Author Mary Lou Sullivan discusses 'Raisin' Cain,' her forthcoming book on Johnny Winter...

Author Mary Lou Sullivan has spent close to seven years working on a biography of Johnny Winter that will hit bookstores in May. And Raisin' Cain: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter (Backbeat Books), promises to be one biography that's worth the wait.

Sullivan sat with Winter for hours of anything-goes interviews, and Winter obliged with a treasure trove of intriguing insights: memories of his earliest days in Texas; his fabled appearance at Woodstock; his affair with Janis Joplin; his days as an arena headliner; his sad descent into addiction; his renewed commitment to his blues roots; his role in the triumphant resurrection of Muddy Waters' career... and so much more.

What emerges is the story of a true rock n' roll survivor, a legendary guitarist who has spent four decades on a seemingly endless rollercoaster ride -- and lived to tell the tale.

Mary Lou was kind enough to provide readers of LiveBluesWorld.com with a sneak preview of what's in the book, and she has my sincere thanks.

- Sean McDevitt

How did this project first come about? And how long did it take you to complete?

Mary Lou Sullivan: I initially approached Johnny about writing his biography in 1985. I met him in 1984 after I interviewed him for the Hartford Advocate. I enjoyed meeting him backstage at the subsequent concert, and wanted to do a second interview in person. I was also hosting and producing a talk show on WCCC in Hartford, so I was able to interview him in his tour bus a couple of months later for a Johnny Winter special on my show. He was great – showed me the last piece of slide that he had gotten from a plumbing store, and screamed into a pillow to demonstrate how he practiced his scream as a teenager. I was impressed by his honesty, his affinity for storytelling, and his tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, and knew then that I wanted to tell his tale.

Although his then–manager Teddy Slatus turned down my idea to write his biography several times, I never abandoned my quest. Persistence won out, because when I talked to Slatus in late 2001, he finally agreed. Ironically, our handshake agreement (actually he kissed my hand) was on the day before 9/11. Slatus lied to me about Johnny signing a formal contract for about 15 months, but I hung in there and began my research. We formalized our agreement in January 2003, and I began interviewing Johnny. Lots of ups and downs since that time (Teddy stopped the book at one point and forbid Johnny from talking to me), but all in all, the book has been a good seven–plus years in the making.

Can you provide some insight into what your interview sessions with Johnny were like? Where did they take place? How long did they last? And what did you think it was like for Johnny to revisit the stages of his life?

MLS: Johnny was delightful. We got together at his house on Saturday nights and talked for hours. Initially the interviews couldn’t start till 9 p.m. – he's nocturnal by nature – but after I bought him a turntable for Easter, he let me come at 8 p.m. They lasted anywhere from two to four hours. Once we had gotten to know each other on a personal basis, I often stayed to chat after we were done. I did a ton of research, which included interviews with Edgar, [Muddy Waters guitarist] Bob Margolin, [producer] Dick Shurman, and others, before each visit with Johnny. He was thrilled by the questions that jarred his memory about things he hadn’t thought about in years. He loved revisiting the stages of his life, especially his adventures with lighter recreational drugs in the 60s and early 70s and his experiences with Muddy Waters. Johnny was very forthcoming, even about the times that were painful to remember.

What does Johnny remember of being a youngster in Texas? Did his albinism make him feel like an outsider? Did he eventually find acceptance through his music?

MLS: He was treated quite poorly by his peers, although his parents were extremely supportive. Having a brother who was also albino helped. Kids can be cruel, and he got into a lot of fights. He came from a musical family, so it was always a big part of his life and a way to get acceptance. Once his great-grandfather bought him a [Gibson] ES-125 [electric guitar], and he started buying and practicing to records, there was no stopping him. He played “Johnny B. Goode” with the Jammers at a school dance and immediately became Johnny “Cool Daddy” Winter.

Sadly, Johnny was exploited by many of the "industry" people he crossed paths with. What can you tell us about some of these people, beginning with Roy C. Ames? Does Johnny feel like he's been victimized in areas like publishing rights and the fact that his work has been bootlegged countless times?

MLS: During our interviews, Johnny was philosophical about Ken Ritter, his manager from 1960 to 1964, Roy Ames, who managed him from 1966 to 1968, and Bill Josey, who recorded and released Progressive Blues Experiment without giving Johnny a penny. He knew that Ritter and Ames had released numerous bootlegs of the singles they had produced for him, but didn’t realize how many. Johnny was shocked when I read him a list of his recordings on Amazon.com and went over the song lists with him. He said he feels badly about the bootlegs, which he considers stealing from him, and badly about his fans that buy them and end up with an inferior product. He was quite pleased, however, when I read him Roy Ames's obituary from the Houston Press in August 2003. Johnny called Ames a "professional asshole," and was confident that he ended up in hell.

What can you reveal about Johnny's affair with Janis Joplin? How long did it last?

MLS: Johnny met Janis at the Miami Pop Festival in November 1969; she died the following October. As far as the details, that's a question that only Johnny should answer so you'll just have to wait for the book.

How did heroin enter his life? And how did he eventually kick it?

MLS: Somebody gave him a bag of heroin at a press party in L.A. He initially didn’t want to try it so he held onto it several months before snorting it prior to a gig in New Jersey. After he became strung out, it took several stays at rehab centers before he was able to kick it completely.

Of all the things you learned about Johnny, what did you find to be the most revealing? Most surprising?

MLS: Most revealing? That he doesn’t like to wear clothes and goes au naturel whenever he can. (Luckily, he dressed for our interviews. J)

Several things surprised me. I always thought Johnny came from a poor background, but his family was upper middle class, he lived in a large house, and his parents and grandparents had servants. His grandfather and great–grandfather were lawyers. Johnny was always a gentleman and stood up the first time I walked into his house. But what surprised and impressed me the most was his undying confidence from day one that he would be successful. Even when he was 15, playing in Johnny and the Jammers, he never doubted that he would be a successful musician.

Any other things we should know?

MLS: Two key points would be the people I interviewed for the book and the fabulous photography. Besides the hundreds of hours that I spent interviewing Johnny, I also interviewed 30–plus people who had or still have a role in his life, including Johnny’s mother Edwina, his wife Susan, and brother Edgar. The book is packed with insights and memories from musicians such as Tommy Shannon, Uncle John Turner, Billy Branch, Doug Brockie, Bobby Caldwell, Dennis Drugan, Mark Epstein, Styve Homnick, Bob Margolin, James Montgomery, Paul Oscher, Jerry Portnoy, Floyd Radford, Pat Rush, and Bobby T (Torello). For additional information on what we discussed, check out my website at www.johnnywinterbook.com

Thanks to the generosity of so many people, the book has 56 photos in three color photo inserts. There's a photo of Johnny jamming with Jimi Hendrix, with Jimi playing Tommy Shannon's 1962 Fender Jazz bass. Two photos of Johnny performing with Janis at Madison Square Garden in December 1969. A shot of Johnny in the studio with Jimi Hendrix engineer/producer Eddie Kramer during the Johnny Winter sessions, and four photos by Burton Wilson, who shot the cover of Progressive Blues Experiment. Raisin' Cain also includes personal shots from Johnny and Susan's collections, shots with Muddy Waters and James Cotton from the Hard Again tour, and great shots of the Johnny and the Jammers years provided by Dennis Drugan, Johnny's original bass player.