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.
Rain
Johnny Winter Lyrics
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I got a house as quiet as a tomb
I got a hundred thousand million memories
Crowded into every room
There are pieces of a faded picture
Held together by the tears I've cried
And they're all that remains unbroken
All it ever does is rain
All it ever does is rain
All I ever feel is pain
All it ever does is rain
All it ever does is rain...
I got a photograph in living color
You'd almost think it was alive
It sends me off at nine each morning
And greets me every night at five
There's a copy of it in my pocket
And another on the bedroom wall
There's a hundred that I've torn to pieces
But I could never get rid of them all
All it ever does is rain
All it ever does is rain
All I ever feel is pain
All it ever does is rain
All it ever does is rain...
Oh!
Every time I think of freedom
I think about a sunny day
With nothin' all around but sunshine
Every cloud has gone away
But when I think about that freedom
That's when I think about the pain
And memories return like thunder
And leave me standin' in the rain
All it ever does is rain
All it ever does is rain
All I ever feel is pain
All it ever does is rain
All it ever does is rain...
(Instrumental and fade)
The lyrics to Johnny Winter's song "Rain" express the feelings of pain and desperation that come with heartbreak. The opening lines create a sense of emptiness and loneliness, with the singer looking out a window at "nowhere" and living in a "house as quiet as a tomb." The memories of his lost love haunt him in every room, represented by "a hundred thousand million memories/Crowded into every room." The faded picture and photograph he describes are remnants of the past that he cannot let go of, even though they only bring him pain: "There's a hundred that I've torn to pieces/But I could never get rid of them all."
The repeated refrain "All it ever does is rain" reinforces the sense of emotional darkness and despair. The rain could be a metaphor for the singer's tears or for the general gloominess that follows heartbreak. The idea of rain as a negative force is further emphasized by the connection between sunshine and freedom in the final verse. While the singer longs for the happiness and lightness of a sunny day, he knows that it will only remind him of the pain he feels, bringing the rain once again.
Overall, "Rain" is a poignant representation of love lost and the overwhelming feelings of sadness and loneliness that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
I got a window lookin' out at nowhere
I have an empty view from my window
I got a house as quiet as a tomb
My house is deathly silent
I got a hundred thousand million memories
I have an overwhelming number of memories
Crowded into every room
Each room is filled with these memories
There are pieces of a faded picture
There are fragments of a blurry image
Held together by the tears I've cried
Only my tears keep these fragments together
And they're all that remains unbroken
The only thing that hasn't shattered yet
Since the moment that you said good bye
It all started when you left
All it ever does is rain
It never stops raining in my life
All I ever feel is pain
I only ever feel hurt
I got a photograph in living color
I have a vivid colored picture
You'd almost think it was alive
It looks so real
It sends me off at nine each morning
It reminds me every day when I have to leave
And greets me every night at five
And it reminds me again when I arrive home
There's a copy of it in my pocket
I carry a copy with me all the time
And another on the bedroom wall
And a copy hangs over my bed
There's a hundred that I've torn to pieces
I've ripped apart so many other copies
But I could never get rid of them all
But I still couldn't let go of them all
Every time I think of freedom
Whenever I ponder being free
I think about a sunny day
I dream of an all-clear, cloud-free day
With nothin' all around but sunshine
Where nothing but light and warmth
Every cloud has gone away
And all shadows cease to exist
But when I think about that freedom
However, when I visualize that possibility
That's when I think about the pain
I can't help but think of the agony
And memories return like thunder
Then memories come back to me suddenly
And leave me standin' in the rain
And I'm left out in the rain, feeling lost
Contributed by Adeline V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Fishin Fool
Thank you Johnny Winter for all the great blues. One of the greatest guitarists ever.
Andy G
Saw this tour in 1988, Omar and the Howlers opened in London Ont. Johnny was LOUD, not near as good a concert as the 85 or 1986 held at Stages in Kitchener. Johnny "live" usually played at a pace that was 2 times what was recorded and he'd solo like a MOFO.
Ricky Palmer
Fishin Fool indeed he is. RIP JOHNNY MY FD.
Wolfgang Markus Gstrein
What a voice not to speak of the guitar work... fantastic Johnny! Now the rain is coming down. Not from the sky but from my eyes ...
Bill Ridge
Finally the screaming demon.oh joy!
Tim B.
You're right about both guitar and voice. He was an underrated singer. I always preferred his natural smooth voice, as opposed to his growl. He sings beautifully here, as he does on "Stranger," my favorite of all his songs.
Jay Frehley
To me Johnny is in a first place tie with Stevie Ray and Jimi Hendrix for greatest of all time. Everyone else just takes a back seat
mulemusic
Did Johnny EVER play this song live? Would love to hear a live version!!
mathias schenk
NEVER forget you Johnny!! You are like a father for me - and a friend- such a long time I admire all your art of playing and singing! Yes, you are a very great artist!
Snodgrass Gerald
First heard Johnny in ‘69. I’ll listen to him until the day I die