This DVD contains an incredible collection of official archival
footage from the '70s including performances from Danish TV
"Gladsaxe Teen Club" (Denmark 1970), the Royal Albert Hall in
London (1970), the Beat Club in Bremen, Germany (1970), Don
Kirshner's Rock Concert - Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT (1973),
Soundstage - Blues Summit in Chicago, IL (1974), Musikladen in
Bremen, Germany (1974), and Rockpalast in Germany (1979).
Intermixed with the live content is interview footage at Detroit
Tubeworks in Detroit, MI (1970). It's the definitive document of
Johnny's career in the '70s.
Review
------
There is no known film of Robert Johnson, precious little of
T- Walker and none of Muddy Waters in his prime in Chicago
before 1960. But the gods of music bestowed a gift on fans when
they granted the filming of Johnny Winter from his creation as he
exploded on the scene like a Texas tornado to become a true blues
guitar hero.
The first clips from 1970 at the Gladsaxe Teen Club in
Denmark with Johnny s Texas rhythm section of bassist Tommy
Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner are stunning in their
production and performances. Johnny is an exuberant live wire,
his long white mane flashing. With brother Edgar guesting on
keyboards, drums and vocals, he tears into an epic version of Be
Careful of the Fool like a man on a mission slinging a suitably
funky Epiphone guitar. A special treat is the rare, early airing
of Edgar s Frankenstein with Johnny carrying the track almost
single-handedly.
Concert footage from the same year at the Royal Albert Hall in
London finds him evolving to rock and glam as his onstage persona
develops. He owned Johnny B. Goode in the 70s and his ormic
version, along with hyper takes of Talk to Your Daughter and Tell
the Truth are still breathtaking and unmatched in their raw
energy and fret-melting chops.
Interviews conducted at Detroit Tubeworks are interspersed
throughout, revealing Johnny as a witty subject with a perceptive
and wryly critical view of the culture. He is joined in one
segment by bassist Randy Jo Hobbs to whom he precedes to teach
Key to the Highway on the spot for a spontaneous country blues
performance showing another side of his guitar mastery. By the
time he appears on Rock Concert in 1973 with Hobbs and
double-bass drummer Richard Hughes, however, he has metamorphosed
into a full-fledged star on his way to becoming one of the
biggest arena acts of the decade. With top hat, cape, platform
shoes and beard, he waves his signature Firebird like a magic
wand at the transfixed audience as he rocks the house to the
rafters with Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo and Stone County.
By 1979 Johnny returned to the blues he never left. In a telling
moment he attempts to explain the music to the German audience at
the Rockpalast in Essen. Citing the language barrier, he proceeds
to give the most eloquent demonstration with bassist/harmonicist
Jon Paris and drummer Bobby Torello by using the classic
Mississippi Blues as a vehicle to traverse the whole history from
the Delta to Texas, Chicago and beyond to the high voltage style
of Johnny himself. It is a fitting testimonial to a legendary
bluesman who has earned his place among the immortals that
preceded and inspired him. --Dave Rubin, Guitar Edge Magazine