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Johnny Winter With Dr. John - Live in Sweden 1987
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Taped in a Swedish television studio before a small audience, Live in Sweden 1987 finds the late Johnny Winter in fine form and working in a trio format with bass and harmonica man John Paris and drummer Tom Compton. A brief bit of pre-show footage shows the band arriving to the studio by bus while Winter does a voice-over where he name-checks some of his influences. The show opens with "Sound the Bell," a cut from the Serious Business record that gives Winter a chance to reel off hot guitar solos on the intro, mid-song and throughout, and the camera catches some close-up action of Johnny doing some serious string-bending. Due to the constraints of a television broadcast, the show is fairly short but it is extremely potent; after a take on "Don't Take Advantage of Me" and the slide guitar fiesta of "Mojo Boogie," Winter brings on Dr. John and the two perform John's boogie-woogie piano masterpiece "You Lie Too Much," a cut that the pair would eventually record for Winter's 1991 album "Let Me In." Winter and Dr. John alternate vocals and solos on a cover of Muddy Water's "Sugar Sweet" and the slow smoky blues of "Love Life & Money" and the show closes with a rowdy take on the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash," a Winter favorite since the days of Johnny Winter And. The show offers a nice memento of mid-career Winter.
