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.
Close to Me
Johnny Winter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Instrumental)
Well she's a hard workin' mama
The girl's a blast
Workin' two jobs a week
And goin' to actin' class
And she's found the groove
Sure found the way, baby
To make me move
Maybe someday, maybe someday
Someday she'll surely see
She'll finally see
I'm just tryin' to
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
She drove an eighteen wheeler
Like she's made out of steel
But she laid down and cried
When love got too real
So I slow down the message
And I speed up the pace
Said I love you, darlin'
Face to face
Maybe someday, maybe someday
Maybe someday
Someday she'll surely see
She'll surely see
I'm just tryin' to
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
Tryin' to get you close to me, (close to me)
Yeah!
(Instrumental)
Someday you'll finally see
(Instrumental)
(Close to me, close to me)
(Close to me, close to me)
Oh she's a hard workin' mama
You know the girl's a blast
She works two jobs a week
And goin' to actin' class
She's found the magic
And she's got the groove
Sure found the way, darlin'
To make me move
Maybe someday, maybe someday
Someday she'll surely see
Someday she'll finally see
She'll finally see
I'm just tryin' to
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
The song Close to Me by Johnny Winter tells the story of a hard-working woman who is multi-talented with a lot of drive. She is working two jobs a week and also pursuing her love for acting. She is a strong woman who is capable of driving an eighteen-wheeler but even she cannot escape the vulnerability of love. When she falls in love, she finds it difficult to deal with the emotions that come with it. The singer of the song, who is in love with this woman, slows down the message and speeds up the pace to be able to express his love to her.
The lyrics indicate the struggle of the singer in trying to get close to the hard-working woman. He recognizes her success and is deeply attracted to her. At the same time, he recognizes her vulnerability and wants to provide the support and love she needs. The song indicates the perseverance and determination that love can inspire in someone. While the woman is trying to find a balance between her professional and personal life, the singer is trying to break down the barriers to get close to her.
Line by Line Meaning
Well she's a hard workin' mama
She's a woman who works hard to make ends meet
The girl's a blast
She's energetic and fun-loving
Workin' two jobs a week
She's working hard to make a living
And goin' to actin' class
She's pursuing her dream and taking acting classes
She's got the magic
She has a certain charm or charisma
And she's found the groove
She's found her niche or rhythm in life
Sure found the way, baby
She's figured out how to live her life successfully
To make me move
To inspire and motivate Johnny Winter
Maybe someday, maybe someday
Possibly in the future
Someday she'll surely see
She will understand and realize
She'll finally see
She'll fully understand and see the truth
I'm just tryin' to
Johnny Winter is just attempting to
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
He wants to be emotionally close to her
She drove an eighteen wheeler
She had a job driving a big truck
Like she's made out of steel
She was tough and unyielding
But she laid down and cried
She was vulnerable and emotional
When love got too real
When she was faced with the reality of love
So I slow down the message
Johnny Winter slowed down his approach
And I speed up the pace
He picked up the intensity and urgency
Said I love you, darlin'
He expressed his love for her
Face to face
In person
Oh she's a hard workin' mama
Reiteration that she works hard
You know the girl's a blast
Reiteration of her vivacious personality
She's found the magic
Reiteration of her charm or charisma
And she's got the groove
Reiteration of her rhythm in life
Sure found the way, darlin'
Reiteration that she's figured out how to live her life successfully
Someday she'll surely see
Reiteration that she will understand and realize
Someday she'll finally see
Reiteration that she'll fully understand and see the truth
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
Reiteration of Johnny Winter's desire to be emotionally close to her
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
Reiteration of Johnny Winter's desire to be emotionally close to her
Tryin' to get you close to me (close to me, close to me)
Reiteration of Johnny Winter's desire to be emotionally close to her
Contributed by Evan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Giants588
Johnny Winter was the man. What great musician.I miss him very much. In my life I must have seen him live anywhere from 40 to 50 times, and I enjoyed every single show. He was such a tremendous guitarist, and as far as I'm concerned, a superstar. Of course when he got older and his health started to fail him, he slowed down a great deal, but that's what happens to albinos. However, when he was younger and healthier, he was nothing less than amazing. RIP!!!!!!!
Don Drysdale
thanks---i got to see him live in the 80s just about three times, and didn't think i would see him again considering the shape he was in then already, however, i did end up getting to meet him sort of about six years ago, which wound up having to have us line up to go into his bus a few a time a time, and he apparently had a vision loss of about 90%. the bassist Tommy Shannon had said that when he first met him in the the early 70s, the guy changed his life just with his extraordinary knowledge of the blues, and he had all these blues albums on his wall and knew everything about them all. amazing man.
CLASSIC ROCK ARCHIVES 70
@Patrick Rinearson the cigarettes got him more then Dope. He sadly got enforzima which caused him much head aches with his health. Look at Edgar who did not party like JW. But that who Johnny was and he was a true rock n blues icon. He was a guitar master. Carl R
Patrick Rinearson
The health issues weren’t so much with being albino, as with having a many years long heroin addiction. Fortunately, not only for Johnny, but for the music world as a whole, he kicked it and and shortly after that, he started recording critically acclaimed albums again. The grit of his early stuff is great, but the refinement that age brought is fantastic
Steve cocran
I love your comments but he actually won a Grammy in 2014 for best blues album and died 6 months before the Grammy Awards that's not exactly slowing down
It's me It's me Earnest T.
Heart felt Giants588... Nice to read comments like yours, about Johnny!
Carlos Dunn
Nobody Plays the Blues like Johnny! WOW this is soo good!
BRION FAULK
One of my Greatest Friends ever to light up the stages, with the unreal sounds, that only JOHNNY WINTERS COULD DO GOD BLESS YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU BRION GUITAR MAN OF HIS OWN KIND " ♡ ♡ ♡ < 3 < 3 < 3 < ♡
It's me It's me Earnest T.
A True Johnny Fan Brion... Right behind Ya...
anthony worth
FANTASTIC 88,,YEAH MAN.