Sunday, 24 August 1997 - The Bottom Line New York

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Steve Stewart on Johnny Winter

Sunday, August 24th, was a warm evening in New York City, and in Greenwich Village at 4th Street and Mercer, Johnny Winter was booked at the Bottom Line.

My wife and I were spending some time in the city, and I was eagerly anticipating seeing Johnny for the 25th time since '73! Being Canadian, it occurred to me that I was catching him play in the town that put him in the eye of the world back in late '68 when he left southeast Texas and headed north to fame and fortune.

At 9:00, the club was at three-quarters capacity, and 10 minutes later, guitarist Richie Kotzen came out to play a set of rocking originals that lasted 50 minutes. New York was polite.

Johnny stepped out of his manager's car and walked in the front door with a small entourage just before 10 and settled backstage. It was obvious that this was his town.

At 10:30, he took the stage and broke into "Hideaway." The sound was spot-on from the start. "Hideaway" was followed by "Got My Mojo Working," "Sick and Tired," "She Likes to Boogie Real Low," and other standards he plays in his set these days. The open-tuned old brown Firebird came out after 45 minutes, and he cut loose with a shuffle I didn’t recognize but which sounded a lot like "Mojo Boogie." The Firebird really electrified the set more than anything!

Yes, Johnny is fifty-three and a half years old, and he doesn’t play guitar with the same attack he did in the seventies. And yes, his voice doesn’t have the guts and range it once had, and he isn’t the charismatic showman he used to be, but his guitar style, soulfulness, and incredible presence on stage are everything! And he came out to play for New York, and they loved him.

Just saw Johnny Winter, for the first time, at The Bottom Line in Manhattan. It was a short set (well under an hour and a half, including the encore). Johnny, as many have commented, looks incredibly frail these days. He moves slowly and awkwardly, and he needed assistance when switching guitars. Frankly, it would be no exaggeration to say that he looks and walks like a man in his eighties.

He began with an instrumental and then went into 'I've Got My Mojo Working'. He leaned heavily on 'Hey, Where's Your Brother' — playing 'She Likes to Boogie Real Low' and, for an encore, 'Johnny Guitar'. While he obviously can see very little, he's not totally blind. He was able to find his way to his guitars on the side of the stage and to his microphone at the front and center. He also looked at his watch several times (so he must be able to see that as well).

The band (bass and drums) was fine, though the bass was mixed too high. Again: I cannot exaggerate how frail he seems. He really does appear like a man decades older.

Well, that wraps up the bad news. He seemed to be enjoying himself throughout the show (though he did keep looking at his watch). His voice, while not as strong as it may have once been, is still far from shot. He remains a fine, credible blues singer. And I can assure you — he is still an excellent guitar player. He maintains a fine tone (clean yet mean), and he is a paragon of taste.

Everything he played was fluid, fierce, purposeful, and distinctly Johnny Winter. He's incapable of self-indulgence, and he never meanders. If you closed your eyes (as, I must confess, I often did to better appreciate the music), the contrast between what you were seeing and hearing was remarkable. On the last song of the (pre-encore) set, he played slide, and he was superlative.

Frankly, the pathos of his present state was overwhelming — clearly not just for me, but for the audience as a whole. Still, as a musician, he commands admiration and respect. Not pity.

I recommend that all Johnny Winter's fans see him if they ever get the chance. I'm honored to have seen him play tonight, and I can't express how much I envy those of you who had the chance to see him perform in even better days.