1979 was a year that saw legendary guitar slinger Johnny Winter at somewhat of a crossroads. After a blazing start in the late 60's as a hotshot blues player, Winter gradually moved into the hard rock arena as he began to get more and more famous throughout the 70's, resulting in a high profile life of excess that really took its toll on the talented musician. By the end of the decade, all Johnny really wanted to do was return to the blues, and you can see that yearning all over this new DVD Live at Rockpalast, which features a 90 minute set recorded for the Germany TV show Rockpalast back in 1979.
Though there are a few bum notes to be heard, especially on the opening instrumental "Hideaway", Winter and his band settle in pretty quickly and turn out a very impressive set of blues standards and rock 'n' roll covers. Johnny's nimble lead work is stellar throughout, whether he's ripping on high-falootin' blues cuts like "Messin' With the Kid" or "Walking By Myself", or tearing it up on more rock based numbers such as "Suzie Q" and the Rolling Stones classic "Jumpin' Jack Flash". His extended take on "Mississippi Blues" is heartfelt and poignant, and you can expect some sizzling slide work during the customary "Medley" towards the end of the set. He even lets bassist Jon Paris take over lead guitar duties on "I'm Ready" and "Rockabilly Boogie" (and Jon's a pretty good player himself) while Johnny switches over to bass. There's plenty of in-between song dialogie between Johnny and the audience, as if he's trying to apologize why the set is featuring so much straight blues material, no doubt mirroring his internal struggles to move back to the music that was nearest and dearest to his heart.
The quality of the video here is pretty average, and really showing its age considering this is footage over 30 years old. Sound is decent, and the performances are very good, making this another must own Johnny Winter live concert video for every fan's collection.
Track Listing
- Hideaway
- Messin' with the Kid
- Walking By Myself
- Mississippi Blues
- Divin' Duck
- Suzie Q
- I'm Ready
- Rockabilly Boogie
- Medley
- Jumpin' Jack Flash
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