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.
Rock And Roll
Johnny Winter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Try to understand
You can never keep me
So you'd better use me while you can
I'm gonna rock and roll you baby
Roll you till the break come down, yeah
Know by then now people
Well I ain't no main man
Always on the road
Now I got a side-tracked woman
Most every place I go
You gotta rock and roll you mama
While I tell her gonna break come dawn
You know by then now people
Gonna be some lovin' goin' on
Gonna head on now, fuckin' roll!
I got time for it honey
Love like cherry wine
Match your feel like your four-wheel
Give eye sight to the blind
Gonna rock and roll you mama
Rock and roll you all night long
You know by then now people
Gonna be some lovin' goin' on
The lyrics to Johnny Winter's song "Rock and Roll" appear to be about a man who is warning his lover that he is not interested in a long-term commitment, but that she can enjoy his romantic company while he is available. He tells her that he is always on the road and has women in every place he goes, but that she can still have fun with him. He promises to rock and roll her until the break of dawn, insinuating they will make passionate love throughout the night. He is trying to tell her that he is not interested in anything serious and he won't be sticking around for long.
The song is heavily blues based with elements of rock and roll. The phrase "rock and roll" itself is associated with a new, exciting form of music that emerged in the 1950s. It also refers to the act of having sex. The song's lyrics have double meanings which reflect the double entendre that was common to many rock songs of the '50s.
Johnny Winter was famous for his blues playing, and "Rock and Roll" is a prime example of the blues-rock style he made famous. In the song, Winter sings of a life of transient pleasures, combined with the relentless pursuit of women, music and the road. The guitar riff and solo in the song are legendary and demonstrate Winter's mastery of the blues.
Line by Line Meaning
Let me tell you baby
The singer is addressing someone and is about to explain something to them
Try to understand
The singer wants the person to listen to what he's saying and comprehend it
You can never keep me
The singer is indicating that he's not someone that can be tied down or committed to
So you'd better use me while you can
Since the singer is not someone easy to hang on to, the person he's addressing should use him while they have him in their life
I'm gonna rock and roll you baby
The singer is telling the person that he's going to have a good time with them, implying that they will be intimate
Roll you till the break come down, yeah
The singer plans to continue having a good time with the person until it's no longer possible to do so
Know by then now people
The singer is talking about the future, indicating that something will happen
There'll be some lovin' goin' on, yeah
The singer is implying that he and the person he's addressing will be intimate with each other
Well I ain't no main man
The singer is admitting that he's not someone who is very important or powerful
Always on the road
The singer travels a lot and is not often in one place for very long
Now I got a side-tracked woman
The singer is seeing someone who is not his primary partner
Most every place I go
The singer meets someone new pretty much everywhere he goes
You gotta rock and roll you mama
The singer is telling the person he's addressing to have a good time with him
While I tell her gonna break come dawn
The singer will continue having a good time with the person until the morning comes
Gonna head on now, fuckin' roll!
The singer is getting excited about the idea of having a good time with someone
I got time for it honey
The singer has enough time in his life to enjoy himself
Love like cherry wine
The singer is comparing the feeling of being in love to drinking sweet wine
Match your feel like your four-wheel
The singer is saying that he can get on the same level as the person he's addressing, implying that they are equally interested in having a good time
Give eye sight to the blind
The singer is using a metaphor to say that being intimate with someone can be an enlightening experience
Gonna rock and roll you mama
The singer is telling the person he's addressing that he's going to have a good time with them
Rock and roll you all night long
The singer plans to continue having a good time with the person until the morning comes
You know by then now people
The singer is talking about the future, indicating that something will happen
Gonna be some lovin' goin' on
The singer is implying that he and the person he's addressing will be intimate with each other
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: J WINTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DilfredoRuiz
Let me tell you baby
Try to understand
You can never keep me
So you'd better use me while you can
I'm gonna rock and roll you baby
Roll you till the break come down, yeah
Know by then now people
There'll be some lovin' goin' on, yeah
Well I ain't no main man
Always on the road
Now I got a side-tracked woman
Most every place I go
You gotta rock and roll you mama
While I tell her gonna break come dawn
You know by then now people
Gonna be some lovin' goin' on
Gonna head on now, fuckin' roll!
I got time for it honey
Love like cherry wine
Match your feel like your four-wheel
Give eye sight to the blind
Gonna rock and roll you mama
Rock and roll you all night long
You know by then now people
Gonna be some lovin' goin' on
@Tessmage_Tessera
I've been cranking this song for nearly 50 years now and I swear, EVERY time he launches into the slide solo at the end, the hair on the back of my neck STILL stands up. You'd think that by now, I'd have gotten used to it... but no. This is the scariest slide guitar ever played.
@ceolsen2884
He be whipping out some nasty licks.
@vivazapata15856
Amen to that bro
@BWild82
Nobody but Johnny could do this like he did. What a gift he was and is to this world. Thank you God, for the gift of Johnny Winter!
@josepgrasrius8614
I bought the single when I'm sixteen (1974). Side A- Rock and Roll, Side B. Can you feel it.Johnny Winter captures with this two songs the essence of Rock and Roll. Bravo. Greetings from Barcelona. Spain
@terryhughes7200
Johnny Winter best damn blues man of all time this song is one of the greatest songs ever recorded slide guitar at it's best !!
@ThisSeptemberMusic
Johnny Winter is a motherfuckin legend
@variousvisfineart
RIP today I visited his grave in Easton, Connecticut
@gogan3429
He is buried in Conneticut?
I thought he was born in Mississippi.
@bbb8997
@@gogan3429 born in beaumont, texas