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.
Further On Up The Road
Johnny Winter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me.
Further on up the road
Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me.
Further on up the road,
Baby, just you wait and see.
You gotta reap just what you sow;
That old saying is true.
That old saying is true.
Just like you mistreat someone,
Someone's gonna mistreat you.
You been laughing, pretty baby,
Someday you're gonna be crying.
You been laughing, pretty baby,
Someday you're gonna be crying.
Further on up the road
You'll find out I wasn't lying.
Further on up the road
Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me.
Further on up the road
Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me.
Further on up the road,
Baby, just you wait and see.
Johnny Winter's song Further On Up The Road is a warning to the woman who has hurt him. He tells her that down the road, someone will do the same to her as well. The song has an air of sadness as Winter tries to come to terms with the betrayal of someone he loved, and warns her she will eventually feel the same pain she has caused him.
Winter opens the song by stating that someone is going to hurt the woman just as she hurt him. He repeats this line twice, emphasizing his point that she will eventually pay for what she has done to him. He then reminds her that she will reap exactly what she has sown, a reference to the idea that you get back what you put out into the world. Winter warns her that someday she will be crying, just like he is now. He further reiterates that she will learn this the hard way, later down the road, where she will find out Winter was not lying.
While the song has a simple structure consisting of a warning, it carries with it an air of resentment and bitterness. The idea that Winter will eventually be vindicated is the only consolation he has, and his pain is palpable. Johnny Winter's Further On Up The Road serves as a warning to anyone who is not treating others with the respect they deserve.
Line by Line Meaning
Further on up the road
As time goes by
Someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me.
Just like you caused me pain, someone will cause you pain too.
Further on up the road, Baby, just you wait and see.
It may not happen now, but it will in due time.
You gotta reap just what you sow; That old saying is true.
You will face the consequences of your actions.
Just like you mistreat someone, Someone's gonna mistreat you.
The way you treat others will come back to you.
You been laughing, pretty baby, Someday you're gonna be crying.
Your current situation may seem pleasant, but it won't last forever.
Further on up the road You'll find out I wasn't lying.
Eventually, you will realize that I spoke the truth.
Further on up the road, Baby, just you wait and see.
Not yet, but eventually.
Contributed by Makayla R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.