Johnny Winter
John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer.[2] Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1960s into the early 2000s. He also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[3]
This article is about the musician. For his self-titled album, see Johnny Winter (album).
Johnny Winter
John Dawson Winter III
February 23, 1944
Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
July 16, 2014 (aged 70)
near Zürich, Switzerland
- Musician
- songwriter
- producer
- Guitar
- vocals
1959–2014
Early life[edit]
Johnny Winter was born in Beaumont, Texas, on February 23, 1944.[4] He and his younger brother Edgar Winter (born 1946) were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits.[4] Both were born with albinism. Their father, Leland, Mississippi native John Dawson Winter Jr. (1909–2001), was also a musician who played saxophone and guitar and sang at churches, weddings, Kiwanis and Rotary Club gatherings. Johnny and his brother began performing at an early age. When Winter was ten years old, the brothers appeared on a local children's show with Johnny playing ukulele.
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
His recording career began at the age of 15, when his band Johnny and the Jammers released "School Day Blues" on a Houston record label.[4] During that same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Bobby Bland. In the early days, Winter would sometimes sit in with Roy Head and the Traits when they performed in the Beaumont area, and in 1967, Winter recorded a single with the Traits: "Tramp" backed with "Parchman Farm" (Universal Records 30496). In 1968, he released his first album The Progressive Blues Experiment, on Austin's Sonobeat Records.
Lawsuit against DC Comics[edit]
In 1996, Winter and his brother Edgar filed suit against DC Comics and the creators of the Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such limited series, claiming, among other things, defamation: two characters named Johnny and Edgar Autumn in the series strongly resemble the Winters. The brothers claimed the comics falsely portrayed them as "vile, depraved, stupid, cowardly, subhuman individuals who engage in wanton acts of violence, murder and bestiality for pleasure and who should be killed."[14] The California Supreme Court sided with DC Comics, holding that the comic books were deserving of First Amendment protection.[15]
Studio albums
Live albums