Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The loudest show I ever saw was a Johnny Winter concert! Last time I saw him (about 7-8 years ago), he had gotten even thinner (if that's possible) ...his Firebird must have weighed almost as much as Johnny did. His playing was steller though I also thought his tone was kind of shrill. I've heard tell that many sound guys boost the treble too much as their ears are shot in particular where the highs are concerned. Two of my fave records from the era are the Johnny Winter And and The Johnny Winter And Live...classics..sadly again drugs have done their job all too well.

lowendbob wrote:I have tickets to see him again in State College in a few weeks.

Cool. On campus?

Shows I remember seeing during my time at Penn State: Dead, Renaissance and Milestone Jazzstars (Carter, Tyner, Foster ... whew!).

lowendbob wrote:I have tickets to see him again in State College in a few weeks.

Bob, are you in State College? That was my home away from home for 7 years running, every Memorial Day weekend. Huge HS girls volleyball tournament.

mgauction wrote:Looks like he's still playing a Gibson firebird!

There was a time where Johnny played a Lazer headless guitar; looked a lot like a Steinberger but was red. I did a couple of shows as an opener back in the early '90s with him and that's what he was using back then - I was a little disappointed that he wasn't playing his white Firebird V! He was also playing through 2 Musicman HD130 amps....and yes, it was loud!!

Thanks, Mark! I guess JW really likes that boat oar looking thing!

I saw him a few years ago and he played the Lazer for all but the last song. To me he only sounded like himself on the encore song playing slide on the Firebird. A couple of years prior to that when he was in town a couple of people carried him out to his chair. My friend thought that he may have broken a hip or something.

ken_j wrote:I saw him a few years ago and he played the Lazer for all but the last song. To me he only sounded like himself on the encore song playing slide on the Firebird. A couple of years prior to that when he was in town a couple of people carried him out to his chair. My friend thought that he may have broken a hip or something.

He'd had a hip replacement. Johnny is a very strange cat, I must say. When I shared bills with him in the early '90s, the theater personnel were instructed to keep everyone away from the stage for a distance of 30 feet while he entered and exited. Once he was on the stage, then they all could resume their positions around the stage or in their seats.

He also had his tour manager handle everything, this included items that fans wanted signed. The guy would gather up the LPs, shirts, CDs and what have you in small groups and then take them back to the bus where Johnny would scrawl his signature and then hand them back to the TM to redistribute to the rightful owners.

Out of all the folks that I've been on festivals, club dates or have played with over the years, Johnny was definitely the strangest of the lot hands down. The funnest? Delbert McClinton, Mick Fleetwood, Anson Funderburgh, Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys & west coast harp man, RJ Mischo.

Great video Mitch. I will probably hear that song Thursday night.

John, I am from Harrisburg, so I'll have a 2 hour drive north to see the show, and well worth it.

The show is not on campus, it's at the State Theatre. A very small venue only 600 seats.

ken_j wrote:I saw him a few years ago and he played the Lazer for all but the last song. To me he only sounded like himself on the encore song playing slide on the Firebird. A couple of years prior to that when he was in town a couple of people carried him out to his chair. My friend thought that he may have broken a hip or something.

Ken, same experience exactly for me last year (at The Barns).

I'm told the Lazer is a lot lighter than other guitars and easier for JW to hold and play.

Wow, another great show last night. Johnny appeared to be feeling well, as he played 3 songs on the oncore all with the Firebird, the rest of the show was with the Laser.
When I saw him a month ago, he played one song with the firebird like you guys where saying.

He actually stood up, and shook some hands at the end of the show.

I am verry happy to have seen him a few times this year. I don't know how many more times we will have the chance.

God bless him.