The pairing of the Woodstock set with Johnny Winter's self-titled 1969 debut album here points out the two sides of this multi-talented guitarist. Where the Woodstock set is pretty much all rock 'n' roll fireworks — especially during the parts with Edgar — the album is comparatively lower key.
Not that the album doesn't have any number of explosive guitar solos — because it most certainly does. From the opening track "I'm Yours And I'm Hers," Winter breaks out the slide and gets right down to business. But where the live show accents the rock, this album is clearly focused on the blues — and on tracks like "Be Careful With A Fool," Winter shows he can be just as tasty in the studio as he is flashy on the concert stage.
It's an audacious debut record which at the time signaled the arrival of a major new talent. Johnny Winter puts on a blues-rock guitar clinic here. However, he never strays too far from the blues in doing so.
On the song "Dallas" he shows himself to be as comfortable with the Delta style of Lightnin' Hopkins as he is with the Chicago blues of the following song, a harmonica accentuated version of "Mean Mistreater." Here, even the recording itself sounds as appropriately muddy as, well, you know...
Truth be told, it's probably been something like twenty years since I listened to Johnny Winter's first record, and I'd almost forgotten how great this album really is. Thanks to Legacy Recordings for the reminder — not to mention the bonus treat of hearing the complete Woodstock set for the first time.
This set, along with the rest of the Woodstock Experience packages arrive both digitally and in stores on Tuesday June 30.
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