Waters. Even though I didn't know much about the blues I did know that Muddy Wa- ters was a legendary name. Between those recordings and all of the magazine articles and interviews surrounding their release I managed to learn quite a bit about blues artists of the past. I started delving into the music of Howlin’ Wolf, Johnny Lee Hooker, BB King, Lightnin’ Hopkins. Then one day I hit upon the “holy grail” of blues, Robert Johnson. I was hooked into the blues, all be- cause of Johnny Winter. At some point during the 1970s Johnny
made the decision to abandon rock 'n roll completely. He was a blues man, and for the rest of his life, he would be all about the blues, with maybe a “Bonie Moronie” or “Highway 61 Revisited” tossed into the set on occasion. I'm glad I got to witness the rock 'n roll side of Johnny Winter in 1975 at Greenville Memorial Auditorium. It would be 16 years later before I would see Johnny in concert again. The 1991 show at Clemson University was an amazing study in the blues. It was a night I'll never forget, for more rea- sons than one. I saw him perform in Atlanta one year later and once again in 1993. All good. Around the year 2000 I was invited to at-
tend Johnny's show at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach. He had been going through health issues and addiction issues at the time, and was just a shadow of his former self. The music suffered. It was so bad, people were just getting up and leaving, cursing and de- manding their money back. I was supposed to visit Johnny on the tour bus after the show, and I recall how excited I was. But after three songs, we left. It made my physically ill to see him in this shape. I had no desire to go on the bus. We had centered an entire weekend beach trip around Johnny’s concert, and now it was ruined. But that’s not the end of my story, and I’m so glad it isn’t.
About four years ago I heard that Johnny
was out touring again and doing well. Other than a bad hip that forced him to perform while seated, he was doing better than he had in years and years. I had the chance to inter- view him for a magazine I was writing for and he was great. That and a couple of incredible new albums made me forget the bad experi- enced at the beach. The Johnny I loved was back. When I got a text message on the morning
of July 16, 2014 telling me Johnny had died while on tour in Switzerland I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I felt like a part of me had died. Lots of great music, lots of great memories. Godspeed Johnny Winter. We’ll see you in the light. •
- Michael Buffalo Smith
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