Almost Famous was on Turner Classic tonight. [It came out in 2000? It doesn’t feel like that long… but then again it does.] Yeah, I know It’s not a Great Great Movie but the subject is near and dear to my heart. Words and music. And it’s been a while since I’ve seen it, so I put up the recliner and settled in for an evening with some “old friends.”

  Every time I see it, especially when Sapphire [Fairuza Balk] swishes her magic hips backstage [oooooh yes!] then talks with Russell and pops that line about truly loving “some little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts” -it still gets me right here [points to heart].

   Words and music. I always felt connected to music – radio especially. Of course, I dreamed to be a DJ. I guess I sort of was / am with mix tapes and eventually my car CD collections. Then I wanted to be a writer for Rolling Stone or a local music writer. One problem was that I was terribly afraid to talk to people I don’t know. I didn’t have the confidence to assert myself, present myself with authority. Could that have come with practice? Maybe. It’s an overly long, twisting story that breaks into some very heavy introspection that I’m not going into here.

   I always appreciate the soundtrack choices. There are a lot of songs from my childhood that are ingrained in me and when I hear them, they just raise my spirits and / or take me back to days before “obligations,” “responsibility” and adultery…er, adulthood. The featured Timy Dancer from my beloved Madman Across the Water 8 track/ LP / CD is one. Traffic’s Glad [John Barleycorn Must Die] is another one. Stillwater’s Love Comes And Goes [the set opener that starts with the electric piano in Cleveland] is so obviously based on Bad Company. I did spot a song that was not out in 1973 in the Topeka party scene: Deep Purple’s Burn. Great song, just a few months early as the album would not come out until February 1974.

   Anyway, I enjoyed it a great deal. It’s like going to Burleson and getting a Gina’s Pizza [or if you’re not familiar with Burleson, some other favorite restaurant you haven’t had in a long time]. Or finding that favorite t-shirt that somehow ended up under the bed or behind the dyer.

 

Random Record Revisited:

Johnny Winter And [1970]

   I’ve been on a little Johnny Winter jag, learning to play Mean Town Blues from his debut The Progressive Blues Experiment but I thought I’d reach for this one today.

   After two and half records [Second Winter is a three sided LP] of his own style of gut bucket blues and roots rock, Johnny Winter teamed up with the remains of the McCoys [yes, the Hang On Sloopy McCoys] becoming Johnny Winter And. Guitarist Rick Derringer would be a good foil for Winter for the two albums Johnny Winter And would put out and he would return to play on parts of Winter’s next three albums as well as playing in Johnny’s Brother Edgar’s bands White Trash and the Edgar Winter Group. Bassist Randy Jo Hobbs would remain with Johnny Winter through the first half of the decade. This appears to have been drummer Randy Zehringer’s last work as he does not appear on 1971’s Live Johnny Winter And.

   The album kicks of with the burning Winter original Guess I’ll Go Away. This song is the blueprint of the Johnny Winter sound for the first parts of the decade. Mark Klingman’s Ain’t That A Kindness follows, a rollicking piece of New Orleans inspired light funk that feels like Dr. John or a lot like Leon Russell. A cover of Traffic’s No Time To Live [from the 1968 self titled album] follows. Guitars are featured here [of course] replace the piano, organ and sax of the original. Since credits are not listed, one is unsure who is really singing but it sounds like Winter, although Derringer’s voice is very similar only without the gargling with a shot glass of finishing nails that Johnny has at full volume. In any case, the singer is singing not howling and growling like Winter normally does. As a piece of light psychedelia, this might be a left over arrangement from the McCoys ignored Infinite McCoys or Human Ball records as one does not associate Johnny Winter with the psychedelic 60s other than being an artist who appeared at Woodstock. The next track is the original appearance of what would be Rick Derringer’s only hit, the immortal Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo. The arrangement here is a noticeably slower than Derringer’s hit arrangement. Winter’s solo is very by the seat of his pants and more blues based than Derringer’s as well. Randy Zehringer’s Am I Here is next, another semi psychedelic slow burner – reminds me of some of the quieter moments of the James Gang or Joe Walsh. Look Up is just a fun little rocker that predates Lynyrd Skynrd’s southern rock, complete with Honkettes [female backup singers].  

   Another Winter burner, Prodigal Son opens the second side. This is definitely not the song the Rolling Stones stole [although they finally credited Roberrt Wilkins] for Beggar’s Banquet. [Winter’s own fixation with the Stones would start with a cover of Jumpin’ Jack Flash on Live Johnny Winter And and he would cover three of their songs on his next two albums.] The arrangement on Derringer’s Out On A Limb feels like a Stones outtake. Let the Music Play shares the descending riff from Chicago’s 25 Or 6 To 4. Winter’s Nothing Left follows, nothing special, a typical Winter album track. The album closes with an only slightly funky Derringer track, Funky Music. When the song goes into the breakout at about 3:00, it does get a little funkier and Winter lays down a nice solo before he and Derringer trade off a couple more before the fade out.

  Johnny Winter And is not a great record – think of 1970: Santana’s Abraxas, Led Zeppelin III, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Cosmo’s Factory [CCR]… but it’s a good 1970 record. I reach more for the highlights of Guess I’ll Go Away and Prodigal Son more than the full album but this warrants an occasional full listen.