White Hot Blues (Legacy)

Performer: Johnny Winter
Distributor: Sony Music Entertainment

Notes: This is part of Legacy's Mojo Workin' series. One of several compilations of Johnny Winter's '70s tenure at Columbia Records, 1997's WHITE HOT BLUES, as the punning title suggests, focuses primarily on the blues side of Winter's blues-rock sound. These 16 tracks strike a nice balance between the familiar and the obscure. Of the former, the aching "Be Careful With a Fool," the blistering desperation of "Too Much Seconal" and a burning version of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" are among the many highlights. Of the latter, comparatively rare album tracks like "Divin' Duck," "New York, New York" and the blues standard "Rollin' and Tumblin'" are ripe for rediscovery. Dave Marsh's excellent liner notes and the remastered sound, along with the rare tracks, make this an exceptional reissue, but folks looking for a more balanced overview of Johnny Winter's early years should seek out the two-disc ROCK AND ROLL COLLECTION, also from Sony Legacy.

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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