Johnny Winter, along with his brother Edgar Winter, were nurtured at an early age by their parents in musical pursuits. Both he and his brother, who were born with albinism, began performing at an early age. When he was ten-years old, Winter appeared on a local children's show, playing ukelele and singing Everly Brothers songs with his brother.
His recording career began at the age of fifteen, when his band Johnny and the Jammers released "School Day Blues" on a Houston record label. During this same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Bobby Bland. In the early days Winter would sometimes sit in with Roy Head and The Traits when they performed in the Beaumont, Texas area, and in 1967, Winter recorded a single with The Traits: "Tramp" backed with "Parchman Farm" (Universal Records 30496). In 1968, he released his first album The Progressive Blues Experiment, on Austin's Sonobeat Records.
Winter caught his biggest break in December 1968, when Mike Bloomfield, whom he met and jammed with in Chicago, invited him to sing and play a song during a Bloomfield and Al Kooper concert at the Fillmore East in New York. As it happened, representatives of Columbia Records (which had released the Top Ten Bloomfield/Kooper Super Session album) were at the concert. Winter played and sang B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" to loud applause and, within a few days, was signed to reportedly what was then the largest advance in the history of the recording industry–$600,000.
Winter's first Columbia album, Johnny Winter was recorded and released in 1969. It featured the same backing musicians with whom he recorded The Progressive Blues Experiment, bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner, plus Edgar Winter on keyboards and saxophone, and (for his "Mean Mistreater") blues legends Willie Dixon on upright bass and Big Walter Horton on harmonica. The album featured a few selections that became Winter signature songs, including his composition "Dallas" (an acoustic blues, on which Winter played a steel-bodied, resonator guitar), John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl", and B.B. King's "Be Careful With A Fool".
The album's success coincided with Imperial Records picking up The Progressive Blues Experiment for wider release. The same year, the Winter trio toured and performed at several rock festivals, including Woodstock. With brother Edgar added as a full member of the group, Winter also recorded his second album, Second Winter in Nashville in 1969. The two-record album, which only had three recorded sides (the fourth was blank), introduced a couple more staples of Winter's concerts, including Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" and Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited".
In 1984, Winter began recording for several labels, including Alligator Records and Point Blank Records, where he has focused on blues-oriented material. He continues to perform live, including festivals throughout North America and Europe. Winter has headlined such prestigious events as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Swedish Rock Fest, Warren Haynes X-mas jam, and Europe’s Rockpalast. He also performed with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan on the 40th anniversary of their debut. In 2007 and 2010, Winter performed at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festivals. Two guitar instructional DVDs have been produced by Cherry Lane Music and the Hal Leonard Corporation. The Gibson Guitar Company released the signature Johnny Winter Firebird guitar in a ceremony in Nashville with Slash presenting.
In 2004, Winter received a Grammy nomination for his I’m a Bluesman album. Backing him are guitarist Paul Nelson, bassist Scott Spray, and drummer Vito Liuzzi. Beginning in 2007, a series of live Winter albums titled the Live Bootleg Series and a live DVD have all entered the Top 10 Billboard Blues charts. In 2009, The Woodstock Experience album was released, which includes eight songs that Winter performed at the 1969 festival. Johnny Winter is signed to Megaforce Records, who will release a new studio album titled Roots on September 27, 2011. It will include Winter's interpretation of eleven early blues and rock 'n' roll classics and feature several guest artists.
Winter produced three Grammy Award-winning albums by Muddy Waters, Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978), and Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1979). Several Winter albums were also nominated for Grammy Awards. In 1980, Winter was on the cover of the first issue of Guitar World and in 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
Cheap Tequila
Johnny Winter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lonely smell that fills the room
Roses in your low-rent tomb
A picture made of cheap perfume
Sad old rag, sad young hag
Clothes that hide the early sag
Sequins on a lame bag
The sparkles of a sad old rag.
[Chorus:]
Drink up and be happy
Live just for today
Drown in cheap tequila
And flush yourself away.
Worn out dream, washed up scheme
Blueprint for a death machine
Scarred wrists on a movie queen
A picture of a worn out dream.
[Chorus: x2]
The song 'Cheap Tequila' by Johnny Winter is a sad and poignant reflection on a life spiraling out of control. The lyrics paint a picture of an aging woman, loneliness and desperation emanating from her, filling the room like the smell of cheap perfume. The image of roses in her low-rent tomb suggests that she is trapped in a life she cannot escape from, and the use of the word 'tomb' reinforces this sense of entrapment. The reference to a 'picture made of cheap perfume' suggests that she is trying to hold on to her past glamour and beauty, but now it is only a faint memory. The 'sad old rag' references her clothes and their inability to hide the effects of time, while 'sequins on a lame bag' refers to her attempt to cling to a sense of glamour and glitz.
The chorus of the song seems to suggest that the only escape from this sad reality is to 'Drink up and be happy, live just for today, drown in cheap tequila and flush yourself away'. The sad and desperate nature of this message underscores the underlying despair of the song. As the lyrics continue, we see a continuation of this same theme - a 'worn out dream' is contrasted with a 'washed-up scheme' and 'scarred wrists on a movie queen' - again referencing the notion of a life lived for show and glamour, but now gone terribly wrong.
Overall, 'Cheap Tequila' is a powerful song that lays bare the desperation and loneliness that can come with living a life based on cheap thrills and false glamour. It's a reminder that living only for today, without thought for the future, can often lead to a painful and regretful end.
Line by Line Meaning
Cheap perfume, sweet perfume
The scent of something cheap and sweet that is overused and unworthy
Lonely smell that fills the room
A sad and depressing smell that pervades the room
Roses in your low-rent tomb
A sign of beauty amidst the poverty and sadness of one's surroundings
A picture made of cheap perfume
A visual representation of something cheap and unworthy
Sad old rag, sad young hag
Old and young women who have faced a lot of hardships in their lives
Clothes that hide the early sag
Clothes used to disguise the effects of aging on the body
Sequins on a lame bag
A lame and unworthy bag that has been decorated with cheap sequins to make it seem more valuable
The sparkles of a sad old rag.
Even something unworthy can have some semblance of beauty
Drink up and be happy
An attempt to find happiness through drinking
Live just for today
Not worrying about the future and living in the moment
Drown in cheap tequila
Using alcohol to escape from reality and all its problems
And flush yourself away.
Destroying oneself through excessive drinking
Worn out dream, washed up scheme
A dream or plan that has been exhausted and is no longer viable
Blueprint for a death machine
A plan or idea that will ultimately lead to one's downfall
Scarred wrists on a movie queen
A famous person who has been affected by the same issues and problems as everyone else
A picture of a worn out dream.
A visual representation of something that is no longer viable or worth pursuing
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RICK DERRINGER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind