Third Degree

Performer: Johnny Winter
Artist: Dr. John
Engineer: Justin Niebank
Producer: Johnny Winter; Dick Shurman
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Johnny Winter (vocals, guitar, National guitar); Ken Saydak, Dr. John (piano); Johnny B. Gayden, Tommy Shannon (bass); Casey Jones, Uncle John "Red" Turner (drums). Recorded at Streetville Studios, Chicago, Illinois. The third home run in a row for an artistically revitalized Johnny Winter, 1986's THIRD DEGREE follows 1985's SERIOUS BUSINESS and 1984's GUITAR SLINGER as a stripped-down, no-nonsense serving of Texas-style blues rock. As on its predecessors, the emphasis here is on the blues side of the equation, with Winter originals and a sterling choice of covers fighting for equal time. The covers are exemplary, far better than the usual rote homages found on so many blues albums. Elmore James' classic "Shake Your Moneymaker" sounds so fresh it's almost as if Winter and his backing trio, featuring the Otis Spann-style playing of pianist Ken Saydak, are making the song up out of whole cloth. Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "Broke and Lonely" and the Muddy Waters title track are equally impressive. Of the originals, "Tin Pan Alley," with the great Dr. John sitting in on piano, is the clear highlight, though the sassy, Fabulous Thunderbirds-like "I'm Good" is nearly its equal.

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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