A Conversation with Johnny Winter – HuffPost 10.5.11

Mike Ragogna: Johnny, you are on tour in Denmark right now, right?

Johnny Winter: I am, yes.

MR: Are you having a good time on the road?

JW: Oh, yes.

MR: Is this tour a little different from your others?

JW: No, it’s about the same.

MR: (laughs) Alright, let’s talk about your new album Roots, which explores your musical roots. Now, there are songs like “Further On Up The Road” on here, which has Jimmy Vivino playing on there. How did you score him to play on this?

JW: My manager was the one who got Jimmy.

MR: Did you guys record this together in the studio, or did he drop by to add his parts later?

JW: He added later.

MR: Were you there when he added?

JW: No, I wasn’t.

MR: Do you remember how you first learned the song, “Further On Up The Road”?

JW: When I first learned it, I was sitting in front of the record player, playing the record and trying to copy what he was playing. That was when I just started playing guitar, which wasn’t very long after that song came out.

MR: Are there other instances like that on this record, where you can remember learning these songs for the first time?

JW: Yeah, but that was the main one that I really remember.

MR: A lot of blues guitar players cut their teeth on songs like “Got My Mojo Working” and “Mabeline,” and you cover both of those songs on this project.

JW: Yes.

MR: Can you remember when you learned those songs?

JW: “Mabeline” came out before I started playing guitar, and it was one of the songs that made me want to learn the guitar. That came out in ’55 and I started playing a year later in ’56.

MR: Now, some of these songs are on here more because they are inspired by the blues genre, right?

JW: Yes.

MR: Was that the case with a song like “Got My Mojo Working?”

JW: I love Muddy–I’ve always loved Muddy. Muddy is one of my favorite blues men.

MR: While we’re talking about Muddy Waters, we should talk about when you worked with him. You produced Muddy.

JW: Yeah, we did a couple of records together.

MR: That was a joy I imagine, right?

JW: That was very satisfying. I loved doing it.

MR: Do you have any stories about your time working with him?

JW: My favorite memory is of a time he made me gumbo over at his house in Chicago.

MR: How did you two work together in the studio?

JW: We were really close.

MR: When you’re in the studio, you’re really close to your players?

JW: Usually.

MR: Originally, you were “Johnny Winter And The McCoys,” because you were put together a band with players from The McCoys.

JW: Yes.

MR: Right, working with Randy Z and Rick Derringer.

JW: Right.

MR: Do you have a story from those days?

JW: That was a period that I remember with the least happiness, because I was doing more rock ‘n’ roll than I really wanted to do. It was my biggest selling album, and it was the one I probably liked the least.

MR: Now, you and your brother Edgar obviously took two different approaches to music.

JW: Edgar never was a big blues fan like I was. He was more into jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.

MR: Can you remember early on in yours and Edgar’s musical careers, what the dynamic were like as you both discovered separate musical interests?

JW: We just liked two different kinds of music.

MR: But you guys played together too, right?

JW: Oh, for a long time, yes.

MR: After making an album like Roots, do you feel like there’s any kind of mentorship that may be taking place between you and the people listening to your music and now learning about the genre?

JW: I hope so. That’s why I decided to do it. I’d like to keep turning younger people onto blues.

MR: What do you think the blues scene looks like today?

JW: It’s not as good as it used to be, that’s for sure. There are still some good people around, but it’s nothing like it was in the ’50s and ’60s.

MR: Do you think that’s because it’s not being given the status it should, or is it something about today’s culture?

JW: I think it’s the culture, mostly.

MR: Do you think it’s that people don’t associate what their doing with the blues?

JW: Well, people don’t grow up picking cotton anymore and they don’t have the hardships that the guys did when they started doing it. That could have something to do with it.

MR: That’s a good point. There has also been a generation of artists, like Stevie Ray Vaughan and George Thorogood, who have almost pushed the genre into more of a “joyful” blues.

JW: Yes. Well, blues can be happy too–not all blues is sad.

MR: Right, but it’s almost like the genre has changed somewhat because of what you were talking about before–these aren’t songs that are being written about hardship and despair.

JW: Yes. Those old guys really had hard lives. People like Muddy and B.B. King grew up picking cotton and stuff. They had a real reason to sing the blues.

MR: Getting back to your new album, Roots, you have a lot of wonderful guests such as Vince Gill, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Paul Nelson, John Medeski, Sonny Landreth, John Popper, and you have Edgar on here too. That’s a pretty impressive list, but were there artists you couldn’t get because of scheduling?

JW: We couldn’t get everybody we wanted because some of them were on tour–not that I don’t love the people that we did get, but there were several people that I would have liked to have had that we just couldn’t get.

MR: Did anybody contact you, wanting to be on the album?

JW: Yes, several people did.

MR: Who were they?

JW: Billy Gibbons said he’d do it, but he was working, so he couldn’t.

MR: Well, the people that you did get on this record are incredible. I understand that it is just logistics that keeps people from working on things like this sometimes, but you know that they’re kicking themselves now.

JW: Yeah, exactly.

MR: I know that Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks adore you. How was it working with them?

JW: They are great people, and they’re great musicians too.

MR: And they really live this music.

JW: Yeah, I think they do.

MR: Were you in the studio with any of your guest artists?

JW: No, I wasn’t there for anybody except myself.

MR: Even when Edgar played on “Honky Tonk”?

JW: No, he did that in California. We were in Connecticut, and he did his in California.

MR: Okay, so everybody contributed long distance.

JW: Exactly. The people that were actually there in the studio were just a couple.

MR: Is this the first time you’ve done a project like this?

JW: Yeah, it’s the first time I’ve done anything like this. It’s really strange, really. Of course, I would have liked it if everybody could play at the same time, but we just couldn’t do that.

MR: When you were hearing the musical contributions, how do you react to that?

JW: Well, I was really happy with everything that everybody played.

MR: Out of all the classic blues artists, who is your favorite?

JW: That’s Muddy. That’s definitely Muddy.

MR: With him being your hero and all the psychology with that, were there ever moments that you weren’t sure if you wanted to be working with him?

JW: Oh, I knew I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it more than anything in the world. It was great. It was like a dream come true. It was the most fun that I’ve ever had musically.

MR: Well, you can look at some of the other people you worked with, like Sonny Terry.

JW: Yeah, that was a lot of fun too.

MR: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were a couple of my favorite acts ever.

JW: Yeah, it’s rumored that they didn’t even like each other toward the end of their career.

MR: I opened for them down in Tampa at a place called The Peanut Gallery, and they were yelling at each other before they went onstage.

JW: They hated each other.

MR: Yeah, but I love that they worked it out.

JW: They had been together for like 40 years, and they just got tired of each other after all that time. I wouldn’t even mention Brownie’s name around Sonny.

MR: When they were onstage–the looks they would give each other–it was like they were in a bad marriage.

JW: Well, they were together for years.

MR: Just because he’s one of my favorite artists, and you’ve worked with him, what is it like working with Rick Derringer in the studio?

JW: He’s a great producer.

MR: Was he around for these sessions or was he also busy?

JW: We didn’t ask Rick.

MR: Johnny, you cover a lot of territory on this album. When you look at the genre of blues, is there any experience you can think of that really had an effect on you?

JW: I got to play with B.B. when I was 17 at a club in Beaumont. I went to see him at a club called The Raven and I got to sit in. He didn’t even know if I could play or not.

MR: What was it like when he discovered you could play?

JW: He was really nice. He said, “You’ll be successful someday.”

MR: Very cool. Now, we talked about Muddy before, but who would come after Muddy among your favorites?

JW: B.B. is up there for sure. Ray Charles, of course. Robert Johnson–he was one of my favorite slide players.

MR: If you were to do a whole album of one blues artist’s material, who would it be?

JW: Probably Robert Johnson. Between him and Muddy. Those are two of my favorites.

MR: With Roots coming off as well as it has, do you picture yourself doing something like this again?

JW: Yeah, there’s a good chance we might do that.

MR: Were there any tracks left over from this project?

JW: (laughs) No, there weren’t. Well, we did “Okey Dokey Stomp,” but we didn’t get to use that.

MR: Will that be showing up on a project in the future?

JW: I hope so. It turned out really well. I hope we use “Okey Dokey Stomp” on the next record.

MR: Do you have any advice for new artists?

JW: Listen to the older people. Listen to the people that came before and try to learn from them. You really need that background before you just start doing your own stuff–you’ve got to hear the older people.

MR: Do you think there is a tendency with new artists to try to do it by themselves and ignore history?

JW: Yeah. As I was saying, you really need the base from some of the older guys to start growing out on your own. You don’t want to copy them, but you have to learn from them.

MR: That’s what you did, and that’s the whole point with Roots, right?

JW: Yes.

MR: When you sat down and listened to Roots top to bottom, was it a bit of a flashback to when you were a kid learning all this stuff?

JW: Oh, sure it was. Of course it was.

MR: What was it like experiencing that?

JW: Oh, it was a lot of fun. It was a whole lot of fun.

MR: You’re touring right now, and I imagine you’re playing most of these songs out on the road, right?

JW: A lot of them, we are.

MR: What are you combining them with?

JW: Older stuff–a lot of the older stuff.

MR: I suppose somebody coming to your concert will be kind of mad if they don’t hear the classics too, right?

JW: Sure, they want to hear that.

MR: What are a couple of favorite classics of your material?

JW: That I’m doing in my set?

MR: Yeah.

JW: “Blackjack” by Ray Charles is one of my favorite ones to do. I love doing “Highway 61.”

MR: Are you doing anything that is sort of unusual for you, something that you weren’t sure about when you started playing it?

JW: No, I’m always sure before I start doing it.

MR: (laughs) When you play, is there a lot of improv going on?

JW: Yeah, there is, always.

MR: When you’re playing improv, where do you feel it’s coming from?

JW: It just comes in my thinking of the sounds. It really just goes there.

MR: Because he’s your brother, what is your favorite recording by Edgar?

JW: Either “Tobacco Road” or “Frankenstein.”

MR: Excellent. Looking at the genre of blues, when it comes to people like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page do you see them as being torch bearers?

JW: Yes, sure they are.

MR: Do you ever get tempted to do a super session with all of you guitar heroes together, like they did in the old days?

JW: That would be a lot of fun. I would love to do that.

MR: Do you have any words of wisdom for us?

JW: Just keep listening to the blues. Listen to as much blues as you can–that’ll make me very happy.

MR: (laughs) Very nice. Johnny, thank you very much for visiting with me today. All the best with your new album, Roots.

JW: Thank you, very much.

Transcribed by Ryan Gaffney