Second Winter Audiophile Anniversary

I came upon this recently and realized what I've missed all these years. This is an incredible blues rock masterpiece. Memory Pain starts it off with buzz saw guitar riffs. Highway 61 Revisited is a lesson in slide guitar. A great album. The Legacy Edition adds the live concert tunes. It's My Own Fault is probably worth the price of the set alone. So many notes and riffs burn through the whole thing. If you like Johnny Winter and don't have it, get it. If you don't know about Johnny Winter get it and start your collection.

(The following is going to give you an Idea of my age, but here goes). I originally had this on 8 track tape, and I've got to admit, it was a better choice than the funky 3 sided record album. Not my absolute favorite (that honor went to my "Hot Tuna" (the Live acoustic Boarding House album That I had in Q8 Quad). The entire original album fit on a single CD, But it's that second CD that kicks it up a notch. A live album at the Royal Albert Hall. Both albums feature Johnny, and Edgar Winter, Tommy Shannon, and "Uncle" John Turner. So if you're starting a Johnny Winter Collection, here are the Must haves: The Progressive Blues Experiment, The Woodstock Experience (Which Starts with the Complete first CBS Album), Second Winter - The Legacy Edition, Johnny Winter And Live (I know a lot of the songs will be repetitious, but Johnny and Rick Derringer are great together), Roadwork (yeah, I know it's Edgar's album, but Johnny's on it, too), Captured Live, and Nothing But The Blues (if you get on import label BGO, It also has White, Hot, and Blue - a solid 4 star album - but it's Muddy singing with Johnny on "Walking through the Park" on the "Nothing But the Blues" album that makes a good CD great). That's the best of the Columbia / Sony material. If you're hungry for more, there's more good stuff available when he was with Alligator, Point Blank / Virgin, and (now with) Megaforce with his album "ROOTS" which is a great album in it's own right. Enjoy, :)

If you're at all into blues/rock guitar, you should have this album.It's surprising how little attention is paid to Johnny these days, theman was a monster player. You'll be surprised at the variety ofmaterial on Second Winter. The concert material included withthe Legacy Edition is nice but nonessential.

A classic album from my high school years, I still have the 3 sided vinyl album. From the opening "Memory Pain" to the instrumental "Tell the Truth" there isn't a weak track, and it includes two of my all time favorite covers, "Johnny B. Good" and "Highway 61 Revisited". The second disk is great live versions of many of the first disks tracks, easily making it worth the price of an extended edition. Johnny's gone, and this is as good a legacy as you get in blues rock. After 40 years, I'm still not tired of listenting, see what you think.

If you're a Johnny Winter fan , the 'Legacy Edition ' of Second Winter is a must have . The improvement on the sound quality is excellent . But the reason this is a must have is the added material on the second disc . Early In The Morning - an instrumental and Tell The Truth are included on disc one . Disc two is killer . It opens with Sonny Boy Williamson's Help Me , continues with Johnny B. Goode ,Mama Talk To Your Daughter ,It's My Own Fault ,Black Cat Bone ,Mean Town Blues ,Tobacco Road , Frankenstein and Tell The Truth - all taken from the Royal Albert Hall Concert in 1970 . The sticker on the CD cover states that the version of Frankenstein is the first recorded version of the song ...Johnny's guitar takes the place of Edgar's synth ( with a long drum solo in the middle ) -great version ...it's a great cd worth of music . I generally shy away from remasters or rereleases unless the original is unlistenable , but this is an absolute must have for any Johnny Winter fan

I must agree with other reviewers Second Winter was Johnny at the top of his Columbia (pre Blue Sky) era and my personal favorite from this his rock/blues period. This Legacy Edition is a must buy for anyone/everyone considering/loving Johnny - "You Know It's True" The added live CD is PRICELESS. BUY THIS CD, You will not be dissapointed, even if you already own a previous release of Second Winter.The live CD features a young Johnny ALL OVER the fret board.Johnny Winter IS THE ALL TIME BEST ROCK BLUES GUITAR PLAYER/SINGER BAR NONE. Jimi Hendrix is his only rival and if Jimi had survived he could have possibly had the catalog of recordings that Johnny has produced. I have listened to Johnny for going on four decades now. I saw him perform in the seventies and I saw him perform two months ago. What makes Johnny a living legend, besides his gifted talent, is his ability to consistently produce recording after recording that remain fresh, vibrant and of course full of guitar playing that absolutely no one can match. If you want to test my statement purchase any Johnny Winter recording that he had any say in releasing and listen to it. They are ALL excellent. You will never get tired of his guitar and his voice can not be matched by anyone, not even Edgar.I have read comments that Johnny's rock stuff is generic. I beg to differ here. The Second Winter lp is proof of this. Johnny Winter was playing guitar at rocks beginnings. He played/jammed with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, played Woodstock, with Bloomfield, Rick Derringer and a host of others. Lennon and the Stones wrote songs for him. He survived his drug addictions of the 60/70's that claimed the lives of so many greats and lived to play and sing about it. Listen to the LP, Still Alive and Well. Those are not just lyrics in songs that sound good like the music of today, that is Johnny singing about his reality. If you see Johnny only as a blues man you are right, but no one rocks or rocks the blues like Johnny.Second Winter contains the definitive studio version of Johnny B. Goode. Memory Pain is the difinitve power blues number. If you have not heard Johnny's version of Bob Dylan's, "Highway 61 Revisited", well, you have not heard slide guitar yet. The guitar work on "I Hate Everybody" one of my personal Winter favorites is so smooth it still sends shivers down my spine. Johnny may not get credit for starting the power blues movement, but the band of Second Winter certainly defined power blues and set the bar for everyone then and since.Remember Muddy... "The Blues Had A Baby And They Named It Rock And Roll" ... in my book they named him Johnny Winter.Don't get me wrong, Johnny's element is the blues. Heck, just ask Johnny.Johnny is the king of the white bluesmen. If you understand that blues is more than playing certain cord progressions and licks you will realize that Johnny Winter is the only true white (and I mean really white) bluesman. Truly a living legend.If you love the blues and like to rock, buy Johnny's CDs you will love them all. If you want more blues than rock buy, The Progressive Blues Experiment, his first Columbia recording, "Johnny Winter", and everything that is still available that Johnny had a say in releasing after the Blue Sky release, "Captured Live". You will miss some good blues stuff but you will avoid Johnny's anything but generic "ROCK N' ROLL"An obvious fan.

Had to cheat and use a title of one of the songs for the title of my review, but it is rather apt. Whilst most people I know always state this is probably the best Johnny Winter album I always maintain it is 'Let Me In' which is far more polished and to a degree varied. This is raw bluesy rock with a few 'jazzy' bits thrown in for good measure. What I do like about this is the live feel though, and Johnny's gruff vocal style is used to the full. As one would expect his guitar work is superb and he must be the unltimate 'white' bluesman? Finally, this review is for the first CD release without the add-ons and remastering so perhaps that has made a difference to my comment/s, who knows? Either way if you like the blues per-se this is certainly worthy of your hard earned cash.

The single disc first CD issue is probably cheaper, but suffers from the excessively heavy bass that characterised the original 3 sided LP, the format of which seemed to upset so many critics at the time. The reason they put it out that way was that cramming the whole set onto just two sides would have meant narrower grooves which would have compromised the full power of the original recording. But JW didn't feel they had enough material of suitable calibre to occupy four full sides, so the end result was an album halfway between a single and a double..This 2004 edition, remastered at Sony Studios in NYC by Joseph M. Palmaccio, sorts out that excessive bass and, although it's still pretty powerful, it's now in more or less proper balance with everything else. The result is an album with a degree of backbone which belies the vintage of the original recording, engineered by Ed Kollis in Nashville, Tennessee (studio not credited) and produced by JW, who evidently had a very clear idea of just what he wanted from this album.For this album, JW's support band included brother Edgar (keyboards & alto sax), "Uncle" John Turner (drums & percussion) and Tommy Shannon (bass) except on just one track on which Dennis Collins played bass.The 1970 live set recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall may be regarded as a freebie which should please fans of JW's live performances, though the studio album is fine as it is and doesn't really need augmentation. That having said, two (studio-recorded) bonus tracks have been added to this reissue and they're not at all bad either. Great stuff for fans of gutsy southern blues rock.

I bought the original ( and still have ) the three sided double album on vinyl and was blown away by it. I bought this to preserve the vinyl version but also for the live cd which came with it. I wish I had seen him live but at least I can listen to this great album. I must also recommend the album the progressive blues experiment. If you do make sure its the version without the overdubbed false crowd screaming and shouting. The original, I believe was recorded in an oil refinery warehouse with no audience.

Classic Woodstock line-up.Brilliant!

Johnny was a fantastic exponent of the blues guitar. Any album is good.