Johnny Winter Dead At 70

Johnny Winter was found dead in a Swiss hotel room on tour

By Stephen Pate – Johnny Winter never got the fame of a big rock star but he had the admiration of fans and guitar greats as one of the top Texas blues guitar players.

He was found dead in a hotel room outside Zürich Switzerland July 17, 2014 from unknown causes although indications are he suffered a medical incident.

Winter broke onto the rock and blues scene in the late 1960’s with his distinctive raspy vocals and lightning fast slide guitar.

He was a great fan and follower of R&B musicians like Bobby “Blue” Bland, Muddy Waters and B.B. King. He featured Chess Records legends Willie Dixon and Big Walter Horton on his first Columbia album Johnny Winter.

For his second album Second Winter he introduced two covers that became staples of his concert performances: Johnny B. Goode and Highway 61 Revisited.

During the 1970s he got the opportunity to produce 3 Grammy winning albums for his blue hero Muddy Waters Hard Again, I’m Ready, and King Bee, and Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live.

While no one would comment on his health in the latter part of his career, he often appeared frail and got help getting on stage. He had toured Europe at the time of his death and intended to return to North America.

He will be missed. There was no other blues artist like him.

For more about Johnny Winter’s career see Wikipedia and his website.

Featured image courtesy of Dena Flows. Follow me on Twitter at @sdpate or on Facebook at NJN Network, OyeTimes and IMA News Buzz.