Record collection revisited: Johnny Winter “Roots”

I’ve followed the career of Texas blues guitarist Johnny Winter for a while, having had a chance to see him perform in concert some years ago at the Cabooze club in Minneapolis.  What I remember most about that gig was just the raw ferocity with which he played guitar even though he is well into his 70s and has obviously been toughened by the road over the decades.  This new record, “Roots” finds Johnny going back to songs that likely influenced both he and his brother Edgar (keyboardist and saxophonist for the Edgar Winter group), in their musical endeavors.  

Edgar plays saxophone on this album on a cover of a tune entitled “Honky Tonk”.  Johnny Winter’s band consists of Paul Nelson on guitar, Mike DiMeo on piano, Scott Spray on bass, and Vito Liuzzi on drums.  Parts of this band played with him at The Cabooze as I recall.  I think Nelson and Spray were there, but I can’t recall if Liuzzi was the drummer or not.  Needless to say, they tore down the house that night and do equally well on this album which is all blues standards, played with a raw ferocity that Winter can still deliver after all these years.  

His rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” is a classic, and he’s had some other very good songs.  There is an older album of his that I have entitled “I’m A Bluesman”.  Look for that to be reviewed in another blog post in the future.  Here is the track listing for the new record “Roots” along with the artists who played with Johnny on them, and, the songwriting credits.

   
1.       T Bone Shuffle feat. Sonny Landreth (slide guitar)  T Bone Walker
2.       Further on up the Road feat. Jimmy Vivino (guitar) Don Robey & Joe Veasy 
3.       Done Somebody Wrong feat. Warren Haynes (slide guitar) Elmore James
4.       Got My Mojo Working feat. Frank Latorre (harp) McKinley Morganfield (a.k.a. Muddy Waters) 
5.       Last Night feat. John Popper (harp) Johnny Winter
6.       Maybellene feat. Vince Gill (guitar) Chuck Berry 
7.       Bright Lights, Big City feat. Susan Tedeschi (guitar & vocals) Jimmy Reed
8.       Honky Tonk feat. Edgar Winter (saxophone) Billy Butler, Bill Doggett, Clifford Scott & Shep Shepherd
9.       Dust My Broom feat. Derek Trucks (slide guitar) Elmore James
10.     Short Fat Fannie feat. Paul Nelson (guitar) Larry Williams
11.     Come Back Baby feat. John Medeski (Hammond B3 organ) Walter Davis

For those who might just be getting into the purity and raw emotion of blues music for the first time, this is a great album to check out.