From: kalang@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (kenneth.lang)
Subject: Johnny Winter w/ the Edgar Winter Band 12/13/92 Sayreville, NJ
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 22:53:56 GMT
Keywords: Review and questions

Johnny Winter w/ the Edgar Winter Band at Club Bene, Sayreville, NJ


Excellent show ! The theater was sold out and was SRO. The Edgar Winter Band
opened, featuring Carmine Appice [doesn't look much different at all from his
Vanilla Fudge days]. They did "Keep Playin' That Rock n Roll", "We Can Fly",
"Tobacco Road"->"save the Planet"->"Shout"->"Tobacco Road", "Free Ride" and
"Frankenstein" plus two other songs I didn't recognize and another from
"They Only Come Out At Night" that escapes me now. Edgar still plays a mean sax
and has a killer voice. Unfortunately, what could have been a superb flashback
show turned into a cheesy 70's revival. Edgar did call-and-answer with the
lead guitarist, which started out interesting but quickly became ridiculous 
after about 5 minutes. Carmine's token drum solo was way too long, and he 
finished it up with call-and-answer with the synth player, ending it by
acting like he was steering a rocket with the cymbal. He then had to stand
on his drum stool and demand applause. In this 30+ crowd, this was a bit
too juvenile. I give the lead guitarist, bassist and synth players a lot
of credit for not only putting up with this silliness but playing some
real hot music. Edgar's set lasted about 75 minutes.

Johnny on the other hand, proved he still knows how to drive a crowd crazy.
He started playing some fast Texas blues instrumental
[I have no idea of the title] and
if he played this song for 45 minutes it wouldn't have been enough. His band
consisted of the typical blues trio, Winter, a bassist [with an obvious jazz 
background] and an unbelievable drummer. He went right into "Don't Take 
Advantage of Me", growling the vocals in his classic style.
{On a side note: Johnny looks pretty horrible, very gaunt and slightly bent
over. Edgar looks pretty good and still jumps all over the stage).
Other songs included "Stranded in St. Louis", "Johnny Guitar", some fast song
that had the word Boogie repeated a lot, "White Line Blues", and others.

He then said good night, left and a minute later came back, this time with 
Edgar in tow. THey played about four rockers with Edgar playing sax and
trading vocals with Johnny. During the finale, a song I know I've heard
before but can't place, Edgar had a hard time keeping up with his brother's
playing, and seemed to be getting a little frustrated. Still, these guys
are unbelievable, and I would definitely see them again.

Now I have a few questions for you Winter experts out there...

1) Why did it take them so long (10 years at least) to start doing shows 
together again? Do they just not get along ? 

[Edagr's been touring for the last few years with Leon Russell, but hasn't sold 
out any venues around here]

2) How much older is Johnny ? He looks at least 10 years older ?

3) Given that Johnny Winter is a legendary blues guitarist, why don't people
seek him out to play with hime, i.e Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, etc. ?

4) Why hasn't he achieved any monumental popularity ? Edgar hit it big with
"Free Ride" and FRankenstein, and is clearly looking to relive these days,
but Johnny never seems to tour too much and never hit it huge.

Thanks in advance.

 



-- 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
**    Ken Lang                                              AT&T          *
*"The dust blows forward and the dust blows back on the toads of the      *
* short forest and every newt in Idaho."- A sampling of Don Van Vliet & FZ*
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