Top 10 Johnny Winter songs, in remembrance

As it had happened with the Allman brothers and would later happen with the Vaughan brothers, Johnny and Edgar Winter’s souls were mesmerized by the sounds of the Mississippi Delta bluesmen. At a young age, they joined the ranks of the pioneer musicians who would introduce this music to a younger audience, an audience the blues had yet to reach, in the form of what would eventually be called blues rock.

Yesterday, Edgar lost his brother Johnny, and the world lost a musician and producer who helped introduce us to a musical genre that has touched our hearts and souls over the past half century and... I have to say it... is “still alive and well” today.

Through his professional life, Johnny wrote and produced original music, but also covered the music that woke the blues passion in him to begin with, by legendary blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Bobby Bland, and so many others.

To pay respect to this talented and legendary artist, here are 10 of the many songs that Johnny Winter performed during his lifetime, that have touched me throughout mine. If you have favorites not listed here, please share them with us in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Antonie Brzostoski/INFphoto.com

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10. "Red House"

In 2009, at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, Johnny Winter and Leslie West, numbers 63 and 66, respectively, on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists, joined together to give a rare performance of Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House.”

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9. "Rock Me Baby"

This performance by Johnny of the blues standard “Rock Me Baby” is a fine illustration of his fluid guitar riffs and his gravelly voice. The song was released as a single off of Johnny’s fifth studio album, Still Alive and Well. This video is a live performance in Italy from 1988.

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8. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"

Johnny didn’t just cover early blues greats, he paid homage to blues/rock artists of his time also, such as the Rolling Stones, covering several of their well-known hits, including “Jumpin' Jack Flash.” The cover was introduced on 1971’s Live Johnny Winter And, and some argue that although the song originated with the Stones, Johnny perfected it.

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7. "Mississippi Blues"

The song “Mississippi Blues” seems to have a strange mystery behind it, or behind the Delta blues musician who recorded it. Was it Willie Brown or William Brown, two very different, yet both “Delta” musicians. Regardless, the song was recorded in 1942 and has been referred to as “the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ of Mississippi Blues,” the one song you’re expected to know in the Delta Blues genre. I believe the following video removes any doubt that Johnny was a true Delta bluesman.

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6. "Johnny B. Goode"

6. Although he seemed to prefer the bluesier side of Blues Rock, that didn’t mean that Johnny couldn’t hold his own with some straight up rock and roll. One of his favorites, and mine, was the Chuck Berry timeless classic, “Johnny B. Goode,” and Johnny sure was good at playing it. See for yourself.

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5. "Mean Mistreater"

In 1970, at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Johnny gives a gripping performance of James Gordon’s classic blues masterpiece, “Mean Mistreater.”

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4. "Ain’t Nothing to Me"

If you thought one music genre Johnny would never fit into, or even try, was Honkytonk, you thought wrong. On his 1973 album Still Alive and Well, he performs a song that, as well as I can tell, was written in the 1950s by Pat Patterson - whose real name was Leon Payne, has been sung by Jim Reeves, The Coasters, Sanford Clark - who may have also gone by the name Harry Johnson, as well as others, and has been called “It’s Nothing to Me,” “T’ain’t Nothing to Me” and “Ain’t Nothing to Me.” And to add a further mystery to the song, every place I’ve seen Johnny Winter’s version mentioned, it says the song was written by E. Dunbar. Well, ain’t nothing to me, but Johnny’s version of the song sure is.

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3. "Stranger"

Johnny’s beautiful rendition here of the song “Stranger,” which as best as I can determine was written by Johnny Winter, and was first released on his seventh studio album, John Dawson Winter III, from 1974, is beautiful and mesmerizing, and again, not of a typical music genre for Johnny Winter, which makes it just one more thing that made him special.

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2. "Drown in My Own Tears"

“Drown in My Own Tears,” originally titled “I’ll Drown in My Tears,” and written by Henry Glover, was first recorded in 1951 and covered by many, many others since that time. Its most recognized version was performed by Ray Charles and was his third No. 1 single on the Billboard R&B chart. Johnny recorded it on his second studio album, Johnny Winter, released in 1969.

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1. "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo"

One of Johnny’s earliest bands, Johnny Winter And, included another famed guitarist/writer/producer who has weathered a long and successful career, Rick Derringer. Derringer played with this band as well as with Edgar’s band, Edgar Winter’s White Trash. He also did some solo work in between. Derringer wrote “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” while with Johnny Winter And. It was a successful single for the group. Derringer later recorded it as a solo and made it an even bigger hit. My favorite version though, was when Johnny made a special appearance for Edgar Winter’s White Trash Roadwork live album. Here you have all three super-talents, Edgar, Johnny, and Rick Derringer, performing this classic rock and roll hit, with vocals by Johnny Winter in addition to guitar.