A Winter Storm

With today's health problems crippling him to a chair onstage, not able to stand anymore and tilt his head back like he used to in his hayday Johnny Winter still has the blues. He lived the blues probably more than any beat down black man from the south could ever live in a hundred years. Being persecuted at first for being not only a white man singing the blues but an albino man singing the blues. But the persecution came to a halt as soon as Winter starting playing his guitar. Fast fingers and pin point accuracy alongside that sharp bluesy voice made him what he was and still is today, one of the greatest blues rockers of all time. Drug addiction has been painfully a monkey on the back of Winter, even his manager would pump him full of drugs just to steal money from him. But after all the hardships and troubles Winter is still pressing on today playing the halls and bars all around the country. Winter was the first musician to break the million dollar mark for an album from Columbia records on his debut self titled album Johnny Winter. Which I am currently right now listening to on vinyl and can never get sick of. This video is a testament to Winter's ability to silent crowds with his playing. At one point you catch a glimpse of Eric Burden of The Animals admiring just how can a man play the blues so well effortlessly. Today's music does not have the same impact as it was back in the 60s. Today you cant go to some random club with just a few dozen people and watch an artist like Johnny Winter put on a performance of a lifetime with smoke filling the room and booze flowing like a river. It gives the ambiance that just cant be redone today unfortunately. These days you will have to crowd into a stadium or large venue, uncomfortably crammed into a tight space, forced next to people you dont even know and pay over priced tickets to do so. Gone is the day where musicians play just to play and for the fun of it, today its all about the big dollar. Only places like Austin Texas can you see legends any night of the week either playing a show at a small bar or walking the streets enjoying the street music alongside everyone else. These places cant go unrecognized and the same goes for the great Johnny Winter.