Amazing player, Johnny Winter was born Johnny Dawson Winter III on February 23rd, 1944 in Beaumont, Texas, USA.
It´s hard to find proper info about his live lineups, so I´ve made my best to be accurate, trying to get info from different sources as well as from live shows I´ve been collecting along the years. But there are omissions, I´m sure, as some musicians say to have played with Johnny along the years, such as drummers Ray Marchica or Casey Jones. If someone can help with additions and corrections, I´d be very grateful.
JOHNNY MACARONI AND THE JAMMERS
Johnny Macaroni And The Jammers is the first band I know with brothers Johnny and Edgar Winter:
The band played (with different band members) from 1959 to 1962.
|
JOHNNY MACARONI AND THE JAMMERS #? |
1959-1962 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar | Edgar Winter sax | Dan Polson bass | Melvin Carpenter drums | + others unknown to me. Help! |
The band played (with different band members) from 1959 to 1962.
| Other info on members of Johnny Macaroni And The Jammers (I know up to 6 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (1): | Edgar Winter |
| Not enough info (4): | Melvin Carpenter, Willard Chamberlain, Richard Griffin, Dan Polson |
JOHNNY WINTER AND THE CRYSTALIERS
Next project by Johnny Winter in 1962 was Johnny Winter And The Crystaliers, now with his brother Edgar playing drums:
|
JOHNNY WINTER AND THE CRYSTALIERS #? |
1962-1965 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Ronnie Becker bass | Don Duron keyboards | Willard Chamberlain sax | Edgar Winter drums |
| Other info on members of Johnny Winter And The Crystaliers (I know up to 5 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (1): | Edgar Winter |
| Not enough info (3): | Ronnie Becker, Willard Chamberlain, Don Duron |
JOHNNY WINTER AND THE BEAUMONTS
Johnny Winter And The Beaumonts was a band formed by Johnny in 1963:
|
JOHNNY WINTER AND THE BEAUMONTS #? |
1963 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Isaac Payton Sweat † bass | Edgar Winter sax | Norman Samaha | Bobby Reeder drums |
| Other info on members of Johnny Winter And The Beaumonts (I know up to 6 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (3): | Pat Rush, Isaac Payton Sweat, Edgar Winter |
| Not enough info (2): | Bobby Reeder, Norman Samaha |
JOHNNY WINTER BAND
This was the first Johnny Winter Band, formed in April 1968:
In November 1969, Edgar Winter joins his brother in the Johnny Winter Band for some months:
In May 1970, Johnny Winter forms a new combo with Rick Derringer and his then-band The McCoys, billed as Johnny Winter And:
But Randy Zehringer suffered some health problems and soon had to leave the band.
For some moths in 1970, Edgar Winter joins Johnny Winter And as a drummer, until they got a permanent member:
Finally, the chosen drummer for Johnny Winter And was Bobby Caldwell:
But in June 1971, Johnny Winter was forced to a long period of inactivity due to problems with addictions.
Thankfully, Johnny Winter reappeared healthy in March 1973 with a new band, with Randy Jo Hobbs being the only member that remained with him:
And in 1974, Doug Brockie left.
In October 1974, Floyd Radford joined the band (he was a member of Edgar Winter´s White Trash):
The band parted ways in August 1976.
Around 1977, Johnny Winter resumed his gigs with a short-lived band that contained his old bandmate Isaac Payton Sweat from their times in Johnny Winter And The Beaumonts:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #1 |
Apr 68-Nov 69 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Tommy Shannon bass | Uncle John Turner † drums |
In November 1969, Edgar Winter joins his brother in the Johnny Winter Band for some months:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #2 |
Nov 69-May 70 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Tommy Shannon bass | Edgar Winter sax, keyboards | Uncle John Turner † drums |
In May 1970, Johnny Winter forms a new combo with Rick Derringer and his then-band The McCoys, billed as Johnny Winter And:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #3 |
May 70-1970 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
êThe McCoys |
êThe McCoys |
êThe McCoys |
|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Rick Derringer guitar | Randy Jo Hobbs † bass | Randy Zehringer drums |
But Randy Zehringer suffered some health problems and soon had to leave the band.
For some moths in 1970, Edgar Winter joins Johnny Winter And as a drummer, until they got a permanent member:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #4 |
1970 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Rick Derringer guitar | Randy Jo Hobbs † bass | Edgar Winter drums |
Finally, the chosen drummer for Johnny Winter And was Bobby Caldwell:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #5 |
1970-Jun 71 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Rick Derringer guitar | Randy Jo Hobbs † bass | Bobby Caldwell drums |
But in June 1971, Johnny Winter was forced to a long period of inactivity due to problems with addictions.
Thankfully, Johnny Winter reappeared healthy in March 1973 with a new band, with Randy Jo Hobbs being the only member that remained with him:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #6 |
Mar 73-? |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Doug Brockie guitar | Randy Jo Hobbs † bass | Richard Hughes † drums |
And in 1974, Doug Brockie left.
In October 1974, Floyd Radford joined the band (he was a member of Edgar Winter´s White Trash):
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #7 |
Oct 74-Aug 76 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Floyd Radford guitar | Randy Jo Hobbs † bass | Richard Hughes † drums |
The band parted ways in August 1976.
Around 1977, Johnny Winter resumed his gigs with a short-lived band that contained his old bandmate Isaac Payton Sweat from their times in Johnny Winter And The Beaumonts:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #8 |
1977 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Pat Rush guitar | Isaac Payton Sweat † bass | Bobby Torello drums |
MUDDY WATERS BAND
This was the Muddy Waters Band featuring Johnny Winter around March 1977:
This was the expanded Muddy Waters Band featuring Johnny Winter in February 1978:
|
MUDDY WATERS BAND #? |
1977 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Muddy Waters † vocals, guitar | James Cotton harmonica | Bob Margolin guitar | Johnny Winter † guitar | Charles Calmese bass | Pinetop Perkins † keyboards |
Willie Smith † drums |
This was the expanded Muddy Waters Band featuring Johnny Winter in February 1978:
|
MUDDY WATERS BAND #? |
1978 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Muddy Waters † vocals, guitar | Jerry Portnoy harmonica | Luther Johnson Jr guitar | Bob Margolin guitar | Duke Robillard guitar | Johnny Winter † guitar |
Calvin Jones † bass | Pinetop Perkins † keyboards | Doug James sax | Rich Lataille sax | Greg Piccollo sax | Willie Smith † drums |
| Other info on members of Muddy Waters Band (I know up to 27 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (6): | James Cotton, Calvin Jones, Pinetop Perkins, Jerry Portnoy, Otis Spann, Muddy Waters |
| Not enough info (20): | Mac Arnold, George ´Mojo´ Buford, Charles Calmese, Francis Clay, Pat Hare, Doug James, Luther Johnson Jr, Rich Lataille, Sammy Lawhorn, Bob Margolin, Louis Myers, Paul Oscher, Greg Piccollo, John Primer, Duke Robillard, George Harmonica Smith, Willie Smith, Hubert Sumlin, Luther Tucker, Little Walter |
JOHNNY WINTER BAND (again)
In August 1978, Johnny Winter forms a power trio with the great Jon Paris handling bass and some guitar:
During a couple of months, February and March 1981, drummer Richard Hughes rejoins Johnny Winter:
In August 1981, Johnny Winter is joined by original drummer Uncle John Turner for a short series of local gigs:
But in 1982, Johnny Winter reforms his power trio with Paris and Torello:
In April 1983, Johnny Winter gets a new drummer, Mo Potts:
For a short time, Johnny Winter Band gets expanded with Ken Saydak on keyboards:
In May 1984, veteran drummer Tom Compton joins Johnny Winter Band:
This was one of the longest serving bands that Johnny ever had, until May 1989 when Jon Paris left.
Great basist Jeff Ganz joins Johnny Winter Band in May 1989:
They stayed together for almost 5 years, until Ganz left the band in March 1994.
Johnny Winter returned to play gigs in January 1997, still with Tom Compton and with new bassist Mark Epstein:
Don´t know how the band evolved along 1998, but drummer Sandy Gennaro toured USA with Johnny Winter that year (who was the bassist then, still Mark Epstein?). Any help with additional info would be very welcomed.
Vito Liuzzi was the new drummer for Johnny Winter in 1999:
Again, probably due to health problems, Johnny remained inactive from January 2001 to June 2002.
In June 2002, Johnny Winter assembles a completely new band, including harp player James Montgomery:
Guitarist and producer Paul Nelson lent a hand to Johnny Winter playing bass when Scott Spray had other commitments, but soon after he became a permanent member on guitar:
The band stopped gigging in December 2004, and James Montgomery resumed his solo career.
In April 2006, Johnny Winter start playing concerts again:
Around 2011, we can find Vito Liuzzi back in Johnny Winter Band:
And this was the last Johnny Winter Band lineup, around 2014:
Sadly, Johnny Winter passed away on July 16th, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland. He was playing concerts in Spain just a few weeks before.
To me, Johnny Winter was an idol since I first heard the Johnny Winter And live album when I was 17. I was blown away by such strengh and power for a performance. Not to forget the mighty Rick Derringer alongside Johnny. I started collecting his albums, with Captured live being another favourite of mine. After many years of following, suddenly I see that Johnny is coming to my city, in 1990, with Robben Ford opening. Great, I thought! I bought the ticket, but finally I couldn´t attend the gig.
I had to wait 9 more years, and in July 1999, Johnny was to play in my city again. I bought the ticket, and this time, I did attend the show. But, now knowing about his physical condition, I felt absolutely shocked when I saw him. He couldn´t walk by himself, just giving baby steps with his two musicians helping him. I didn´t know what happened to him. The concert was a complete shock. Johnny remained sitting for the whole concert, his voice was weak, but at least his guitar playing was still very good. No velocity and lots of notes, but playing the blues in a wise way. Near the end of the concert, he got up, and even gave a rotation on his feet once, and that was cheered by the stunned audience. So, while it wasn´t a BAD concert, I felt that my heart was broken in hundreds of pieces watching one of my heroes in such bad physical condition. I understand that he somehow saw his health improved a bit; otherwise, I can't understand how he could stay playing concerts for 15 more years. I've been shocked by this concert for years, but Johnny, you´ll always be in my heart. Thanks for your playing, forever.
5 BANDS (WITH 50 SELECTED RECORDINGS):
1 ALBUMS AS PRODUCER:
10 ALBUMS FOR 4 BANDMATES AND FRIENDS:
1 COLLECTIVE ALBUMS:
19 SESSIONS (FOR 12 ARTISTS):
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #9 |
Aug 78-Dec 80 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Jon Paris bass, guitar | Bobby Torello drums |
During a couple of months, February and March 1981, drummer Richard Hughes rejoins Johnny Winter:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #10 |
Feb 81-Mar 81 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Jon Paris bass, guitar | Richard Hughes † drums |
In August 1981, Johnny Winter is joined by original drummer Uncle John Turner for a short series of local gigs:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #11 |
Aug 81-Sep 81 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
êBob Seger Band |
|||
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Catfish Hodge guitar | Chris Campbell bass | Uncle John Turner † drums |
Bob Seger Bandê | |||
But in 1982, Johnny Winter reforms his power trio with Paris and Torello:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #12 |
1982-Apr 83 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Jon Paris bass, guitar | Bobby Torello drums |
In April 1983, Johnny Winter gets a new drummer, Mo Potts:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #13 |
Apr 83-Apr 84 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Jon Paris bass, guitar | Mo Potts drums |
For a short time, Johnny Winter Band gets expanded with Ken Saydak on keyboards:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #14 |
Apr 84-May 84 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Jon Paris bass, guitar | Ken Saydak keyboards | Mo Potts drums |
In May 1984, veteran drummer Tom Compton joins Johnny Winter Band:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #15 |
May 84-May 89 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Jon Paris bass, guitar | Tom Compton drums |
This was one of the longest serving bands that Johnny ever had, until May 1989 when Jon Paris left.
Great basist Jeff Ganz joins Johnny Winter Band in May 1989:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #16 |
May 89-Mar 94 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Jeff Ganz bass | Tom Compton drums |
They stayed together for almost 5 years, until Ganz left the band in March 1994.
Johnny Winter returned to play gigs in January 1997, still with Tom Compton and with new bassist Mark Epstein:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #17 |
Jan 97-1998 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Mark Epstein bass | Tom Compton drums |
Don´t know how the band evolved along 1998, but drummer Sandy Gennaro toured USA with Johnny Winter that year (who was the bassist then, still Mark Epstein?). Any help with additional info would be very welcomed.
Vito Liuzzi was the new drummer for Johnny Winter in 1999:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #? |
1999-Jan 01 |
|
|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Mark Epstein bass | Vito Liuzzi drums |
Again, probably due to health problems, Johnny remained inactive from January 2001 to June 2002.
In June 2002, Johnny Winter assembles a completely new band, including harp player James Montgomery:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #? |
Jun 02-May 04 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | James Montgomery harmonica | Scott Spray bass | Wayne June drums |
Guitarist and producer Paul Nelson lent a hand to Johnny Winter playing bass when Scott Spray had other commitments, but soon after he became a permanent member on guitar:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #? |
Jun 04-Dec 04 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | James Montgomery harmonica | Paul Nelson guitar, sometimes bass | Scott Spray bass | Wayne June drums |
The band stopped gigging in December 2004, and James Montgomery resumed his solo career.
In April 2006, Johnny Winter start playing concerts again:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #? |
Apr 06-? |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Paul Nelson guitar | Scott Spray bass | Wayne June drums |
Around 2011, we can find Vito Liuzzi back in Johnny Winter Band:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #? |
2011 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Paul Nelson guitar | Scott Spray bass | Vito Liuzzi drums |
And this was the last Johnny Winter Band lineup, around 2014:
|
JOHNNY WINTER BAND #? |
2014 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Winter † guitar, vocals | Paul Nelson guitar | Scott Spray bass | Tommy Curiale drums |
| Other info on members of Johnny Winter Band (I know up to 31 members) | |
|---|---|
| To be covered (30): | Doug Brockie, Bobby Caldwell, Chris Campbell, Tom Compton, Tommy Curiale, Rick Derringer, Mark Epstein, Jeff Ganz, Sandy Gennaro, Randy Jo Hobbs, Catfish Hodge, Richard Hughes, Casey Jones, Wayne June, Vito Liuzzi, Ray Marchica, James Montgomery, Paul Nelson, Jon Paris, Mo Potts, Floyd Radford, Pat Rush, Ken Saydak, Tommy Shannon, Scott Spray,... up to 30 musicians. |
Sadly, Johnny Winter passed away on July 16th, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland. He was playing concerts in Spain just a few weeks before.
To me, Johnny Winter was an idol since I first heard the Johnny Winter And live album when I was 17. I was blown away by such strengh and power for a performance. Not to forget the mighty Rick Derringer alongside Johnny. I started collecting his albums, with Captured live being another favourite of mine. After many years of following, suddenly I see that Johnny is coming to my city, in 1990, with Robben Ford opening. Great, I thought! I bought the ticket, but finally I couldn´t attend the gig.
I had to wait 9 more years, and in July 1999, Johnny was to play in my city again. I bought the ticket, and this time, I did attend the show. But, now knowing about his physical condition, I felt absolutely shocked when I saw him. He couldn´t walk by himself, just giving baby steps with his two musicians helping him. I didn´t know what happened to him. The concert was a complete shock. Johnny remained sitting for the whole concert, his voice was weak, but at least his guitar playing was still very good. No velocity and lots of notes, but playing the blues in a wise way. Near the end of the concert, he got up, and even gave a rotation on his feet once, and that was cheered by the stunned audience. So, while it wasn´t a BAD concert, I felt that my heart was broken in hundreds of pieces watching one of my heroes in such bad physical condition. I understand that he somehow saw his health improved a bit; otherwise, I can't understand how he could stay playing concerts for 15 more years. I've been shocked by this concert for years, but Johnny, you´ll always be in my heart. Thanks for your playing, forever.
5 BANDS (WITH 50 SELECTED RECORDINGS):
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||
| Johnny Macaroni And The Jammers |
| |||||||
| Muddy Waters Band | 5 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
| Johnny Winter And The Beaumonts |
| |||||||
| Johnny Winter And The Crystaliers |
| |||||||
| Johnny Winter Band | 39 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
1 ALBUMS AS PRODUCER:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||
| Sonny Terry Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
10 ALBUMS FOR 4 BANDMATES AND FRIENDS:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||
| James Cotton Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
| Rick Derringer Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
| Jerry LaCroix Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
| Edgar Winter Band | 7 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||
1 COLLECTIVE ALBUMS:
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS |
| VVAA | 1 RECORDINGS:
|
19 SESSIONS (FOR 12 ARTISTS):
| BAND / ARTIST | . | RECORDINGS | ||||||||
| Lonnie Brooks Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Bob Dylan Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Bugs Henderson Band | 2 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| John Lee Hooker Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Jaroslav Jakubovic Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Al Kooper Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Robert Palmer Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Jeremy Steig Group | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Sly Stone Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Tornader | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Bruce Willis Band | 1 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
| Edgar Winter Band | 7 RECORDINGS:
| |||||||||
RELATED WEBSITE LINKS: 6
Official site(s) - tell them you saw the link here:
Wikipedia doesn´t want to include links to this website, but I won´t do the same with them. So, from the great Wikipedia, we have:
Assorted links:
- The Johnny Winter Story - Superb site
RELATED MUSICIANS:
Johnny Winter mostly worked with these musicians: (name + number of credits)
Edgar Winter (19)
Rick Derringer (14)
Randy Jo Hobbs (9)
Uncle John Turner (8)
Muddy Waters (8)
James Cotton (6)
Dan Hartman (6)
Richard Hughes (6)
Bob Margolin (6)
Tommy Shannon (6)
Page created by Miguel Terol on: 31/July/2014 - Last modified on: 31/July/2014. If you want to contribute with info, please write to: molympus1@gmail.com
Please, note than you can check the indexes (musicians, bands, obituaries) at the top of this page.
"Austin Texas" was a reissue of "The Progressive Blues Experiment". Also The Edgar Winter Group's "They Only Come Out At Night" from late 1972 was left out.
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