JW Q & A Archive If you have a question for Johnny Winter, simply email it to us. We can not guarantee every question will be answered. Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 Q: Johnny, First off I'd like to say that it's your music that has made me love the blues so much. I was just getting into the great stuff you and Muddy were doing when he died. GOD i can't believe I missed seeing muddy! I wore out my "Muddy Mississippi Waters and Hard Again and King Bee LP's"I have seen you time and I remember every single show!! Were you and Muddy going to keep working together when we lost him? and What is your favorite Muddy LP? We Love you in Ventura Johnny... Come back soon! The Live in NYC tour was HOT! A: We were starting to work on the next album. We also thought about doing more live shows together. I love all his records. Q: Dear Johnny I've been a fan for 16 years I'm 20 now and I just keep lovin your music more and more. I first heard you on Muddy Waters Hard Again LP and I've been hooked from there on. I was wondering what guitar set up you used on the Sonny Terry and Muddy Waters albums they sure sounded awesome. Is there any unreleased songs from those albums? I recently saw you in Quebec City and your guitar sound was grate you surely make a lot of music with a trio. Is there any plans for you to come to Nova Scotia we would really love to see you up here. A: I just kept the guitar setup simple. I hope to be in Nova Scotia some time next year. Q: Hi, its great to see you have finally got your own web-site. I'm only 16, but you are without a doubt my favorite guitarist. Will you becoming to Nashville any time soon? A: I hope to hit Nashville in January. Stay in touch. Q: Hi Johnny. I have loved your music since the first time I heard you in 1969 when I was 13. I listen to some of your CD's most everyday to make sure each day is great. Questions: How long did it take to get the 'Screamin Demon' tattoo done on your chest? I hope you don't mind but I have a smaller version on my arm in your honor (it is about 4 years old). Are you coming to Jacksonville, Florida to play in the near future? I will be there to hear you every time you come. I joined the fan club about a year ago and hope to maybe meet you someday. Take care, we love you. A: The tattoo took about four hours. Hope to be on Florida February of the new year. Stay in touch. Q: Hello Johnny, Will we have a chance to hear you play "Mississippi Blues" during your '99 tour? This is such a great old song, that never really seems to get old. It would be fantastic, if you could fit "MB" into your shows again. You are the greatest of all-time!!!! From one of your biggest fans!!!! A: I will start playing it again at my rehearsals. I will see how it feels again. Q: I wanted to ask you if you had been influenced at all by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and, in particular, the late great Eldon Shamblin. Also, a suggestion for your new CD. Tommy James' old tune from '66; Hanky Panky. I have heard it performed in Lubbuck, Tx. by a blues band there. It has a solo part just waiting to be Johnny Winterized. No one has ever redone this song and it's a hit waiting to happen. A: I will give it some thought. Hanky Panky Why not? Q: Hi, Johnny. All the older blues guys, as they got older, including Muddy, John Lee, etc., seem to have accepted their slower bodies and revised their live shows accordingly, with more casual performances, often taking a seat. Just to let you know, and I think 100% of your fans would agree with me on this, it would be OK if you didn't try to always live up to this supposed "gunslinger" reputation you have, with rockin songs, trying to play as fast as always, trying to do your twirl, etc. You are the best, and you can, in my opinion, with your poor vision and anxiety or whatever, just go out, sit down and play, alone and/or with a band. Don't worry about anything, because we all would love to be exposed to another, graceful side of Johnny Winter. A: Thanks for the advice. I think I will try to slow it down just a little. PS. But not much! Q: I have tried for several years to get these on CD but to no avail. A few weeks ago I hit a link to Plato Den Haag in the Netherlands and they have both on CD. I ordered them and are still waiting for delivery. Do you know if this place is legit? If not where can I get those two recordings on CD. By the way, I drove 1000 miles from Houston to St. Pete to see your show last month. I hope you are feeling better than that night, you only played 4 songs and didn't look to well. Try a tour out our way in Texas... we do miss the opportunity to see you back where your roots are. A: Don't remember the St. Pete show you are talking about. Might have caught a bug. Feeling pretty good right now. Q: Johnny, is there any chance of you using Fender Tweed amps in the future to record with? Hopefully with Gibson guitars? I have a recording of you with this setup (I believe) and you are absolutely SMOKING! You sounded like you were enjoying yourself and I wondered if you like to have that sound again. Please stay well, Dave B. A: I love my music man amp too much to make a change. Thanks for caring. Q: Johnny, I admit to owning a handful of your old recordings - and a few concert boots. I would LOVE to see you package and OFFICIAL version of the early years. And, you played some great concerts in the past 30 years. There are some very good quality boots out there. What are the odds of you releasing the stuff yourself - like the Jimi Hendrix family does? A: I will give it some thought. Q: Heard about 'Live In NYC' on web, bought it, loved it. Watching for tour dates to hear it live. Got impatient. Bought 'Hard Again.' Loved it. Read on web 'Let Me In' is a personal favorite of Mr. Winter's. Got it, loved it. Got 'Hey, Where's Your Brother,' loved it. Still watching for tour dates. Got 'Progressive Blues Experiment.' Love it. Only Winter album I bought before was Mr. Edgar Winter's 'Road Work' when it first came out (I'm 43 y.o.). Always liked his intro to his brother's special appearance on the LP ("People keep asking me, ahhh, 'Where's your brother?'" "Hey, Johnny." "There he is.") Hope I can get to a live show before I run out of CDs to buy! Thanks to everyone in the band, management, families, etc., who make these CDs and live shows happen! A: Thank my manager Teddy Slatus. Q: Different web pages give different locations for Johnny's birthplace. Was he born in Leland, Mississippi or in Southeast Texas?? A: Beaumont, Texas. Q: Please come out to the West coast! Out here in Spokane, WA there's plenty of blues and venues. The Met, The Opera House. Robert Cray and Robbin Ford pass through every now and then...but we're dying to see you JW! Check out "the Gorge" or the "Winthrop Blues Festival"... Maybe one day we'll get lucky when you come to town. (James Brown was just here... at the Opera House... sold the entire main floor on a Tues. night.) A: I will see you on my next West Coast run. Next year for sure. Q: Second Winter is one of my favorite albums, good heavy blues. I have trouble understanding some of the lyrics (especially Memory Pain), probably because the recordings are so old... Any chance of getting a copy of the lyrics? How about putting lyrics on the website? A: I will try to find the time to get the lyrics posted. Q: I can see why you would hate Roy Ames but being such a fan I like to hear your early work too and enjoy hearing it and appricate/like most of it... How about an official early works CD? A: Roy Ames spoiled my feelings for an early works CD. Q: I'm going to my first Johnny winter concert, what will i be expecting, also i was wondering who is going to back up Johnny for the Chicago performance next Thursday. any information on this would be appreciated, does anyone have any information on Johnny's drummer sandy gennaro, he drums for Johnny every once in a while, I'm going to be starting a web page on sandy and would like information, and pics from his time with Johnny again any help with this would be much appreciated, thanks! A: Sandy is doing a lot of studio work in NYC. Bass: Mark Epstein Drums: Vito Luizzi. Q: I'm going to organize a JW-evening (music by LP, CD, tape) in a club in Austria (graz) therefore I need PHOTOS of Johnny Winter for a slideshow please send me photos via e-mail. A: Send me a postage paid envelope to: Slatus Management 208 E 51st Street NY ÊNY Ê10022 I will send you photos. Q: Hey... your discography leaves out one of Johnny's best albums of all time.... "The Progressive Blues Experiment." A: Paper work mistake. Q: I'm only half in-jest... Johnny, I love you dearly, have for 30 years, but you had to cancel an 11/14/98 concert I was going to because of carpal tunnel... so: Fans: stop sending e-mail questions OR: Johnny: please have someone else type your replies! A: I don't understand what you mean. Q: First I would like to thank you for the many years of great music. In 1972 I was thirteen years old and had never heard any of your material when I bought "Still Alive and Well" only because I had read a favorable review of it. The opening licks of "Rock Me Baby" completely captured me and you have been my favorite Blues/Rock player ever since. I read your message regarding the albums that have been released without your approval and checked it against amazon.com. I believe that they offer every one of these for sale. However, they do have an "I am the artist" section where the artist is invited to comment on the work, I would strongly suggest that you post your comments there. I was about to order one of these items before finding your site, had I read your comments at amazon.com I could not have made this mistake. Keep up the great work, would love to hear a lot more slide on the National. A: I plan on more slide songs. Q: Who wouldn't kill to see JW pull out the National Steel and rip a few tunes on it? But I have to agree that his skills are too far gone to accomplish the task. A: I don't think so. I get more positive comments on my National Steele playing. I hope your skills are still up to par. Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12