JOHNNY WINTER - Live in NYC 1997 - CD ALBUM

Johnny Winter made some rock records early in his career, but it's been Nothin'; but the Blues for the past 20 years. He reached a highwater mark with 1992's Hey, Where's Your Brother?, and now Winter is back with Live in NYC 1997, a smoldering concert document from one of the most accomplished guitarists in any genre.

Winter's trio is rounded out by timekeeper Tom Compton and new bassist Mark Epstein, rock-solid players who add funky and unexpected twists. His Lazer guitar is still downtuned to D, though his tone is thicker than the lightly chorused sound he's favored lately, and while the fluidity, imagination and precision of Winter's playing is still head-turning, it seems more deliberate and measured than in the past. Winter's singing, too, has changed: it's clearer and less mannered, with his familiar growl making only a few appearances. Neither change should dissuade long-time fans, and, indeed, the slightly less urgent feel may help bring into the fold some who had felt Winter was too much.

Freddie King's "Hideaway," which Winter has been playing for years but had never recorded, includes all of King's lines plus wicked overbends and chordal runs up the neck. Frankie Lee Sim's Texas lope "She Likes to Boogie Real Low" rolls along unstoppably, providing the launching pad for several firebrand guitar breaks. Winter invests Ray Charles' "Black Jack" with deep blues power; where he traditionally would blaze through a slow blues, his measured approach here emphasizes space more than speed. "Just a Little Bit" makes up for the lost notes with heartpounding soloing. Winter again proves to be one of the slide guitar greats on "The Sun Is Shinning" (not Elmore James' slow Chess slide but a Jimmy Reed Shuffle) and "The Sky Is Crying" (James' song, played more in the style of Muddy Waters).

Apart from absorbing and marveling at the playing, it's instructive to take the change Live offers to look into the mind of someone who has listened to and played more blues than most mere mortals. Freddie King's "Sen-Sa-Shun" turns up as the extended introduction to "Got My Mojo Workin'." The similarity between the two songs makes the pairing a natural, but many have listened to each tune without making the connection Winter makes. Much of the melodic concept for the solo in "Black Jack" is adapted from "You Shook Me."

Winter's theme song, "Johnny Guitar," is based on a Johnny "Guitar" Watson number; here Winter interpolates a snatch of Larry Williams' "Boney Maroney." Winter recorded the later song years ago, but its inclusion here is doubly significant because Williams teamed with Watson for a time in the 1960s. And when Snooks Eaglin's "Drop the Bomb" takes things out on a very funky note. Winter fans won't miss the extended nod to Johnny's own "Fast Life Rider." Live in NYC 1997 is a trip for the head as well as the ears from one of the greats. Subtitle this one "Genius at Work."

Johnny Winter
Live in NYC '97
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Hideaway/Sen-Sa-Shun/Got My Mojo Working/She Likes to Boogie Real Low/Black Jack/Just a Little Bit/The Sun Is Shinning/The Sky is Crying/Johnny Guitar/Drop the Bomb

When Eric Clapton, another blues/rock icon whose career took off in the ‘60s, revisited his blues lineage on Journeyman, the emphasis was on his return to the genre. Johnny Winter never left. Though he has been a blues loyalist for a third of a century, rarely has he treated listeners to such an in-depth guided tour of his roots.

With his credentials as a Texas blues guitar slinger firmly established, Winter heads off into territory populated by his heroes. Not many musicians can handle the combination of chunky funkiness and agile lyricism that characterizes Freddy King's style, but Winter pulls it off. The opening track, a hot cover of Hideaway, slips and lurches in all the right places, capturing some of the master's dazzling touch. By building a medley on an unlikely pairing of Sen-Sa-Shun and Got My Mojo Working, Winter marries King's style with the rhythms of Muddy Waters ' Chicago sound. The effect is both jarring and thrilling.

When Winter sets aside his impressive guitar acrobatics, his more graceful playing is evident on the standout slow blues selections on Live in NYC. His cover of Ray Charles' Black Jack, a tale of a life lost to gambling, is packed with tension and sorrow. He transforms Elmore James' The Sky Is Crying into a dramatic slide guitar event, with swoops and quivers aplenty. Set off against James' tune by its title, Jimmy Reed's The Sun Is Shinning gives Winter another opportunity to flaunt his considerable talents as a flashy electric slide guitar player. As he dusts his broom on Reed's song, Winter moves in and out of Delta stylings, even toying with the phrasing of Roy Orbison, all the while slipping and sliding his guitar like nobody's business.

Johnny Winter is like the flu. At the most inappropriate time, just when you think you've reached the apex of coolness, he gets into your bloodstream and takes over. I don't care how conversant you are about the lives of obscure Piedmont rag pickers, there's something about a squint-eyed guy with a shock of platinum hair, a snake-brimmed range hat, Rorschach-tattooed arms and a St. Vitus guitar style that just wins you over.

Now, the albino thunder god's latest, Live in NYC '97, is nothing revelatory. He's gone live before, and if you're looking for his hair-raising winterized treatments of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" and the Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash," you'll have to look elsewhere. This scorching 1997 show, recorded at New York's Bottom Line, is strictly blues – and if Winter sometimes lapses into obligatory flag wavers like "I Got My Mojo Working," well, as deep into the blues life as he's gone, who's got the right to squawk?

Some facts have got to be faced up front, Winter can play like a crossroads demon, but his singing voice is barely a shade more soulful than Tex Avery's cartoon dog, Droopy. There are moments in this show, like on Ray Charles' "Blackjack," when he sounds about ready to give up the ghost. Winter has always sounded best when, as he did at Dylan's Bobfest show a few years ago, he growls along with his machine-gun guitar licks. There's plenty of growling here, but when his side licks get high and lonesome, his watery crooning can get hard to take.

The guitar work, on the other hand, is almost always stellar, even if there are times when his glassy lines sound a bit too often like Albert Collins. Stevie Ray Vaughan copped a lot from Collins, too, so who's complaining? The disc hops off with a fresh, fluid version of "Hideaway," then heads off-track with the more rare "Sen-Sa-Shun" and a rote "Mojo."

Then it gets interesting. Winter displays his Texas roots on Frankie Lee Simms' "She Likes to Boogie Real Low." It's the highlight, a cooking boogie number that lopes like an old mule. For the rest of the performance, Winter settles into his slide, groaning through, "Blackjack" and then blowing out wonderfully-twisted runs on Jimmy Reed's "The Sun Is Shinning" and the Elmore James chestnut, "The Sky Is Crying." Winter dedicates this disc to all his fans. But even those who consider him an occasional guilty pleasure, Live in NYC has lots to recommend

Johnny Winter has been cranking out blues, rock/blues, and rock n' roll for 40 years. He played blues when it wasn't popular for white performers to do so. He often jammed with Jimi Hendrix, and worked with musicians as diverse as Rick Derringer, Muddy Waters , and his younger brother, keyboard and sax man, Edgar Winter. His scorching guitar style and usually ragged vocals are immediately identifiable, and not often copied. In fact, I don't recall ever hearing the phrase, "that guy sounds like Johnny Winter".

Breaking a five-year hiatus, Johnny Winter Live in NYC '97 showcases a set of songs Johnny says are dedicated to all his fans. While Johnny may have mellowed just a tad, and the ragged edge to his voice has smoothed somewhat, this recording is a great example of what Johnny has been doing for what seems an eternity. His playing is still crisp, acurate, powerful, and exciting. And although I never considered him to be a great singer, for some reason I always enjoy hearing him sing. There's this kind of arrogance to his voice. Kinda like he's saying, "I'm gonna sing it, and you're gonna love it".

There is a bit of everything on this CD, from rock 'n roll to slow blues, and, my personal favorite, some nasty slide guitar. In my opinion, Johnny is the meanest slide player ever, bar none. I won't go into describing the individual songs, except to say that they are all excellent, except for the last cut, The Bomb. This is one of those monotonous, repetitive songs that I just can't learn to enjoy. There just has to be a better song that could have been used to close out this otherwise excellent set. If not for that song, I would've given this CD a 5.0 rating.

Whether you are looking for your first Johnny Winter CD, or you have his entire collection, I heartily recommend this CD. It is definitely one that makes you wish you could've been there, the real test of any live recording.

I can't close this review however, without mentioning a couple of other Winter recordings. Nearly all of his recordings are great, but two stand out as must have items. Captured Live, recorded in 1976, showcases Johnny at his live best. This album is really more rock than blues, but is one of the most awesome live recordings ever. That set closes with the Johnny's own Sweet Papa John,, probably the most powerful slide blues performance you're likely to hear.

The other album is Nothin' But the Blues, recorded in 1977. This one consists primarily of acoustic, Muddy Waters influenced blues. In fact, Muddy and his band perform with Johnny on the album. Probably the closest to traditional blues Johnny ever got. There is some electric guitar, but the volume is turned down and the emphsis is on the vocals. These two albums show two extreme sides of Johnny Winter, with most of his other recordings falling somewhere between these two boundries.
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