I last saw him live in 1970 and he looked frail then! He sure didn't sound frail.

saw him in pawtucket at the met in 2011. walked on stage with some help and played for about a hour. stood about two feet in front. was completely blown away! one of the great american guitar players.

A friend of mine is a long time big fan of Johnny Winter and he has been nagging me for years that if I ever got the opportunity to see him, I really should go. And I was always like "yeah yeah, whenever he comes close to where I live".
So when he came to my hometown, last november, I did go and see him for the first time in my life.
It was absolutely great. The man looks old and fragile. He needs someone to help him walk to his chair. But the minute he sits down and picks up his guitar, WOW, that man can still play a mean guitar. I really had a great time and enjoyed every second. He even played Gimme Shelter. So yeah, I think you should go.

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Keep On Rolling

He tries to accomodate fans afterwards by passing items to Paul Nelson his musical director and road manager outside the RV and Johnny signs them. Yes, Johnny does sign them even if the door is closed. I've been able to engage him in some minor conversation before shows and he seems to brightens up when the discussion is not music. We talked about the history of his private label hot sauce the last time. It's actually not bad. Not quite as good as Billy Gibbons, but still tasty.

That is cool. I saw him in the 80's in a small club in Ann Arbor and waited out by the tour bus afterwards, but he was already inside. I had his first album, Johnny Winter and some guy came out of the bus and took it in for me and it came back out signed. Very cool of him. I also remember seeing him warm up for George Thurogood at Pine Knob...what a show! Amazing, and I remember the dork Doug Podel from a local radio station announced him, and I stood and ruthlessly heckled him...ah the life of being a prick teenager.

Theres a show up at dime rcorded just 4 days ago to get an idea..love Johnny, he's from my hometown...


[www.dimeadozen.org]

What an incredible version of Suzie Q:

I saw him about 10-11 years ago. Quite honestly I'm flabbergasted he's still alive.

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R
I saw him about 10-11 years ago. Quite honestly I'm flabbergasted he's still alive.

i'm amazed any of us are....

My all time favorite guitar player!

my buddy worked on the show Sunday evening in Morgantown...i could've gone but waited to long to call him before he hit the road to go....anyways, he said afterwards that Johnny was a shell of his former self.....i saw the Letterman show and i thought they blew the roof off the joint...then again, my buddy isn't as big a fan of the blues as i am

he IS a shell of his former self. we all are.

Truer words were never spoken..reminds me of Clint Eastwood in "Unforgiven" when he says "We all got it coming, kid."

and there's nothing wrong with going to see a good former-self shell...

Yeah, I wouldnt be dissapointed if The Stones sat down in a row of chairs with Charlie elevated behind them! Muddy got to where he sat down on a stool...

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scottkeef
Yeah, I wouldnt be dissapointed if The Stones sat down in a row of chairs with Charlie elevated behind them! Muddy got to where he sat down on a stool...

now you're talking! let's actually hear the music and listen to see what these guys can do when the spectacle and distractions are gone.

I saw Johnny multiple times in the '70's, 80's, and '90's, and was always completely blown away.
Then I saw him a while ago and he was completely out of it, unable to walk, and barely able to play the guitar.
It was all very sad...but glad to see and hear that he's making somewhat of a "comeback".

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

in the past 5 years i've seen him 4 times...and honestly he's been 'on' and 'off'...judging from the recent clips on youtube with him actually standing again during parts of the show he seems more 'on'...which is encouraging...if you have never seen him it's worth it to go either way...

Johnny B. Goode, Johnny be REAL good!

Very good show last night.
Johnny walked on stage (unassisted) sat down and played his ass off.
Paid homage to the Stones with a few bars of Gimme Shelter and stood up while playing It's All Over Now.

If you have a chance of seeing Johnny soon, then go !


Vito Liuzzi(drums) / Johnny / Paul Nelson(guitar) / Scott Spray(bass)

So you did go to see him. Good decision. Glad to read you had a good time.

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Keep On Rolling

notice how the blonde guy's eyes follow you wherever you go? creepy....

I saw him a while back and he was better frail and sounded like it....he sounded stronger on Letterman but no where near his peak....the other issue for long time fans is the rather dull set list...Beckola has been over working the live material as well.
He is a big reason I play guitar (along with Muddy n Keith!!!!)

I love Johnny.The first time that I ever heard Jumpin' Jack Flash was when he played it on Don Kirshner's rock concert in 1973. He is the one who turned me on to the Stones and I have been an avid fan of Johnny and the Stones ever since.

JOHNNY WINTER BATTLES BACK FROM DECADES OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE
by: Sterling Whitaker Yesterday



Rick Diamond, Getty Images

Legendary guitarist Johnny Winter doesn’t just play the blues, he’s lived them. The iconic blues rock guitarist has battled his addictions to drinking and drugs off and on since his commercial heyday in the ’70s, but in a new interview he says he is finally clean and sober and ready to rock.

“Heroin was the hardest thing that I ever had to go through,” Winter tells Classic Rock Revisited. “It was worth it to go through it and get clean. I am not taking any drugs and I am not drinking. I am not smoking cigarettes anymore and I am not doing anything bad. I never thought this would be possible. I never thought I would see the day that I didn’t have any vices at all.”

It was a long, hard path to sobriety for Winter, who places some of the blame on his former manager for keeping him apart from the people in his life, including his brother Edgar Winter. “He died right after I fired him. He couldn’t have done anything else because he was a horrible alcoholic. There wasn’t any reason for him to stay alive,” Winter maintains.

His new manager, Paul Nelson, made it his priority to see the guitarist conquer his demons when he took over managing him six years ago. As a result, Winter has experienced a career resurgence culminating in the release of last year’s ‘Roots’ album, which features guest appearances by John Popper from Blues Traveler, Sonny Landreth, Warren Haynes, Vince Gill and Susan Tedeschi. He recently released a DVD titled ‘Live from Japan,’ and he’s planning a second ‘Roots’ album that he hopes will feature Mark Knopfler, Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton and Gregg Allman.

Winter says his motivation for staying healthy is to keep on playing. “I don’t want to retire from something I love to do. If I got unhealthy and couldn’t play anymore, then I would stop, but that is the only thing that could ever make me stop.”

[ultimateclassicrock.com]

i may go this saturday

You cannot see Johnny Winter, he is as pale as the moon and the sun. You will hear him.

Anybody seen my babeeeeeeeeeeeeeee



ROCKMAN

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StonesTod
and there's nothing wrong with going to see a good former-self shell...

That's quite a shell fish position.

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whitem8
Wow! I would have loved to hear his take on Gimme Shelter.
Winter does the all time best cover of Let it Bleed, and Stray Cat Blues. Incredible!

and a not bad silver train, either!

I saw him about six weeks ago in Colonial Beach, Virginia. He's not the Johnny Winter of his first live album, but he still puts on a damn good show.