![]() ![]() His official major-label debut was both underweight and overcooked, lacking the raw spontaneity of his Austin demos, but the ‘three-sided’ Second Winter brought it all home, mapping JW’s blues-rock landscape in all its idiosyncratic glory.Īdding younger brother Edgar to the team on sax and keys, it had a great Richard Avedon sleeve-shot and a prime selection of originals and covers, including the 120mph fireball version of Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, Little Richard’s Miss Ann slowed down to a languorous Lowell Fulson-style shuffle and a hectic sprint through Chuckleberry’s Johnny B Goode which should be entirely unnecessary but somehow isn’t.Īnd the home-brewed tunes which made up the final vinyl side were just spectacular: the stomping slide epics I Love Everybody and Fast Life Rider, the hyper-speed Hustled Down In Texas and the jazzy I Hate Everybody all revealed Winter to be more than just another white boy lost in the blues.Īnd, to add to this embarrassment of Roadhouse Deluxe riches, the Legacy edition comes bundled with a scorchio 1970 live set cut at the Albert Hall (and including an early version of bro’ Edgar’s Frankenstein, not to mention his finest enraged-bee vocal impression on the Nashville Teens’ Tobacco Road). He had been due to begin a US tour in August, ahead of the September 2 release of his new album "Step Back", which features music icons such as Ben Harper, Eric Clapton and Dr John.Johnny Winter performing with Muddy Waters (Image credit: Getty)Ĭombines scorching covers and stomping originals to spectacular effect. He had been on tour this month, most recently performing at the Cahors Blues Festival in France on July 14. His big breakthrough came in 1968 when Rolling Stone magazine dubbed the guitarist the hottest item after Janis Joplin in an article about the Texas music scene.Īfter the 1969 Woodstock festival, Winter withdrew from the public eye because of a drugs problem before returning to the scene in 1973. Winter began playing the clarinet aged five, switching to the ukelele and then the guitar a few years later.Īccording to his official website, he formed his first band when he was 14 years old, with his 11-year-old brother, also an albino. Winter, who was also a singer, was one of the most striking figures on the blues scene.Īn albino who was heavily tattooed, his fragile frame and long blond hair contrasted starkly with his powerful, gravelly voice.īorn John Dawson Winter III in Texas in 1944, Winter was the son of a cotton farmer. "Based on the initial elements of the investigation, it appears that this death was the result of medical reasons, and that nothing points to the involvement of another person," the spokesman told AFP. Swiss police told AFP that Winter was found dead early Wednesday in a hotel room in Bulach, a small town north of Zurich, which lies close to the city's airport.Ī Zurich police spokesman said the local prosecutor's office has ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death. ![]() "His wife, family and bandmates are all saddened by the loss of their loved one and one of the world's finest guitarists," the statement read, adding that Winter died on Wednesday. ZURICH: US blues legend Johnny Winter has died aged 70 in a hotel room near Zurich, Swiss police and a statement on his official Facebook page said Thursday. A photo taken on Jshows US guitarist Johnny Winter performing on stage during the XII Jazz Festival in Valencia's Palau de la Musica. ![]()
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