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.
Mean Mistreater
Johnny Winter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And she don't mean me no good
She's a mean mistreater,
And the woman she don't mean me no good
Well you know I don't blame you baby,
I'd be the same way if I could
And the girl mistreats me all the time
She's a mean mistreater,
And the little girl mistreats me all the time
Well you know you just wants to quit me darlin',
Because you got that on your mind
Well you remember that Monday mornin' that I knocked up, up on your door
You had the nerve to tell me that you didn't love, me no more
Can't you remember baby,
When I knocked up on your door
Well you know you had the nerve to tell me that you,
Didn't love me no more
Well you know it's lonesome you know it's lonesome,
When you sleepin', all by yourself
The little girl that you lovin',
She lovin' someone else
And it's lonesome,
Sleepin' by yourself
Well you know the little woman that you involved with now,
She is loving someone else
The lyrics of Johnny Winter's song Mean Mistreater tell the story of a man who is being mistreated by his lover, who is described as a "mean mistreater." He recognizes that she is not good for him, but he can't help but be drawn to her despite the way she treats him. The lyrics suggest that the woman is cheating on him with someone else, as he says that "the little girl that you lovin', she lovin' someone else."
The song is a classic example of the blues genre, with its melancholy and soulful tone. Winter's vocals are full of emotion, conveying the pain and heartache that the lyrics describe. The repetition of the phrase "mean mistreater" reinforces the idea of the woman's cruelty, and the song as a whole is a lament for a love that has gone wrong.
Overall, Mean Mistreater is a powerful and emotionally charged song that captures the essence of the blues. It speaks to the universal experience of heartbreak and the pain of loss, making it a timeless classic that still resonates with listeners today.
Line by Line Meaning
She's a mean mistreater
The woman in question is someone who treats him poorly
And she don't mean me no good
The woman has no good intentions towards him
Well you know I don't blame you baby,
He empathizes with her behavior as he understands that if he were in her place he might do the same
I'd be the same way if I could
He would act the same way if he could do so
And the girl mistreats me all the time
The mistreatment is a consistent and ongoing behavior
Well you know you just wants to quit me darlin',
She wants to end the relationship
Because you got that on your mind
She has been thinking about ending the relationship
You had the nerve to tell me that you didn't love, me no more
She broke up with him by telling him that she no longer had feelings for him
Can't you remember baby,
He is reminding her of the time she broke up with him
When I knocked up on your door
He went to her house to try and reconcile
Well you know you had the nerve to tell me that you,
She had the audacity to tell him
Didn't love me no more
That she didn't love him anymore
And it's lonesome,
It is a lonely feeling
Sleepin' by yourself
To sleep alone
Well you know the little woman that you involved with now,
She is currently involved with someone else
She is loving someone else
The woman he is referring to is in love with someone else
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network
Written by: MC KINLEY MORGANFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Linda O'dell
The greatest blues player ever lived!! So love your music! Rip Johnny!!
Sheila Brennan
Absolutely amazing.. what a maestro.
sloopyblue phil
johnny.....always my favourite bluesman
Napali Kat
Intoxicating. Them's the blues. Taking my cares away!
sebz61
This is awesome!
Tom Forsell
JOHNNY WAS ONE OF THE GREAT BLUESMEN AND HE WAS WHITE. HE COULD SING LIKE A BLACK MAN AND ALWAYS PLAYED THE TUNES SLOW WITH A FEELING LIKE A BLACK BLUESMAN WOULD DO. ON THIS TRACK I'VE HAD IT SINCE IT CAME OUT, ONTHAT GREAT FIRST ALBUM, HE HAS SOME GREAT HELP FROM EDGAR HIS BROTHER, HIS AWESOME RHYTHM SECTION AND THE GREAT UNDER APPRECIATED 'WALTER SHAKEY HORTON' on the harp. WALTER AND HE ON THIS TRACK HAVE EVERYTHING RUNNING INTO THE REDLINE WITH FORCE AND FEELING.This is how the blues is, real.
JEFFREY DAVID
he was the only white man who knew the blues
Guitar Man
You can't say stuff like that now.
Roger Silva
@JEFFREY DAVID Stevie Ray Vaughan also had the Blues
Peter Eriksson
One of my fav song