Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2016
Images from the Internet
Johnny Winter with Dr. John: Live in Sweden 1987
Produced and directed by Leninart Wetterholm
Gazell Records AB / MVD Visual
59 Minutes, 1987 / 2016
It will soon be two years since Johnny
Winter shed his mortal coil and went to join the other blues rock guitarists
that both preceded him, and others that left after. Boogie blues musician Dr.
John (nee Mac Rebennack) is still with us at age 75, though he only appears on a
bit more than half of this DVD, which is probably why they call this With, although the original program was And. But I jump ahead of myself.
There is a brief pre-show overdub
interview with Winter talking about the effect of Blues in his life and what it
means to play it, over footage of the band preparing to perform for a Swedish television
broadcast. What is especially nice is that you know the sound quality is going
to be good as it could be controlled better in a recording studio at that
point, rather than an auditorium. There definitely is a graininess to the
visual, probably originally recorded on PAL format and transferred to either
direct to digital, or to VHS and then digital. That being said, this DVD looks
better than most of the leaked videos I’ve seen so far, so I’m going to assume
it was taken from the PAL master. Also, being television of then rather than now, the image is square to fit the old-style tubes, rather than widescreen,
as is used nowadays.
When I saw Winter play live at Louie’s
in Saskatoon in 2011, he sounded great if a bit detached, but looked pretty
bad, being mostly blind by then, and pale in both skin and spirit (even beyond his
albinism); yet even here in 1987, he looks skeletal at best, like you could
knock him over with a deep breath. At the 3:45 mark, it even seems like an
audience member appears to be miming that he seems like he’s near demise.
Everything is stripped down on this
show, from Winter’s weight to the first part of the show being his band made up
as just a trio, with Jon Paris (still looking like his Link Ray/Robert Gordon
rockabilly phase) on bass and harmonica, and Tom Compton on drums, with Dr.
John jumping in towards the middle.
The show starts off strong, with the Winter
trio belting out a bluesy version of the zydeco classic “Sound the Bell.” The
band has obviously been playing this number a while because they seem quite at
ease with it, yet never letting its proverbial throat go throughout. Johnny
sways around the stage like he’s caught in a breeze, just shredding his custom black
headless Lazer guitar, which he uses for all the songs albeit one.
Lee Baker Jr.’s “Don’t Take Advantage
of Me” is pure blues rock, starting with a growl and a strong rhythm pulse. Northern
Blues, but definitely with a southern twist, they add some solid rock into the
mix towards the end of the song. Switching to his 1963 Gibson Firebird, he
swings into a slide version of J.B. Lenoir’s [d. 1967] Son House-meets-Nawleans-style
acoustic-gone-electric slow burn boogie Blues of “Mojo Boogie.”
Of course, this song is a perfect way
to set up the introduction of Dr. John’s version of the boogie that made him so
popular among the Creole set. A few rattling tinkles on the keys, with Winter
back on his Lazer, and they break into a Dr. John original, the cheatin’
number, “You Lie Too Much.” The boogie here – er – lies with the piano, though
Winter does get his riffs in. Even with the mixing some of styles, they fit
like two gloves with fingers intertwined. John does take the lead on the vocals
for these numbers, with Winter and Paris doing back-up. For their second song,
they equally share Muddy Waters’ upbeat “Sugar Sweet,” alternating verses and
licks.
Together yet, they break into the
slow burner “Love, Life and Money” (originally recorded by Little Willie John),
again share duties by alternating the song, split down the middle, growl for
growl.
There needs to be some kind of rave
up after a soul pulling number like that, so to rev it up for the finale they
cover “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” I’ve never seen a Johnny Winter set without at
least one Rolling Stones cover, and this is one of his strongest choices. I
always wondered if Keef was a bit jealous of Winter’s agility on the fretboard.
John and Johnny both sing on the chorus and it’s a not always a pretty
blending, but they play it so well, with such gutsy enthusiasm, it’s easily
forgivable. Winter prowls the stage especially aggressively on this number
(when I saw him, he was chair-bound, which I am assuming he found frustrating,
leading to said detachment to the moment), and takes command both vocally and
on the solos. That does not surprise, however, as this is one of his
tried-and-true numbers over the decades. That’s not to say that Dr. John just
sits still, as he adds some really nice fill to the sound.
The real smile-inducer and wow-factor
was when Winter played the chords on Paris’ bass while plucking his own guitar,
and at the same time Paris played the chords on Winter’s guitar and the plucked
the notes on his own bass, as Winter stood behind him with their arms intertwined.
 |
| CD version |
They go out on this number, which is
perfect for a wanting-more moment for the very blond(e) and white audience. What
the small crowd here doesn’t get – but we do – is one more in the extras
section, which is a live clip from 1972 of Winter and his band playing a clip
of Robert Wilkins’s “Prodigal Son.” It sounds great, but looks like it was
filmed in 16mm. Still, it’s pleasing to see Winter looking healthy, as well as
in better voice for its 2:08 length. It seems to be a promo for his 1970 Johnny Winter And album.
This Swedish show is also released as
a CD now, though the extra song is not included. Still worth it.
Band:
Johnny Winter: vox/guitar
Tom Compton: drums
Jon Paris: bass
Jon Paris: bass
Song List:
Sound the Bell
Don’t Take Advantage of Me
Sound the Bell
Don’t Take Advantage of Me
Mojo Boogie
You Lie Too Much
Sugar Sweet
Love, Life and Money
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Bonus:
Prodigal Son
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