Johnny Winter Guitar Legend

He is an American music legend.

He became a professional musician at the age of 14 when he and his keyboard-wizard brother, Edgar, formed Johnny and the Jammers in their home town of Beaumont, Texas. Already Johnny's rock and roll was steeped in the blues. In early 1968 Johnny decided to totally commit himself to the blues and formed his trio which included drummer Uncle John Turner and bass player Tommy Shannon. Johnny's band found themselves struggling in America so they went to England. When they returned to the U.S. an article had comeout about him in Rolling Stone (in 1968). After that every major label was phoning him.

Johnny signed with Columbia. The hype was on. In the spring of 1969 the debut black album came out - Johnny Winter. The Progressive Blues Experiment was also released. The world was introduced to his beautiful, straight, unaffected blues.

Most people thought they were getting another spacey, far out hard acid rocker. What they got was the white guitarist every bit as good as promised, yet doing black music - pure blues. Johnny felt his music was not unique or original. His success happened he says due to, "My music being blacker than any other white musician's and more technical than black musicians. I try to compromise between the primitive and the technical." Johnny was just playing real raw country blues in his own style, sharing some of his life through song. But beneath the surface of his music, rising to the surface through his voice was a lot of pathos, some bitterness, in a word - EXPERIENCE, the blues.

It took toughness and nerve to make that sound and that was not at all what people were expecting. Thirty years later Johnny has never lost sight of his musical road. Johnny's music started with the blues and has basically stayed the same Winter blues, old blues, rock and roll, ballads, rhythm and blues, occasional honky tonk, a novelty song or stone country thrown in at times for fun, all driven home by gutsy, fluid, slicing guitar and alley cat singing.

It's music that's strong, isn't locked into a time. Johnny has matured immeasurably over the years. Some musicians mellow out. Johnny just gets better and wiser and hotter. He gives the actual wrenching message of the blues.

With the latest CD, "Live in NYC," Johnny shows he's comfortable doing music he enjoys best. He started with the blues and has stayed there, venturing to other areas only to broaden his career and development. He plays straight blues and rock and roll as only he can with honesty and raw abandon. Johnny holds nothing back on his emotionally-charged live CD, and that's good news for blues - and music fans everywhere.

The turning point came when he met bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John "Red" Turner. "I don't feel I could have made it without them," Johnny wrote in his liner notes for Third Degree. "They were the first musicians ever to come to me and say,'We love what you do. We don't care if we make any money-we're willing to do straight blues, whether we make it or not.' I said they were crazy-we'd starve to death for sure playing nothing but blues.

In about six months we did starve. Red's mother had a beauty shop, and we practiced in the beauty shop after hours late at night. Red stayed in the extra room, and Tommy slept on the couch. And those guys, if they hadn't done that, nobody would have heard of me or known that I was a blues guitar player. It was such a good feeling when we finally did make it playing straight blues."

PHOTOS FROM UNCLE JOHN TURNER A.K.A. "RED" TURNER