The great rock and roll, and blues player, Johnny Winter turns 70 this year. And while that still blows me away having been a Johnny Winter fan all of these years, I’m always pleased when he gets recognized for the legendary guitar player he is. With a string of successful albums on Columbia Records, and some excellent ones on Blue Sky (an Epic imprint), as well 
as his later blues-oriented sets, it is no surprise that Legacy Recordings, in conjunction with all of his labels, have chosen to celebrate Winter’s birthday with an upcoming, all -inclusive 4CD box that will boast 56 tracks – all remastered – spanning his long running career from 1968-2011.
On February 25, Legacy Recordings will issue True to the Blues – The Johnny Winter Story. This box will be chronologically tracked beginning with Johnny Winter’s Imperial Records recordings, his six Columbia Records, on through his Blue Sky albums, and his Alligator, Virgin, and Megaforce releases. This set looks to be musically well documenting of Winter’s extraordinary run as one of the great musicians etched to vinyl, tracked to tape, and embedded within CDs.
True To The Blues will not only offer the 56 tracks promised and listed, but will also fill a booklet with notes, photos, and a richly detailed biography.
Not only will there be studio cuts, there will also be included a fair amount of live performance tracks. Johnny Winter shone greatest in his live setting. A listen to any of his stuff from Woodstock will reveal that. During Winter’s recording years, he released a fair selection of live albums for the same reason, he showcased best. True To the Blues will contain live material from his CBS releases, Johnny Winter And, Captured Live!, and the later issues of The Woodstock Experience, and Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes. In addition, there will be previously unreleased “Eyesight to The Blind”, and “Prodigal Son”, both from the previously unavailable on CD, The First Great Rock Festivals Of The Seventies – Isle Of Wight/Atlanta Pop.
The complete track-list follows (cut ‘n pasted). Enjoy, my brethren!
True To The Blues: The Johnny Winter Story
(Columbia/Legacy 88883 74085 2)
Disc One – Selections: 1. Bad Luck And Trouble (A) • 2. Mean Town Blues (A) • 3. Mike Bloomfield’s Introduction Of Johnny Winter (live, B) • 4. It’s My Own Fault (live, B) • 5. I’m Yours And I’m Hers (C) • 6. Mean Mistreater (C, with Willie Dixon and Walter “Shakey” Horton) • 7. Dallas (C) • 8. Be Careful With A Fool (C) • 9. Leland Mississippi Blues (live, D) • 10. Memory Pain (E) • 11. Highway 61 Revisited (E) • 12. Miss Ann (E) • 13. Hustled Down In Texas (E) • 14. Black Cat Bone (live, F) • 15. Johnny B. Goode (live, F).
Disc Two – Selections: 1. Eyesight To The Blind (previously unreleased, live at Atlanta Pop Festival, 1970) • 2.Johnny Winter’s Intro (live at Atlanta Pop Festival, 1970) • 3. Prodigal Son (previously unreleased, live at Atlanta Pop Festival, 1970) • 4. Mean Mistreater (live, G) • 5. Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo (H) • 6. Guess I’ll Go Away (H) • 7. On The Limb (H) • 8. It’s My Own Fault (live, I) • 9. Jumpin’ Jack Flash (live, I) • 10. Good Morning Little School Girl (live, J) • 11. Mean Town Blues (live, J).
Disc Three – Selections: 1. Still Alive And Well (K) • 2. Rock Me Baby (K) • 3. Rock & Roll (K) • 4. Rollin’ ’Cross The Country (L) • 5. Hurtin’ So Bad (L) • 6. Bad Luck Situation (L) • 7. Self Destructive Blues (M) • 8. Sweet Papa John (M) • 9. Rock & Roll People (M) • 10. Harlem Shuffle (live, with Edgar Winter, N) • 11. Bony Moronie (live, O) • 12. Roll With Me (live, O) • 13. Tired Of Tryin’ (P) • 14. TV Mama (P) • 15. Walkin’ Thru The Park (with Muddy Waters & James Cotton, P) • 16. I Done Got Over It (live, with Muddy Waters & James Cotton, Q).
Disc Four – Selections: 1. One Step At A Time (R) • 2. Honest I Do (R) • 3. Nickel Blues (R) • 4. Talk Is Cheap (S) • 5. Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing (S) • 6. Bon Ton Roulet (S) • 7. Don’t Take Advantage Of Me (T) • 8. Master Mechanic (U) • 9. Mojo Boogie (V) • 10. Stranger Blues (live, W) • 11. Illustrated Man (with Dr. John, X) • 12. Hard Way (Y) • 13. Highway 61 Revisited (live, Z) • 14. Maybelline (featuring Vince Gill, AA) • 15. Dust My Broom (featuring Derek Trucks, AA).
Album index:
A – from The Progressive Blues Experiment (Liberty LP-12431, recorded 1968, released 1969)
B – from Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (Columbia/Legacy 85278, recorded 1968, released 2003)
C – from Johnny Winter (Columbia 9826, recorded and released 1969)
D – from The Woodstock Experience (Columbia/Legacy 88697 48244 2, rec. 1969, rel. 2009)
E – from Second Winter (Columbia 9947, recorded and released 1969)
F – from Second Winter: Legacy Edition (Columbia/Legacy 85735, recorded 1970 at The Royal Albert Hall, London, released 2004)
G – from The First Great Rock Festivals Of The Seventies – Isle Of Wight/Atlanta Pop (Columbia 30805, recorded July 5, 1970, at Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, GA, released 1971, previously unavailable on CD)
H – from Johnny Winter And (Columbia 30221, recorded and released 1970)
I – from Johnny Winter And/Live (Columbia 30475, recorded 1970 at Pirate’s World, Dania, FL, released 1971)
J – from Live At The Fillmore East 10/3/70 (Collectors Choice 60002, rec. 1970, rel. 2010)
K – from Still Alive And Well (Columbia 32188, recorded and released 1973)
L – from Saints & Sinners (Columbia 32715, recorded 1974, released 1975)
M – from John Dawson Winter III (Blue Sky 33292, recorded and released 1974)
N – from Together (Blue Sky 34033, recorded 1975 at Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, CA, released 1976)
O – from Captured Live! (Blue Sky 33944, recorded 1976 at San Diego Sports Arena and Oakland Coliseum, released 1976)
P – from Nothin’ But The Blues (Blue Sky 34813, recorded and released 1977)
Q – from Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ It Down (Columbia/Legacy 88697 07283 2, recorded 1977 at Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, released 2007)
R – from White, Hot & Blue (Blue Sky 35475, recorded and released 1978)
S – from Raisin’ Cain (Blue Sky 36343, recorded 1979, released 1980)
T – from Guitar Slinger (Alligator 4735, recorded and released 1984, Grammy®-nominated)
U – from Serious Business (Alligator 4742, recorded and released 1985, Grammy®-nominated)
V – from 3rd Degree (Alligator 4748, recorded and released 1986)
W – from Live Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Friday Music 1085, recorded late 1980s, released 2008)
X – from Let Me In (Pointblank 91744-2, recorded and released 1991)
Y – from Hey, Where’s Your Brother? (Pointblank 0777 7 86512 2 2, rec. and rel. 1992)
Z – from Bob Dylan – The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (Columbia 53230, recorded 1992 at Madison Square Garden, released 1993)
AA – from Roots (Megaforce 1603, recorded and released 2011)
I can’t believe, with a title like “true to the Blues”, that they would not feature more from his first LP. I have always felt that his version of “Rollin’ and Tumblin” is the definitive electric rendition.