I had no idea he (Johnny Winter) was in the running back in '75 - on the other hand he DID get Silver Train out before the RS, & recorded other RS songs as well (JJF, Stray Vat, LI
...so maybe there was a social relationship, & shared love for the blues...And the RS performed - hell, opened with - "I'm Yours, She's Mine" - at Hyde Park...quite extraordinary, as he was a 'new' artist (tho toiling in obscurity several years) w/ one album out at the time on Columbia.