Johnny Winter Live in Sweden 1987

Johnny Winter
Live in Sweden 1987   
Gazell/MVD

A live performance by Doctor John on which his trio is joined by Dr. John for several tracks, "Live in Sweden 1987" has been issued on CD and DVD. This performance is around his time recording Alligator with his trio of Jon Paris, bass and harmonica, and Tom Compton on drums. It is a pretty straightforward set, and the video is square format, not wide by any means.

This is typical Johnny Winter with his high energy attack with a rock edge. The set opens with a rocking rendition of his mentor, Clarence Garlow's "Sound the Bell," which is followed by a nice rendition of "Don't Take Advantage of Me," and then a rollicking treatment of J.B. Lenoir's "Mojo Boogie," with Paris adding harp behind Winter's slide guitar. Dr. John adds some New Orleans piano and vocal on "You Lie Too Much," with Winter providing solid backing, followed by a rocking treatment of Muddy Waters' "Sugar Sweet" with Paris adding harp and Dr. John taking some of the vocal. They also share verses on "Love Life & Money," with some fiery Winter guitar. The album closes with a furious tempoed, "Jumpin' Jack Flash." The DVD has a bonus song, "Prodigal Son" from a 1972 performance.

Very little here that will surprise Johnny Winter fans. The DVD comes from pretty straight-forward video of the performers (with a brief bit of Winter and band on the bus before the gig). There is a fair amount of Johnny Winter available on DVD and this may appeal more to his fans or to those not already having much by him on DVD or CD.

I received a review copy from the company issuing the DVD.This review originally appeared in the July-August 2016  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 367).  Here is a performance of "Mojo Boogie."