JOHNNY WINTER - Serious Business - 12" Vinyl LP Album

After more than three years of abstaining from recording, Texas man Johnny Winter is back on vinyl. He learned his blues from the ground up in Beaumont under Clarence Garlow, contributed to Muddy Waters’ last four albums, and also recorded with Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, and Willie Dixon.

Apart from Roy Buchanan, he is undoubtedly the best white blues guitarist in the urban style today (Eric Clapton could take some serious lessons from Winter when it comes to playing the blues). Despite his ventures into the rock scene with his brother Edgar (where he also played with a very bluesy but grander style), Johnny always remained deeply rooted in the blues scene.

He has never abandoned the blues. As a teenager, after his formative years with Garlow, he made his way to Chicago. By the late 1960s, he was back in Houston, Texas, making a name for himself once again in southern clubs and recording studios under the pseudonym Texas Guitar Slim.

The two albums presented here were produced in 1984/85 together with Bruce Iglauer and Dick Shurman. Johnny Winter, with his plank-like electric guitar, plays so many incredibly good solos that one is simply captivated. He masters “licks” that many already try to emulate; his bends cut through to the core, and he is a master of the slide technique. His rough voice, always delivered with full commitment, matches his instrument perfectly. His timing and feeling are authentic and raw. Despite his snow-white hair and (tattooed) albino skin, he is “blacker” than many African Americans and, in terms of guitar skills, superior to quite a few. He feels and thinks like them — he grew up among them, if the reviewer’s information is correct.

With white keyboardist Ken Saydak, bassist Johnny B. Gayden, and drummer Casey Jones (joined by a few guest musicians), Johnny Winter has assembled a rhythm crew for both Alligator albums that ranks among the best the modern blues has to offer, with their tried-and-true quality and precision in playing. Together, they explore the full range of urban blues styles from Texas to Chicago, from soul to funk. Both albums are equally good in their own way—on the first, there are said guests, while on the second, only harp player Jon Paris joins. Two tracks from the first LP were recorded with the horn section “The Mellow Fellow Horns,” arranged by Gene Barge.

On Guitar Slinger, Winter’s range extends from the slow “I Smell Trouble” to the raw, electrifying wildness of “Mad Dog.” Between these extremes lie all other dimensions of his admirably versatile playing:

• In “It’s My Life, Baby…,” “My Soul,” and Muddy Waters’ “Iodine in My Coffee” (with Billy Branch on harmonica), one marvels at the breadth of his slide guitar.

• In the laid-back, dragging “Boot Hill,” he lets his screaming instrument roar in the “screaming Texas shuffle style.”

• “Lights Out” (with Barge’s gritty sax) and “Don’t Take Advantage Of Me” are fiercely rocking tracks.

• The stormy “Trick Bag” is excitingly funky.

• In the tear-jerker “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” he bares his “southern soul,” plucking a romantically beautiful guitar exhibition that stands in delightful contrast to his harsh vocals (perhaps this track may not be to the taste of some blues purists).

While Guitar Slinger is more musically versatile, Serious Business comes across as “purer” from a blues perspective. Johnny Winter’s “spine-crushing” slide techniques and Jon Paris’ adaptable, intense harmonica are showcased in:

• The slow “Murdering Blues”

• Winter’s composition “Good Time Woman”

• “Unseen Eye”

• “Give Me Back My Wig”

It’s extremely slow and typically Texan in “My Time After Awhile” (Johnny’s solo, stylistically reminiscent of Texas tornado Albert Collins, is guaranteed to blow anyone away!). There’s a strong funk vibe in “Master Mechanic,” while the fast, rockin’ beats of “Sound the Bell” (those bends!) and “Serious As a Heart Attack” unfold with another wild guitar solo. The boogie rolls in “It Ain’t Your Business,” and “Route 90,” from his mentor Clarence Garlow, recalls Chuck Berry.

Alongside the Sonny Terry LP Whoopin’, this is undoubtedly “the best of Winter”—no more, no less. Keep it up, fellow!

Willie Gschwendner