Johnny Dawson Winter iii - Personal life

John Dawson Winter III was born in Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas, United States on 23rd February 1944. He was the first child of John Dawson Winter Jr., born on 2nd May 1909, and Edwina Holland, born on 11th September 1917.

When he was 56 years old, his father John Dawson Winter Jr. died on 7th January 2001. When he was 66 years old, his mother Edwina Holland died on 19th January 2011.

1964 Johnny Winter drops out of school

On 11th March 1993, he married Susan Jane Warford, born on 15th January 1950. He was 49 years old when he married Susan Jane Warford, who was 43 years old at that time. He had one daughter with Susan Jane Warford: Judith Elerick.

On 10th April 1950, he lived in Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas, United States. On 7th January 2001, he lived in Easton, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States.

On 16th July 2014, he died in Zürich, Bezirk Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland when he was 70 years old. In 2014, he was buried in Union Cemetery, Easton, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. His wife Susan Jane Warford died around 2019, 5 years after him.

Johnny's grandfather John Dawson Winter Sr (1879-1938) had been a cotton broker in Leland. When WWII ended, Johnny's father took over the business but was unable to compete with the volume dealers who dominated the industry. Edgar was born when Johnny was 3, a year or 2 later, the family moved to Beaumont for good, but returned to Leland every summer. "I pretty much thought of myself as being from Mississippi till I was 11 or 12," says Johnny

Johnny Winter's father John Dawson Winter Jr (1909-2001) was from Leland, Mississippi. An accomplished army officer with a degree from the Virginia Military Institute, he found himself in Texas on official duty when fate led him to his future wife. The soon-to-be Mrs. Winter relocated to Leland, but her husband's military service took him abroad, prompting her to return to her native Beaumont, Texas. It was there, on Wednesday, 23rd February 1944, that she brought forth John Dawson Winter III into the world. Meanwhile, Mr. Winter harmonized in a barbershop quartet and lent his voice to a church choir. At the tender age of five, young Johnny took up the clarinet, setting his musical journey in motion.

Uncle John Turner (UJT) remembers: Johnny's parents were living in Leland Miss. where Johnny's dad was the "boss" of Stovall's plantation. There were no good hospitals or medical care in that area, so Johnny's mother went to her parent's home, who were old Beaumont pioneers, to have Johnny. She stayed there a few weeks and then returned to Leland. Within a few years, they moved to Beaumont.

Initially Johnny started playing clarinet at the age of 5, switched briefly to ukelele. "My father told me: The only two ukelele players I ever knew that did anything were Arthur Godfrey and Ukelele Ike, and I think you got a much better choice of makin' it with a guitar."

After school, Johnny entered Lamar technical college and specialized in a commercial branch. But nearly every weekend he hitch-hiked to Louisana to play in small night-clubs. Six months later, he gave up his studies and devoted himself to music.

Growing up in Beaumont/Houston, where from his earliest years he heard the rich, pungent sounds of Negro blues and gospel music all around him.

He also learned country licks from Luther Nalley, a Beaumont music store employee, as well as the current rock tunes of the late 1950s.

At age 11, together with Edgar, the two brothers performed as an Everly Brothers-style duo and even auditioned for Ted Mack's Original Amateur hour.

Johhny Winter dropped out of Lamar State College and headed north to Chicago to join his friend Dennis Drugan's band, The Gents, but by the end of 1963 he was back in Texas. He recorded the single "Eternally" for the Ken Ritter KRCO label who then leased it to Atlantic. It became a big regional hit and Winter found himself opening for major acts like "The Everly Brothers" and "Jerry Lee Lewis".