Best of Johnny Winter [Columbia/Legacy]

1	Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo 3:30
2	I'm Yours and I'm Hers 4:29
3	Johnny B. Goode 2:44
4	I'll Drown in My Tears 4:44
5	Come on in My Kitchen 5:03
6	Rollin' and Tumblin' 3:26
7	Highway 61 Revisited 5:07
8	Hustled Down in Texas 3:30
9	Mother-In-Law Blues 2:54
10	Dallas 2:43
11	Miss Ann 3:39
12	It's My Own Fault Live 11:53
13	Mean Town Blues Live 8:17
14	Still Alive and Well 3:42
15	Be Careful With a Fool 5:14
16	Memory Pain 5:29

Barnes & Noble

With nearly three dozen recordings currently available, Johnny Winter has staying power in the blues-rock arena. Culling one CD of Winter’s best from this 40-plus-year career would be an impossible task, so producer Lawrence Cohn limited his search mainly to the guitarist and singer’s late-‘60s and early-‘70s catalogue in compiling The Best of Johnny Winter. It was during this era that Winter rock ‘n’ rolled right out of Texas and into the national limelight. His signature tune from those days, “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” (written by Winter’s longtime bandmate and sometimes producer Rick Derringer) opens the CD, reminding the listener that arena shows used to really rock. In this same vein are “Johnny B. Goode,” “Still Alive and Well,” and “Hustled Down in Texas,” which features brother Edgar on keyboards and saxophone. But Winter always balanced his rockers with a bit of gutbucket, as illustrated in the live version of B. B. King’s “It’s My Own Fault.” While the sound quality isn’t the greatest, Winter’s fast finger-picking is pristine. There are also less frenetic tunes with leaner bands. “Come on in My Kitchen” finds Winter cooking, with only Jeremy Steig’s flute as accompaniment. For a solo version of his own “Dallas,” a stinging tune about the blues life in Texas, Winter plays some slide guitar that is dirtier than any cattle ranch in the state. Heralding the soulful sounds he would use later in his career is “I’ll Drown in My Tears.” Put this collection next to the also recently released compilation of his Alligator Records material, Deluxe Edition, and you get the closest thing to an overview of Winter’s career to date. Roberta Penn

All Music Guide

Columbia/Legacy's 2002 release The Best of Johnny Winter concentrates solely on the guitarist's early recordings for Columbia, which are often (and deservedly) considered his best work. Nearly all of the 16 selections here were recorded between 1969 and 1971 -- there's a stray cut from 1973, plus two cuts from 1979, dating from his time on Blue Sky -- and all of them showcase Winter at his best, not just as a fiery blues-rock guitarist, but as a band leader. While there are a few items that may be relatively rare here, there is no unreleased material, just selections from Winter at his prime, and this collection does a very good job of summarizing that peak succinctly and enjoyably. Stephen Thomas Erlewine