The Progressive Blues Experiment
The Progressive Blues Experiment is the debut album by American blues rock musician Johnny Winter. He recorded it in August 1968 at the Vulcan Gas Company, an Austin music club, with his original trio of Tommy Shannon on bass guitar and John "Red" Turner on drums.[2] The album features a mix of Winter originals and older blues songs, including the standards "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Help Me", and "Forty-Four".[2]
| The Progressive Blues Experiment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1968 | |||
| Recorded | August 1968 | |||
| Studio | Vulcan Gas Company, Austin, Texas | |||
| Genre | Blues[1] | |||
| Label | Sonobeat | |||
| Producer |
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| Johnny Winter chronology | ||||
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Local Austin, Texas-based Sonobeat Records issued the album with a plain white cover in late 1968. After Winter signed to Columbia Records, the rights were sold to Imperial Records, who reissued it in March 1969.[3] The Imperial edition, with a new cover, reached number 40 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[4] In 2005, Capitol issued a 24-bit remastered edition of the album on compact disc.[2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Rolling Stone | (mixed)[1] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings |  [5] |
Track listing
Songwriters and track running times are taken from the original Sonobeat LP.[6] Other releases may have different listings.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rollin' and Tumblin'" | McKinley Morganfield (a.k.a. Muddy Waters) | 3:09 |
| 2. | "Tribute to Muddy" | Johnny Winter | 6:20 |
| 3. | "I Got Love If You Want It" | James Moore (a.k.a. Slim Harpo) | 3:52 |
| 4. | "Bad Luck and Trouble" | Winter | 3:43 |
| 5. | "Help Me" | Sonny Boy Williamson, Ralph Bass | 3:46 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mean Town Blues" | Winter | 4:26 |
| 2. | "Broke Down Engine" | Blind Willie McTell[lower-alpha 1] | 3:25 |
| 3. | "Black Cat Bone" | Winter | 3:46 |
| 4. | "It's My Own Fault" | B.B. King, Jules Taub (a.k.a. Jules Bihari) | 7:20 |
| 5. | "Forty-Four" | Roosevelt Sykes[lower-alpha 2] | 3:28 |
Personnel
- Johnny Winter – vocals, electric guitar, National steel guitar, mandolin, harmonica
- Tommy Shannon – bass guitar
- John "Red" Turner – drums
Footnotes
- On the 1969 Imperial reissue, the credit for "Broke Down Engine" is shown as "Arranged & Adapted by Johnny Winter".[7]
- On the 1969 Imperial reissue, the credit for "Forty-Four" is shown as "C. Burnett"[7] (also known as Howlin' Wolf).
References
- Burks, John (April 19, 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007.
- Koda, Cub. "Johnny Winter: The Progressive Blues Experiment – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
- . Ruhlmann, William. "Johnny Winter – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
- "Johnny Winter: Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 722. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
- The Progressive Blues Experiment (Album notes). Johnny Winter. Sonobeat Records. 1968. Record labels. R-s1002.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - The Progressive Blues Experiment (Album notes). Johnny Winter. Imperial Records. 1969. Back cover. LP-12431.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
External links
- The Progressive Blues Experiment at Discogs (list of releases)