Customer Reviews

Johnny Winter and

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The only Johnny Winter album with no blues tunes, it was cut on a single day. The rapport between Derringer and Winter is incredible! I love the funk of "Ain't That A Kindness", and the soulful vocal on "No Time To Live". But my two favorite tracks are probably "Nothing Left" and "Prodigal Son", two Winter originals that show he could write heavy tunes with the best of them. Some real Hendrix influences on several tracks. A fantastic record, but the CD is not as clear as it should be.

The preceding reviewers have perfectly assembled the essential greatness of this record. Buy it. Buy it now! Johnny Winter is simply one of the best guitarists of all time! I first saw him in 1969 at the Denver Pop Festival...an incredible bonus to my pilgrimage to see Jimi. Johnny was a blues purist yet to be fully amped up which, at 16, I could not yet appreciate. But from a steady diet of Hendrix, supplemented with licks from Cream and morsels from Zappa, I had a pretty good idea of what great guitarists were all about. Johnny Winter had it all.

A year later, I saw Johnny Winter And touring on this record at the old KRNT theatre in Des Moines. Unbelievable! As the previous reviewer suggested of the show he saw at the Fillmore: maximum decibels delivering maximum pleasure. Winter and Rick Derringer live was a wonder to behold. I bought this record just before the concert and, over the next year, I listened to it constantly. Still do.

Now, 35 years later, all the great things said before remain true. And the only addition I can make to the insights that my predecessors have made is that the vocal work on this record is a magnificent time capsule of a style of singing unique to rock recordings at the beginning of the '70s. "Am I Here" and, even more so, "Out On A Limb" showcase this style. It is a lost art but anyone who lived through the period knows it as organic when they hear it.

Johnny Winter has made great music all of his professional life and guitar fans know him to be one of the true masters. This record is essential for so many reasons, not the least of which is that you know how he got here from there.

If you love Johnny Winter and love guitar jams you will love this--the sound,however, is not as great as the LP-this should be remastered--hopefully the domestic version will be remastered when it is released. Rick Derringer and Winter go thru some nice guitar battles on this CD--the tunes are great-well written--Funky Music is a 6 minute guitar battle that fades out at the end (why is this? Should have kept going)I saw Johnny Winter And at the Fillmore when this LP came out-it was great-2 hr set -2 sets-my ears were wrecked-could hardly hear for two days after---so loud---GET THIS CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"And" doesn't sound like the rest of Johnny Winter's blues releases. The album opens with the psychedelic, hard driving "Guess I'll Go Away" which has flanging similar to the Nazz's "Open My Eyes". Things slow down with the Traffic cover "No Time to Live" and "Am I Here?" written by drummer Randy Z (Derringer's brother). I always preferred this version of "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" since it was released first. Derringer's and Winter's guitar styles mesh together in the same way that Duane Allman and Dickey Betts complimented each other. Distortion is present on the original master tapes, but it doesn't ruin the great music on this CD. I recommend the remastered version by Steve Hoffman.

Just spent an afternoon surfing Winter Websites, & I'm surprised that no-one mentions 'Guess I'll Go Away'; the opening track that for me led to an interest in Johnny for years to come. I Mean 'R&R Hootchie Koo' & all are fine, but as a 13 year old guitar freak, hearing that for the 1st time really opened my mind. (I don't just mean the 'flanging', I'm still not sure of the time signature in this) A shame he didn't do much more in this vein. This album & 'Still Alive & Well', still do it for me, and are among my all time faves, but non of them are free of 'filler'..

I saw Johnny Winter And when they were promoting this album in 1970(?) in Des Moines, Iowa. What a show!!! I had never seen a band so wild and good! They rocked the house that night. I thought I would catch up on the tunes this year and got the CD. I am surprised this is as good as I remember--actually better than I remember! The interplay on the guitars is exciting. Winter dominates the CD--even when he plays rhythm guitar. He truly is a talent of great magnitude. The band, Derringer and company (And), are tasteful and solid. They provide an excellent base for Winter to build on. I saw Winter's rock 'n roll panned by Docendo--the blues reviewer guy--and I understand his purity for the blues. For me though, if an artist can play in more than one style and be as expressive and skilled as Winter, and if it moves me, then I'm sold. Winter can play slide steel guitar, electric blues or rock 'n roll and I'm there listening!

Just can't believe that this recording is now over 37 yrs old! At the time of this record Jimi Hendrix hadn't been long dead. People were looking for a suitable guitarist to fill the void. Johnny Winter was the man for the job! From start to finish this recording is full of blistering, lightning fast guitar work. I remember when the single Rock 'n'roll Hootchie Koo got released in England. I was around 13 yrs old and the song blew me away.I had never heard such an attack displayed on six strings and this experience of mine has never been repeated since. I rushed out and bought the l.p. within days of hearing the single. At that same time Johnny Winter was on a tour of England. I had to see him live. When I play the c.d today it still sounds inspirational. True to say that this not a pure blues c.d as such, but the overall tone of the songs are still very blues based. 'Prodigal Son' and 'Look Up' for instance are essentially 12 bar blues songs given a rock feel. Johnnys voice is superb, especially on the Stevie Winwood poignant ballad No Time To Live. Its an extremely emotional song and fittingly hints at Winters frail health profile at the time. 'Nothing Left' is almost a tune that could've been written by Hendrix. The guitar solo is truly magnificent, similar to the solo on 'Guess I'll Go Away' psychedelically phased.
The last track, 'Funky Music', contains some of the most inventive guitar work ever. It's such a shame the track was faded out because the relentless guitar battle between Winter and Rick Derringer can be heard going into oblivion. Some awesome string bending on this track. There was once Duane Allman & Dicky Betts and there was also Winter & Derringer. Everything about this recording was superb, even the cover art, which when it was an l.p. stood out quite vividly. Minimalist but very effective. Back in 1970 nobody looked like or sounded like Johnny Winter. He was unique.
When i purchased the CD the sound quality was flat, tinny and scratchy like it was made in Russia. The LP version sounded far warmer/clearer. I do hope they re-release this one with a more enhanced sound.

Greeted with much hoopla when released in 1970, Johnny Winter And united the blues guitarist sensation with guitarist/songwriter Rick Derringer. It was a successful pairing, resulting in the immortal classic "Rock And Roll, Hootchie Koo". A powerful quartet with solid material for the period. As you might expect, stunning guitar work. Mostly hard blues rock; but a cover of Steve Winwood's somber "No Time To Live", the introspective "Am I Here?", and "Let The Music Play" lend the album balance. A mostly forgotten great album from an unfortunately short lived group.

JOHNNY WINTER AND and STILL ALIVE AND WELL are Johnny Winter's best
studio albums ever. On these albums, Winter moves into hard rock without abandoning his blues roots. With these albums and JOHNNY WINTER AND LIVE, Winter, who is visually impaired, proves that a handicap is only a handicap if a person lets it be one, as these albums, along with Foghat, Blackfoot, and Molly Hatchet, helped pave the way for the rawer side of 80s metal.

Johnny Winter was signed to Columbia Records in 1968 and for the next decade or so sold a lot of records, beat a harrowing addiction to Heroin, and helped ressurect Muddy Waters' post-Chess career producing the blues giant's superb, final three albums. Sony has remastered Winter's eponymous debut, and issued a 'deluxe' edition of 1969's "Second Winter" (also issued on gold disc by Mobile Fidelity). "...And", Winter's third release, from 1970, somehow has fallen through the cracks. Fans already know that after the McCoys ('Hang On Sloopy', among other hits) broke up
Winter hired the group - most importantly guitarist/producer Rick Derringer - to form And. This album is harder rocking, the blues sublimated within a Stones-like soundscape. And Winter's singing shows greater subtlety than previously. Also the material is very consistent. (A live album, "Johnny Winter And...Live!" from 1971 became Winter's biggest album to date, but to these ears it has dated a bit, relying too much on flash and bombast, despite some dazzling moments). Forget the European edition offered here, which dates from 1993 - the sound is drab and colorless. I'm writing this review to let others know that audiophile label DCC (best known for their exquisite gold discs, remastered by Steve Hoffman) for a brief time had a regular-priced line of silver CDs, and in this case Hoffman beautifully remastered "Johnny Winter And" for release around the turn of the century. Of course the graphics are reproduced exactly down to the last detail(DCC was always way more faithful to such details than DCC - even devoting two booklet pages to repros of the original vinyl LP's side one/two labels!), but the revelation is in the sound. If you have the BGO edition, or an old vinyl copy, this edition will blow you away with its attention to detail, ambience, and warmth. Guitar parts you never noticed, the feel of a great band in the room, cymbals that 'sing'... In my opinion "And" and "Still Alive and Well" (1973) are perhaps Winter's finest albums ever, in terms of quality material, committment, and overall impact, so Winter fans certainly might want to track this one down, unless Sony has plans to reissue their own upgrade soon. Of course it's out of print, but the original (circa 1999-2000) label and serial numbers are: DCC Compact Classics, DZS-194. And good luck!