Edgar Winter will pay tribute to his late brother Johnny Winter on a guest-filled cover LP, Brother Johnny. Out on April 15th via Quarto Valley Records, the 17-track album hosts contributions from Warren Haynes, Billy Gibbons, Ringo Starr, Joe Bonamassa, and more. The lead single, out now, is a cover of Chuck Berry‘s “Johnny B. Goode” featuring Joe Walsh, David Grissom, and Edgar.
In the immediate aftermath of Johnny’s death on July 16th, 2014, his younger brother Edgar was inundated with requests for an album. The grieving keyboardist at first balked at the idea as he sat on precipice of the Rock ‘N’ Blues Fest tour that he had been due to mount with Johnny. The tour still went on as planned despite Johnny’s death, and it was on that tour that Edgar saw the need for a proper tribute to his brother.
“I had anticipated the tour to be very emotional, perhaps sad, and possibly difficult, but playing those songs turned out to be a great source of strength and comfort to me,” Edgar said in a press release. “Everyone on the tour was so kind and supportive, getting up to jam, and it became a kind of tradition. There was such an overwhelming outpouring of love and respect for Johnny, I began to realise it was not just business people sensing an opportunity here; it was Johnny’s true, loyal, and devoted fans and our fellow musicians, many of whom are on this record, who wanted to see this happen as well.”
Fast forward a few more years and the pieces began to fall into place, namely Edgar meeting Quarto Valley Records founder Bruce Quarto. With the encouragement of Bruce and Edgar’s wife, Monique, he finally decided to start putting Brother Johnny together. The easy part was finding willing participants. In all, the album hosts contributions from Doyle Bramhall II, John McFee, Robben Ford, Taylor Hawkins, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, Keb Mo, Doug Rappoport, Bobby Rush, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Derek Trucks, Waddy Wachtel, Phil X, and Gregg Bissonette.
The lead single is a fitting tribute to one of Johnny’s favorite songs, “Johnny B. Goode”. This rendition of the rock staple finds Walsh giving his full devotion to the lyrics while Grissom handles the guitar work. Don’t fret, Walsh dons a six-string for a different song, “Stranger”, featuring Ringo Starr and Michael McDonald.
“Now there’s a story behind every song on this album, but this next one is really special,” Edgar said. “As just little kids growing up in Beaumont, Texas—Johnny and I started early, but our first big break came with this local talent contest that was the biggest thing in the area. It was called ‘The Johnny Melody Contest’, and first prize was the chance to make your own record. I guess I was 11 or 12, and Johnny about 14 or 15. We had our very first band called Johnny and the Jammers and the best song we knew was ‘Johnny B. Goode.’ So, we entered, we went on, we played it, we won, and went on to make our first record (a song Johnny wrote called “School Day Blues”) and as they say, the rest is history.”
Related: Watch Johnny Winter’s Electric Performance From Massey Hall 1983
Listen to Edgar Winter, Joe Walsh, and Dave Grissom cover Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” for the upcoming Johnny Winter tribute, Brother Johnny.
Edgar Winter, Joe Walsh, Dave Grissom – “Johnny B. Goode” (Chuck Berry)
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