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.
I Smell Smoke
Johnny Winter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You must be burning me behind my back
I smell smoke
You must be burning me behind my back
I can't see the fire,
But I feel the flame
I found the man spark
In another man's name, oh yeah!
Just before you spoke
I smell smoke
What can a man do?
When a good girl turns to bad
What can a man do?
When he's lost everything he ever had
I can't feel the heat,
But I'm seeing in your eyes
When we're talkin over
All I get these lies, oh yeah!
Baby it's no joke
I smell smoke
There's a heavy price
That I have to pay
Working for you
Every night and day
Deep in the night
When I turn to you
I feel my worst fears
Have come true
I smell smoke
When you think you're alone
And nobody is looking, yeah...
I smell smoke
In the middle of the night
And I know nobody is cooking, yeah...
You can play you down
Hide it with perfume
I smell something burning
And you're walking through, oh yeah!
Baby it's no joke
I smell smoke
Oh yeah!
Baby it's no joke
I smell smoke
I smell smoke (4x over solo)
(Lyrics by Rob, special thanks to Anna for some help)
"I Smell Smoke" is a song by Johnny Winter that delves into the theme of deception and mistrust in a relationship. The opening line, "I smell smoke, you must be burning me behind my back" conveys the singer's suspicion that his partner is cheating on him. He can't see any tangible evidence but he can sense something is off. The use of smoke as a metaphor for infidelity is powerful as it conveys the idea of something being unseen but still present in the air. This line is followed by "I can't see the fire, but I feel the flame," which suggests that even though he doesn't have any concrete proof of what's happening, he can still feel the emotional impact of the situation.
The second verse starts with the line "What can a man do when a good girl turns to bad?" This suggests that the singer believed his partner was "good" or faithful before, but now her behavior has changed in a negative way. He can't feel the heat, but he can see it in her eyes when they talk, which implies that he's picking up subtle clues that something is amiss. The bridge features the lines "There's a heavy price that I have to pay, working for you every night and day," which highlights the emotional toll of being in a relationship where there is no trust.
Overall, "I Smell Smoke" is a song about a man who suspects his partner of cheating and the emotional impact it has on him. Through the use of smoke as a metaphor, Winter paints a picture of something intangible yet real. The lyrics capture the feelings of mistrust, suspicion, and betrayal in a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I smell smoke
I have a feeling that something is not right and there is trouble brewing
You must be burning me behind my back
I suspect that you are talking negatively about me behind my back and trying to harm me
I can't see the fire, But I feel the flame
I cannot directly see what is happening, but I can feel the impact and consequences of your actions
I found the man spark In another man's name, oh yeah!
I suspect that you are cheating on me with another man
Just before you spoke I smell smoke
Just before you said something, I had a feeling that you were going to say something negative about me
What can a man do? When a good girl turns to bad
As a man, it is difficult to deal with when a good person you care about starts behaving poorly
When he's lost everything he ever had
When a man has lost everything that was important to him, it is a desperate situation
I can't feel the heat, But I'm seeing in your eyes
I cannot feel the intensity of the situation, but I can see in your eyes that it is serious
When we're talkin over All I get these lies, oh yeah!
During our conversations, all I hear are your lies and deceptions
Baby it's no joke I smell smoke
I am serious when I say I have a bad feeling and that something is not right
There's a heavy price That I have to pay
There will be negative consequences for my involvement with you
Working for you Every night and day
I am committed to you and my involvement with you
Deep in the night When I turn to you I feel my worst fears Have come true
In moments of vulnerability, I am afraid that my suspicions about you are true
When you think you're alone And nobody's looking, yeah...
I suspect that you do things when you think no one is watching and that you are not trustworthy
And I know nobody is cooking, yeah...
I'm aware that there is no food being cooked, so the smoke I smell could not be coming from that
You can play you down Hide it with perfume
You might try to conceal your actions or intentions with pleasant smells or enjoyable behavior
I smell something burning And you're walking through, oh yeah!
I smell something bad when you enter the room or walk by, which only heightens my suspicions
I smell smoke (4x over solo)
I continue to sense that something is not right, no matter what you say or do
(Lyrics by Rob, special thanks to Anna for some help)
Lyrics credit goes to Rob with acknowledgment to Anna for her assistance
Contributed by Luke E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Linda Wallace
so underrated.someday , someone will recognise this for the classic it is ..
Ishaan Dane
@Rocky Jaden definitely, I've been using flixzone for years myself :D
Jerry Lachlan
@Rocky Jaden Yea, have been using flixzone for years myself :D
Rocky Jaden
Pro trick: you can watch series on flixzone. I've been using them for watching loads of movies lately.
Reggie Sears
The Michael Burks versión is much better. You should check it out.
Cori Richards
Linda Wallace I am trying to buy it on iTunes it won’t pull it up!
alain shem
magnifique retour en 2004 avec un morceau merveilleux et plein d'âme merci master winter
Luiz K.
I bought this album so long ago, here in Brazil. Johnny came here after and I couldn't see him... I don't regret, I think I like to remember him back at his young age. Despite his voice and age, this is still a great album. Tks for sharing this!
Waldo W
Give some credit to the songwriters: Roger Reale, John Tiven, and Sally Tiven. Johnny wrote some songs but he mostly did covers. He was a good musical judge about which ones to play, which is a wonderful skill. But good songwriters are given short shrift these says because people are so "star oriented". A lot of today's stars try to write their own songs with no respect for what it takes to learn that craft. Their result is garbage.
bumpdunlop
Dick Shurman produced 6 of Johnny's last 7 studio albums. Shurman is one heck of a tune sleuth.