JW album you cannot live without?

Among the commercially available Johnny Winter CDs, what is the one CD/album (no double CD sets please) that you absolutely could not live without?

I have 40+ Johnny Winter CDs and love them all. Also I would say there are at least 15 that are ESSENTIAL for the hard core Johnny Winter fan, but of all the albums, I would have to say that the one that I most could not live without is:

Johnny Winter (a.k.a., the Black Album) in it's extended version with the bonus tracks. That album is absolutely supreme and has a wide variety of blues styles on it. It also is Johnny in his absolute prime (not to discount the wonderful and also very prime Alligator years). Especially nice is Mean Mistreater with special guests Willie Dixon on acoustic bass and Walter "Shakey" Horton on harmonica.

A close second is Progressive Blues Experiment.

As for what Johnny Winter album I could live without (but prefer not to), it is an easy pick:

Saints and Sinners. This album is rather lukewarm, lacking a lot of the great guitar work typical of Johnny Winter. Of all the tracks on the album, there is only one that really rates for me and that is, "Bad Luck Situation."

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by blues deluxe on November 6, 2009 at 6:48pm: Dude,

You had to be there at the time! Saints and Sinners is a great LP. The best song on the album is Van Morrison's "Feedback on Highway 101"!!!!!!!!! Your'e a late comer who hasn't been around for the whole deal. Don't start the pick and choose shit with Johnny's material. It's all revelant to the era's "Want and Demand" economics.

Blues Deluxe.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Paul Allerding on November 6, 2009 at 11:59pm: Sorry man, you are right. It was a bad idea to pick a least favorite JW album. They are all good. Each of us has our favorites of course. And I forgot a real gem on Saints and Sinners is "Hurtin So Bad."

Anyway, I took out the second part of the thread title so the focus is only on favorite stuff.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alan Wogberg on November 6, 2009 at 7:45pm: I'm not gonna go down that road ,but I will say one of Johnny's most overlooked gems is White Hot & Blue.Some friends named their trio after that one...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Paul Allerding on November 10, 2009 at 11:47am: Yeah, White Hot and Blue is a KILLER album. I really love One Step At A Time.

Hey guys, am I crazy. I already have the Black Album with bonus tracks, and the original 9 track version that came with my Woodstock JW set, and now I see a digipak version with 2 bonus tracks (mono versions as on a 45 rpm single of two of the same songs) and want to buy it just to have the variation and because I really love the digipak packaging. I also managed to get a digipak of Progressive Blues Experiment with two mono bonus tracks that is really nice with a photo of Johnny sitting on the couch at the house where he recorded the two acousitc tracks.

So then I'll have digipak for the first three albums, Progressive thru Second Winter. Those three albums are extra special in that they were Johnny doing the blues before his rock and roll period, yeah theres a hint of the rock and roll in Second Winter, but mostly power blues. Bug again, it's all killer stuff, and hey going back to Saints and Sinners, a killer version of Bony Moronie, as well as the freaky flute work on Dirty (the bonus track) and while I never cared for the song Riot In Cellblock 9, Johnny sure does a killer job on it.

Man I was sleeping with the earbuds playing Johnny Winter. It's really cool when you first wake up and are hearing this wild freaky insanely great music and don't know what song it is right away because you are still a little groggy. It's especially nice for those times when you can't get to sleep right away.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Patrick on December 5, 2009 at 10:27am: My favorite album is "Still Alive And Well", which I bought on vinyl when it came out in 1973----that's the one that got me hooked on Johnny! He autographed it for me last February before a show at the Kowloon in Saugus, MA. "Saints And Sinners" is also a great one. The CD's he did on the Alligator label are excellent, too, and the "Bootleg Series" CD's are outstanding. The live album he did with Edgar called "Together" (1976) is PRIMO!

I have nearly all his albums, and you always feel that you get MORE than your money's worth with Johnny: consistently strong performances and always super guitar work.

I also loved his work with Muddy Waters, whom I saw in Boston at Pall's Mall in July of 1977.

We have tickets to see Johnny in two weeks at the Tupelo Hall in Salisbury, MA.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Paul Allerding on December 11, 2009 at 9:52am: Still Alive and Well is a killer album. I think it's the best studio rock album Johnny put out. I also really like John Dawson Winter III, but find it more bluesy to a large degree. I guess the studio album rock trio would be Still Alive and Well, Saints and Sinners, and John Dawson Winter III. That would be a great box set, throw in Captured Live too.

Just listened to And Live last night--another killer album. Ahhhhhhh! They are all so good I sometimes can't figure out which one to listen to. If it wasn't for shuffle on the mp3 player, I'd be a mess.

Hey anyone for Winter of '88? That IMO is a killer album. Mother Earth on that album has lengthy insanely beautiful, John Coletrain'ish guitar jams. Whole album is great, stands up right there with the three mid-80s Alligator albums. Hard to find Winter of '88. Have to go used, but they are out there.; ▶ Reply to This