Johnny Winter has been playing the blues for a long time and could be a poster child for the blues, as his life could be described in many a blues song. The copy of the CD that I received has very little information on it except for the song titles and extensive warnings that it's a copy protected CD and "may not work in all CD players". I've heard from people that have had problems with copy protected CD's but this one has not caused any problems so far. Johnny Winter in the past has been a well-respected blues musician but health problems in the last few years have really taken their toll. His live shows leave a lot to be desired and pale in comparison to his glory days during the 70's. The CD contains 13 songs all of which fall into familiar blues territory that Winter has explored often. Very few songs offer anything really new, but there are a couple of gems here. The guitar work ranges from good to fair. You can hear bum notes and outright mistakes on many of the songs.
'I'm A Bluesman' - The guitar work on this is pretty good actually for the most part. I would call this a shuffle beat with leanings towards rock and roll. Some of the lead fills fall well behind the beat, which detracts a bit from the song. The vocals are adequate, while Johnny Winter never was a great vocal artist, the vocals sound a bit weak. A sampling of some of the songs are:
'Cheatin Blues' - Basic 12 bar blues territory here which Johnny know very well.
'I Smell Smoke' - This song is a medium tempo halfway between a slow grinding blues and a rocker. This is one of the best songs on the CD. Winter's voice works well here with an almost smoky jazz feel to it.
'Lone Wolf' - This one leans towards a 'This House is Rockin' feel. Again the vocals are weak, but the slide work is reasonable.
'So Much Love' - Another 12 bar blues shuffle.
'The Monkey Song' - A slow blues, almost John Lee Hooker in feel, extending out over six minutes.
'Shakedown' - 12 bar blues with vocal call and guitar response.
'Sweet Little Baby - An up-tempo number with some good slide work. Again the vocals detract from the song.
'Pack Your Bag' - A slow to medium tempo 12 bar blues.
Bottom Line: If you're a Johnny Winter fan, then you should like this release. If you haven't been exposed to Johnny Winter, then you might like to look at some of his earlier releases. While this is not a bad release, it misses the fire that Johnny Winter was capable of. The vocals seem weaker than the guitar work. Some of the songs really show how much his vocal ability has changed. I give it two out of five stars.
Johnny Winter - Guitar & Vocals
Web sites: www.johnnywinter.net
www.virginrecords.com
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