![]() In 1974 he began a relationship with Blue Sky, a CBS-distributed label founded by manager Steve Paul. Johnny cut four classic albums with Columbia, including the essential hard rock landmark, Johnny Winter And Live, his best-selling album ever. He was hailed in the national press as America's contender to win back the crown of "guitar king" from Britain's Clapton, Page and Beck. (Though the exact figures were never disclosed, Johnny's contract was reputed to be the most lucrative record deal cut up to that time). Johnny soon signed to Columbia in the much publicized "million dollar" deal. When I came back, an article had come out about me in Rolling Stone, and every major label was phoning." "I had gone over to England and I had the idea of moving the whole band there. "We had just cut the sides that Imperial Records would later release on album," he recalls. Discouraged, Johnny packed it up and went to England. They were drawing good crowds, but the only recording break they could muster was with Bill Josey, a local entrepreneur who cut them on some portable equipment (these tapes later appeared on Imperial Records as The Progressive Blues Experiment). ![]() Finally, they won a berth at Austin's Vulcan Gas Company. In their quest for gigs, the trio was turned down by dozens of clubs, most of which were simply unwilling to hire a hard blues band. In early 1968, Johnny formed a trio with Tommy Shannon on bass (later with Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble) and Uncle John Turner on drums. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland and earning a word-of-mouth reputation on the "chitlin' circuit." When he wasn't in the studio, he was playing club gigs or sitting in with touring blues artists like B. With the exception of a brief stint in Chicago in the early '60s, Johnny was a regular in the Houston and Beaumont recording studios, cutting dozens of tunes as both a leader and sideman. Their first single, “Schoolboy Blues,” was released when Johnny was only fifteen. With their supercharged blues-rock, Johnny and the Jammers became a local phenomenon, winning talent shows and eventually landing a recording contract with the Dart label. He and keyboard-wizard brother Edgar formed Johnny and the Jammers in their home town of Beaumont, Texas. Johnny's storied career began when he was fourteen years old. His three critically acclaimed Alligator releases, two of which received Grammy nominations, solidified Johnny's presence as one of the top blues artists in the world. In 1984 Johnny signed with Alligator Records, where his guitar, vocal and interpretive abilities were given a thriving environment. Between 19, he cut fifteen albums that define the blues-rock form, ranging from the raw power of Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo to the subtlety of acoustic Delta blues. Yet Johnny has continually returned to the blues roots from which his music sprang. Since his first appearance on the pages of Rolling Stone in 1968, Johnny has epitomized the fiery and flamboyant rock and roll guitar hero. Biography Johnny Winter is an American music legend.
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