Blues-rock guitarist Johnny Winter was coming off five solid years of hit albums and sold out tours when he did this show in San Diego for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio concert series. Winter was promoting Saints & Sinners, and still carving his own legacy in rock when, at around the same time of this recording, his younger brother and former band member Edgar, hit platinum with the LP They Only Come Out At Night, and his own band, the…entire summary
Johnny Winter - vocals, guitar
Doug Brockie - guitar
Randy Jo Hobbs - bass, vocals
Richard Hughes - drums
Blues-rock guitarist Johnny Winter was coming off five solid years of hit albums and sold out tours when he did this show in San Diego for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio concert series. Winter was promoting Saints & Sinners, and still carving his own legacy in rock when, at around the same time of this recording, his younger brother and former band member Edgar, hit platinum with the LP They Only Come Out At Night, and his own band, the Edgar Winter Group. Although it never got in the way of their personal relationship, the two brothers were suddenly competing with each other, and to boot, using a lot of the same material and band members. Rick Derringer, who was also trying to establish his own career with All American Boy, was serving duty as guitarist and producer for both.
This show features Winter as he was making the transition from hard rock blues to more traditional blues (he would emerge in the late 1970s with a series of albums made with Muddy Waters). He is still obligated to play audience favorites like the Stones’ "Jumpin’ Jack Flash" and Chuck Berry’s "Johnny B. Goode,” but he was clearly more interested in exploring new directions. More interesting are the newer and more bluesy tracks like "Bad Luck Situation,” and the slide guitar arrangement of the classic Stones track, "Silver Train.” These songs contain the best performances of the show.
As with many King Biscuit recordings in the Concert Vault archives, this one features two tracks that were never broadcast on the original King Biscuit radio braodcasts - a frantic re-make of the 1958 Larry Williams classic, "Bony Maronie,” and the smoking blues tune, "Be Careful With A Fool."
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