It is mostly for his avid fans and acknowledgement of his fantastic raw concerts and career that he should be put into Rock and Roll Hall. So, he can truly RIP with the Blues Hall induction. He never really said much about the Rock and Roll Hall or his induction into the organization. I read somewhere that Winter got the one he wanted when he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and was excited and proud about that induction. He played with Hendrix and Clapton, produced Muddy Waters, and it is rumored that the Rolling Stones wrote "Silver Train" about him, but oh, no, they can't have someone who epitomizes rock and roll and blues with guitar fierceness in the Hall. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the first non-African-American performer to be inducted into the Hall. In 1980, Winter was on the cover of the first issue of Guitar World. He had more excitement in his little finger than the latest inductees can muster with their whole bodies (with exception of Tina Turner). Please, stop being absurd and put him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!Ĭlearly, none of the "powers that be" have ever gone to a Winter concert. How can any organization be taken seriously that inducts performers who lip synch most of their material and DO NOT induct one of the greatest guitarist/performers/artists ever: John Dawson Winter III. This is Johnnny's legacy as he is the guitar players consumate guitar player.ĭoes Johnny Winter belong in the Hall of Fame of course he does as he has become both an Icon and inspiration to generations of guitar players. That night at the Stone (~1995) I met a few young guitar players and they asked when I had first heard Johnny play I told them 1970 - 25 years before - they had just become aware of Johnny and were simply in awe of his guitar playing skills. Johnny looked over and in appreciation mouthed the words “thank you”. Here right in front of me Johnny was doing this all by himself – no loop no tape! I could not believe it as NO other guitar player in the world could do what he was doing -None! I got up from my seat and started to applaud. One night at the Stone I was sitting at a table not 6 feet from the stage he played Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Johnny was playing two identical leads an octave apart (it is called counterpart) that the Allman Brothers made famous with two guitar players playing the same lead. My favorite memories of Johnny were at Winterland and twice at the Stone in San Francisco do to the intimate size of the clubs. The last was at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano 4 years ago where he was obviously not well and very frail. I had the privilege of seeing Johnny play over half a dozen times throughout the years. Johnny simply smoked each and every other guitar player of his day and yes he made it look easy! I have never again seen such a performance and will always remember it. I had read an article in Rolling Stone about the "Great White Wonder from Texas" but had never heard Johnny play just when I thought the concert couldn’t get any better it did when Johnny walked out onto the stage around mid-night and leaning into the mike said softly “what’s happening” –then broke into Memory Pain - it was the last thing he said to the audience and proceeded to play for over 2 ½ hours into early Easter morning receiving an ever bigger standing ovation than did the Allman Brothers. They played their first album start to finish with no breaks for applause- Whipping Post was the close – they received a half hour standing ovation (no exaggeration). The act before Johnny was introduced as a new band from Malcolm Georgia that had an album that the MC (Wavy Gravy) stated was to be released shortly – it turned out to be the Allman Brothers Band. The only guitarist to come close to Johnny’s skill in our life time was Stevie Ray Vaughn who we also lost too soon. Johnny never seemed to run out of ideas on the guitar’s neck - just when you thought he can’t possibly do any more – he did and he did it over and over. Playing in a rock and roll band for years I was, as well as my band members, all simply amazed at Johnny's technical skills and virtuosity as a guitar player. This was the last of the big festivals with Woodstock and Atlanta happening in 1969. I first saw Johnny play in 1970 during Easter break at a large music festival outside of Orlando Florida.
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