Customer Reviews
CAPITOL THEATER MEMORIES 
2008-06-19
Wow, volumes 1 and 2 bring back so many great memories of seeing Johnny at the Capitol in Passiac in the early eighties. Saw him at least 3 times in a 2 year period including one show at the Beacon with Roy Buchanon and Buddy Guy. These recordings were probably from the late seventies, but with the same lineup. Jon Paris was an amazing bass player, and even though Johnny seemed to switch drummers evry couple of yeras they were all talented, and brought their own unique style. Johnny was simple the best guitar player ever, period .
Johnny still kicks it ! 
2008-06-11
When I got this I was not too pleased by the sound quality.
It has too much top end , a little treble-ish for my taste , but the music ROCKS !!!
A gotta have for blues fans everywhere.
Johnny Winter Live Bootleg Vol-1 ROCKS 2008-06-10
This "album" is highly recommended! This is a must-have for any fan of Johnny Winter or blazing guitar playing. The band's music overcomes any shortcomings in the sound quality. (Volume 1 is a better recording, but volume 2 may have more innovative playing.) After all, these are live recordings, from an era before sophisticated remote music equipment. Don't let the warts spoil a fantastic musical experience. Sit back (if you can) and enjoy! The licks aren't as polished (occasionally) as his studio albums, but the improvisation is fantastic. This group puts out an amazing sound for three members.
Great Blues for JW fans 2008-05-12
This is great. I'm not sure that this great guitarist will be with us for too many more years. Lyrics are hard to understand on track 1, but the music is top notch and the guitar playing is top of the line throughout this CD. I like "live" stuff and these tracks are all worthy additions to my collection. I recommend this for Johnny Winter, Bluesman fans.
Johnny Almighty 2008-04-28
This is bias review. If and when Live Bootleg Series, Volume 982 comes out, I will buy it. Although the fidelity of the recordings are not great, I have resorted to turning up the volume...and been quite pleased. For once and for all, these recording clearly put JW on the top shelf of rock guitarist, on par with Jimi, Page, and Clapton. The sad fact is that this global recognition will never come true. Not to worry, JW is joining a long list of fellow bluesmen that have been grossly overlooked by the industry. How could he be a true bluesman if this were not true? Final comment: when the space aliens come to earth we should play this album and if they don't instantly love it, send them packing....they've got no soul.
STILL ALIVE AND WELL (AFTER ALL THESE YEARS) 2008-04-24
I always knew I d make it, Johnny Winter, cigarette dangling from his lips, told me after a gig one night in 2007 as his tour bus rolled on through the darkness of rural Virginia. I never doubted it. I always knew that playing music was what I was meant to do, and I never even thought about doing anything else.
Live Bootleg Series Volume II the second installment in Friday Music s artist-approved releases displays the same unshakable confidence that made Johnny Winter one of the 20th century s most important and influential guitarists. It also illuminates the native Texan s lifelong love affair with the blues, not to mention his absolute mastery of the guitar.
Johnny s own searing Black Cat Bone, a tune he first recorded for 1969 s The Progressive Blues Experiment, kicks things off, and it s followed by a true blues story: a tale of persecution, the Mose Allison-penned Parchman Farm, which Johnny transforms into a heavy, groove-laden rocker.
Up next is Rock Me Baby, a hit for B.B. King. To this day, Johnny fondly recalls the night in 1962 in his native Beaumont when B.B., playing a local blues club called The Raven, hesitantly allowed a young Johnny Winter after first checking to see if he had a union card to sit in with his band. (Johnny did, in fact, take the stage that night, and he earned a standing ovation for his efforts.) This riff-heavy reading of B.B. s classic is vintage Johnny, sporting his deep-throated growl and soaring, overdriven blues-rock guitar lines.
An undeniable highlight of this collection is the jaw-dropping, 15-minute reading of Willie Brown s Mississippi Blues. Alongside a wailing harmonica, Johnny expertly builds the tune from the bottom up, each turnaround giving way to yet another verse that seems to up the ante even more. By the time the tune concludes its sixth minute and the entire band kicks in, the guitar lines have become simply torrid and there s still a lot more ahead. It sets the table beautifully for what comes next, Johnny s incendiary take on Robert Johnson s Crossroads, which rocks firmly in the spirit of Cream. Closing this collection is a simply unforgettable Red House, in which Winter dedicates the tune to Al Hendrix in memory of his late son Jimi.
Johnny Winter s blues have always run deep. The disc you hold in your hands is proof.
.........liner notes by Sean McDevitt
seven stars...and three 
2008-04-15
the music? c'mon it's mr. Winter, who else like him? Unfortunately, the sound is terribly...MONO. Sorry guys, if you're looking for historical recordings this is a terrific one, but if you like your musical history at least with a modest stereo and decent sound, stay away. Seven stars for johnny, the 3 stars are for whoever never mentioned that MONO detail in the cd cover.
America owns the blues 2008-04-13
The first time I heard Johnny Winter was in 1978 with a bong and a friend, and the album was a bootleg recorded on a cassette. We didn't know until the end who it was, but when we did, Johnny Winter became an icon. This album starts off with poor vocals on the first track, but the guitar takes off and never comes down. The vocals catch up, but by then, the band is ripping through the speakers like a freight train. Johnny puts the younger guys to shame. The world can hate us, but our music will rock us.
johnnyguitar live 2008-04-09
so nice to have another volume so soon after the first. its also a compilation of live tracks. i would have prefered one concert like they did on the second winter legacy edition released a few years back but i'll live. my other beef is that there is no recording info? wassup with that. i should be happy with it and i am and you will to if you love what this man does with his guitar.
Unbelievable! 2008-04-04
You know better than me that there are lots of good blues albums you would like to have but that you can live without and others that you just must have. This is (believe me) one of the greatest blues CD I have ever come across, simply unbelievable! If there is somewhere a must have blues album this is the one. The 14 minutes plus of Mississippi Blues are pure bliss, and probably the best blues cut ever recorded in history, not to mention the jaw dropping version of JH classic Red House. However the entire set smokes from start to finish and all the live material included here is top quality blues. This CD is the proven proof that Jonny Winter is not just one of the best blues guitarists ever lived but one of the greatest blues artists of all time. Absolutely an essential addition to your blues collection. Five stars plus!
