The must successful cut here, I think (certainly the most notable one), is "Ain't Nothing to Me," whose tempo forces Winter to settle down and work with it, and whose flavor demands that he come up with some interpretation different from that of all the other songs. His singing sounds like Johnny Rivers recycled, and his guitar attack is just that - attack, attack, attack, Alvin-Lee-style with the treble turned down a bit. This album caught Johnny Winter still alive and fast, at least, but still not terribly sensitive to the blues form he's fooling around with. Welcome back man, nice to see a survivor. At the end of the take Johnny asks, "Goddamnit, did that get it, or what?" The album closes with an appropriately leering rendition of the Stones' "Let It Bleed," once again featuring the crystal-glass-chandelier-like lightning slide guitar work and a strutting vocal. Here Johnny makes it a vital and personal statement with as much power and self-assertive cool as Muddy Waters had in "Hoochie-Coochie Man." The song was first heard on White Trash's Roadwork album, and speculation was rife that Derringer had done it with Johnny strongly in mind. "Still Alive and Well" is a shock-of-recognition move. Some find it touched with smack references to me it sounds like a hit single. A good, rocking track, with "Paint It Black"-styled Eastern overtones. With swirling guitars, rippling piano and buried vocals, it has a definite Exile sound, and Johnny sounds more like Jagger in phrasing and pronunciation than himself. One is the new "Silver Train," reportedly written for Johnny. We get a double taste of the Stones with two numbers. Johnny shows off another side of his Texas roots with a good vocal, and Derringer adds nice work on pedal steel. "Ain't Nothing to Me" is a fine, double-tough C&W bar song. Production includes Todd Rundgren on mellotron, but overall feel is nice - it's good to hear a less raspy vocal tone. The two sidestep numbers on the album are "Cheap Tequila," a modish ballad by Derringer. "Can't You Feel It" was written by Dan Hartman, from Brother Edgar's group - predictably it's a straight ahead rocker "Outside your window baby, tryin to get in,/My love for you goes deeper than sin." It matches up nicely with Johnny's other original, "Rock & Roll" ("You can't keep me, gotta use me while you can"), which features some electrifying slide work. Johnny plays National Steel and mandolin on this track, which also features the frantic flute of Jeremy Steig - it's a burnt-out-woman blues in the old tradition, but modernized a bit by choice of pharmaceuticals. The bluesiest cuts are the standard "Rock Me Baby," done here with a sinuous riff and plenty of punch, and the acoustic "Too Much Seconal," a Winter original. King's Alive And Well album, as well as the J. Technical advice on the LP is credited to Bill Szymczyk, who also produced B.B. Producer and former guitar partner Rick Derringer is heard on a few tracks, as are various keyboards here and there - but the basic sound is power trio. Winter wrote two of the ten tracks, most are more rock than heavily blues oriented, and all feature bassman Randy Jo Hobbs and drummer Richard Hughes. His fingers are fleet and sure as ever, his vocals have bite and growl, and the flash and power of yore are hanging right in there. In this long-awaited return album, Johnny Winter takes up where he left off.
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