage after the show, Winter complained that despite the crowd's favorable reactions, he wasn't totally satisfied with the evening's performance. "I'd say the show rated about seven on a scale of ten," he judged. "Yesterday when we opened the tour in Sacramento, it was a 12. Something was missing, but you can bet I'll find out what and play my ass off tomorrow in Long Beach."
Maybe an opening night's adrenaline rush was the elusive quality, but if Winter thought the show was lacking, I'd be interested in hearing what he considered better.
