Second Winter

Performer: Johnny Winter
Artist: Edgar Winter
Distributor: Sony Music Entertainment

Notes: Also available in a 3-pack with JOHNNY WINTER and CAPTURED LIVE. Personnel: Johnny Winter (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Edgar Winter (alto saxophone, piano, harpsichord, organ); Tommy Shannon, Dennis Collins (bass); John Turner (drums, percussion). Includes liner notes by Johnny Winter. Johnny Winter's second album for Columbia--duh--1970's SECOND WINTER is also notorious for a gimmicky sales device. When the recording sessions were over, Winter had enough material for an album and a half; rather than add a side of filler, Columbia simply promoted the album as the world's first three-sided album. (In a snarky review, Rolling Stone sarcastically gave the blank fourth side an in-depth discussion.) The last of Winter's albums to feature his original backing band--drummer Uncle John Turner, bassist Tommy Shannon, and brother Edgar on keyboards and saxes--SECOND WINTER is a refinement of the blues-rock aesthetic of 1969's JOHNNY WINTER. Louder, harder, faster, and more reckless, this is to JOHNNY WINTER as Elvis Costello's THIS YEAR'S MODEL is to MY AIM IS TRUE: an album so phenomenal that it makes the debut, excellent though it is, sound weak in comparison. Highlights include the punky "I Hate Everybody" and a brilliant Hendrix-style deconstruction of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited."

Rolling Stone (p.154) - Included in Rolling Stone's The 10 Best Reissues & Anthologies Of 2004 - "Winter - the ultimate white-blues sensation - made good on the hype with this late-'69 freak of a release..." Uncut (p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 - "SECOND WINTER features blistering versions of 'Highway 6`1 Revisited' and 'Johnny B Goode', and his guitar technique is clearly phenomenal." Goldmine - "...[though the] original album was rather tough-sounding, the CD's increased treble adds the extra layer of icing, making this one sweet release...lean and hungry sounding..."

Texan blues guitarist Johnny Winter, surely the first albino blues guitar hero, was already a convincing artist in the '60s when still in his teens. At the dawn of the '70s, he embraced the sound of the time, adopting a louder, more frenetic blues-rock style. Backed by the McCoys, including guitarist Rick Derringer, he released a series of classic blues-rock albums, while his keyboard-playing brother Edgar, with whom Johnny played on and off over the years, achieved stardom in his own right. At the end of the '70s, Winter produced Muddy Waters, helping him make a triumphant comeback. In the ensuing decades, Winter maintained a prolific schedule of touring and recording.

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