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 | 1944 John Dawson Winter Ill born in Beaumont, Texas on February 23. His brother Edgar is born three years later. |
| 1953-59 Johnny begins playing clarinet at age five; switches to ukelele and then guitar a few years later. Performing with his younger brother Edgar as a duet in an Everly Brothers vein, the Winters win talent contests and appear on local television shows. |
| 1959 The Winter brothers travel to New York to audition for Ted Mack's "Original Amateur Hour." Soon thereafter, they receive their first taste of rock 'n' roll. |
| 1962 At age 14 Johnny forms his first band, Johnny and the Jammers, with Edgar on piano. One year later, the brothers gain regional notoriety with the singles "School Day Blues" and "You Know I Love You" released 'on Houston-based Dart Records. During this time Johnny begins frequenting all-black blues clubs, and 'over the years he sits in with such heroes as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Bobby Bland. |
| 1962-65 Johnny cuts singles as a leader and sideman for regional labels such as
KRCO, Frolic, Diamond, Goldband, Jin, and Todd. In 1963 he moves to Chicago to check out the
blues scene, but winds up playing twist clubs. He returns to Beaumont and records "'Eternally," a pop-flavored number with horn arrangements by Edgar; the single is licensed by Atlantic Records, and becomes a hit in the Texas-Louisiana region. 1965-67 Johnny gigs relentlessly throughout the Deep South, both with his own band (alternately known as the Crystalliers and It And Them) and in a band with Edgar (Black Plague). |
| 1967 After 2 1/2 years of barnstorming, Johnny settles in Houston. |
| 1968 Surveying the Texas music scene, Rolling Stone dubs Johnny Winter "the hottest item outside of Janis Joplin." The article creates a flood of interest in The Progressive Blues Experiment, an album of straight blues recorded by Winter's trio with bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner (also see his page on this website), released nationally by Imperial. |
| 1968-74 Signed to a much-ballyhooed contract with Columbia Records, Johnny's scorching 1968 debut album Johnny Winter leads a steady stream of hard-hitting blues rock albums, including Second Winter (1969), Johnny Winter And (1970), Still Alive And Well (1973), and Saints And Sinners (1974). |
| 1974-77 Winter joins CBS Records affiliate label Blue Sky, and releases John Dawson Winter III(1974). Other Blue Sky gems include Captured Live (1976) and his acclaimed 1977 album Nothin' But The Blues, which features Winter accompanied by Muddy Waters' band. |
| 1977-80 Fulfilling a dream, Winter begins working with blues giant Muddy Waters; during the ensuing years they collaborate on a series of classic Blue Sky albums. Winter produces and plays on Waters' Grammy-winning comeback album Hard Again, Grammy-winning I'm Ready (1978), Grammy-winning Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live (1979), and King Bee (1980). |
| 1984-86 Guitar Slinger Winter's Grammy-nominated 1984 Alligator Records debut, ends a four year recording hiatus and ushers in a new creative groove. His Alligator label output continues with the Grammy-nominated Serious Business (1985), 3rd Degree (1986), and producing/performing on harmonica great Sonny Terry's Think I Got The Blues. |
| 1988 The Winter Of '88 on the MCA distributed Voyager label shows Winter experimenting with a more contemporary flavored sound. |
| 1991 Winter returns to his blues roots with a vengeance: his Grammy-nominated Let Me In marks a powerful debut on the Pointblank label. |
| 1992 Brandishing a tongue-in-cheek title and wicked, no-frills blues, Hey, Where's Your Brother? - Winter's sophomore Pointblank release -earns him, another Grammy nomination. |
| 1992 Winter performs on "Highway 61 Revisited," a highlight of Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary tribute released by Columbia Records on CD and video. |
| 1998 Live In NYC '97, Winter's third Pointblank record, offers a scorching collection of concert favorites. The first album of new Winter material in five years, Live In NYC '97 was recorded at New York's Bottom Line in April 1997. The songs were selected by members of Winter's fan club - and the entire album is intended as a gesture of gratitude by Winter to his many fans worldwide. |
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