Second Winter [Legacy Edition] [Digipak] (CD - 1969)

Personnel: Johnny Winter (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Edgar Winter (alto saxophone, piano, harpsichord, organ); Tommy Shannon, Dennis Collins (bass); John Turner (drums, percussion).

Includes liner notes by Johnny Winter.

Personnel: Johnny Winter (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, mandolin); Edgar Winter (vocals, saxophone, alto saxophone, piano, harpsichord, organ, keyboards); Uncle John Turner (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixers: Thom Cadley; Bob Auger.

Liner Note Author: Andy Aledort.

Recording information: Nashville, TN (07/19/1969-08/12/1969).

Authors: Johnny Winter; Tommy Shannon.

Photographers: Don Hunstein; Fred Lombardi; Peter Sanders; Richard Avedon; Amalie R. Rothschild.

Johnny's second Columbia album shows an artist in transition. He's still obviously a Texas bluesman, recording in the same trio format that he left Dallas with. But his music is moving toward the more rock & roll sounds he would go on to create. The opener, "Memory Pain," moves him into psychedelic blues-rock territory, while old-time rockers like "Johnny B. Goode," "Miss Ann," and "Slippin' and Slidin'" provide him with familiar landscapes on which to spray his patented licks. His reworking of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" is the high spot of the record, a career-defining track that's still a major component of his modern-day set list. This was originally released back in the day as a three-sided vinyl double album, by the way. ~ Cub Koda

Johnny Winter's second album for Columbia--duh--1970's SECOND WINTER is also notorious for a gimmicky sales device. When the recording sessions were over, Winter had enough material for an album and a half; rather than add a side of filler, Columbia simply promoted the album as the world's first three-sided album. (In a snarky review, Rolling Stone sarcastically gave the blank fourth side an in-depth discussion.)

The last of Winter's albums to feature his original backing band--drummer Uncle John Turner, bassist Tommy Shannon, and brother Edgar on keyboards and saxes--SECOND WINTER is a refinement of the blues-rock aesthetic of 1969's JOHNNY WINTER. Louder, harder, faster, and more reckless, this is to JOHNNY WINTER as Elvis Costello's THIS YEAR'S MODEL is to MY AIM IS TRUE: an album so phenomenal that it makes the debut, excellent though it is, sound weak in comparison. Highlights include the punky "I Hate Everybody" and a brilliant Hendrix-style deconstruction of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited."

Second Winter, Johnny Winter's second album for Columbia, originally had the distinction of being the only album in rock history that was a three-sided double LP. Musically, 35 years after its original release, Second Winter is still an oddity. Issued by Sony's Legacy division, the set has been painstakingly remastered, and expanded by bonus cuts and an entire disc of live material. It's too bluesed-out to be a pure rock record, and too psychedelically dimensioned to be a pure blues album. Tommy Shannon calls it "power blues." And as for whatever else passed for blues-rock at the time -- Cream, Hendrix, Canned Heat, etc. -- forget it. This set is a whole different animal. Cut in Nashville with all tracks begin done within one or two takes, the energy of Second Winter is undeniable. The sheer range of styles Winter assaulted in his restless quest is astonishing too. The set begins with a blues-funk cover of Percy Mayfield's classic "Memory Pain," that adds a wealth of rock sonics to the mix. The same goes for the gritty originals like "I'm Not Sure," with its screaming electric mandolin, and the album's closer "Fast Life Rider." The latter two are textured with Edgar's stellar piano work. Then there's the album's centerpiece, the signature cover of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" with its burning, gut bucket slide work and Winter's bona fide revival of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." Trad Delta blues makes its appearance here as well in "I Love Everybody," as does jump jazz in "I Hate Everybody," both of them with Winter's raucous edge. The original album is buoyed here with a pair of bonus tracks, an instrumental version of Ray Charles' "Tell the Truth," as well as the jump blues classic "Early in the Morning." Disc two in the set is an entire unreleased concert from the Royal Albert Hall in 1970 with the same band The show is a monster showcasing all the fiery craziness of Winter's nearly unbelievable guitar mastery on tracks such as "Mean Town Blues," "Black Cat Bone," "It's My Own Fault," "Tobacco Road," and "Johnny B. Goode." It is also significant for the early performance of Edgar's classic, "Frankenstein" -- it's a very different, and preferable -- version than the one recorded in the studio. All in all, fantastic sound, an excellent package, and good notes by Andy Aledort make this a welcome addition to the classic rock canon. ~ Thom Jurek minimize