Raisin' Cain: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter (Kindle Edition) by Mary Lou Sullivan
Authors: Mary Lou Sullivan
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drums and horns. “Eternally” sold well locally on the Frolic Records label, so Atlantic Records picked it up for distribution. “That probably made it sell a little bit better,” says Johnny. “I don’t remember exactly how much it sold—it wasn’t real big though. ‘Eternally’ got airplay all over Texas and was big on the jukebox in a pavilion at Garner State Park.”
The 1964 release on Atlantic Records positioned “Eternally” on the A side and another Johnny original, “You’ll Be the Death of Me,” on the B side. “Eternally” began receiving airplay in Texas and Louisiana, and the band started getting opening act bookings at bigger venues. Billed simply as “Johnny Winter,” they opened for Jerry Lee Lewis at the Beaumont Civic Center and for the Everly Brothers at the Sam Houston Coliseum. The shows featured as many as twenty opening acts, playing one or two songs. Johnny’s band played “Eternally” and earned twenty-five dollars. The pay didn’t matter; the experience and the exposure made the gig worthwhile.
Years later, when Johnny was a rising star and ran into Jerry Lee Lewis at the Scene, a happening nightclub in New York City, he walked up to the legend and asked if he remembered him from that gig in Beaumont. “He was a real asshole,” says Johnny, laughing at the memory. “He said, ‘Boy, What are you doing with hair like that? That hair looks pitiful, boy.’ I said, ‘Jerry Lee, your hair was as long as mine is now.’ He said, ‘No, man. I never had hair like that.’ He liked me when I didn’t have long hair, and he was pissed off at me when I did.”
When Jerry Lee met Johnny in Beaumont, the Beatles hadn’t landed on American shores and Johnny’s slicked-back pompadour was still the rage. On August 3, 1963, the Beatles debuted on the U.S. Billboard charts with “From Me to You.” On January 18, 1964, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” topped the charts; “She Loves You” hit number one the following week. Their three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 changed the face (and the hairstyle) of American music.
Johnny remembers the first time he heard the Beatles on the radio. “I loved ’em as soon as I heard them,” he said. “I saw ’em on Ed Sullivan too. I liked what they were doing and thought it was the kind of stuff I’d like to do. It really turned me on; it was great music with only two guitars. The Beatles were also the first group that wrote their own songs. That made me want to write and play more of my own songs.”
Johnny also watched the Rolling Stones make their U.S. TV debut on The Hollywood Palace in June 1964 singing “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” a song written by Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. “I liked the Rolling Stones and I liked their image,” he says. “When I saw them on TV, I couldn’t see how they made it—they dressed so horrible. And they had girls—I thought that was pretty good. They played good blues. The style of blues they played was not as authentic as the blues I played, but I was glad they were doin’ it.”
Shortly after the Rolling Stones appeared on The Hollywood Palace, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, prohibiting discrimination against black men and women in public facilities, in government, and in employment. House and Senate votes were divided by region, not by party, with the majority of Southern Congressmen and Senators voting against the bill. Enforcement powers were initially weak and many Southern states simply refused to comply with the law.
“Back then, Beaumont was still segregated,” says Johnny. “Schools weren’t integrated yet. They had all-black and all-white water fountains. A lot of restaurants, too. Black people sat in the back of the bus. White people figured they were better than black people. It pissed me off. We had some black people at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. They went to the early service, but they still went to a
The 1964 release on Atlantic Records positioned “Eternally” on the A side and another Johnny original, “You’ll Be the Death of Me,” on the B side. “Eternally” began receiving airplay in Texas and Louisiana, and the band started getting opening act bookings at bigger venues. Billed simply as “Johnny Winter,” they opened for Jerry Lee Lewis at the Beaumont Civic Center and for the Everly Brothers at the Sam Houston Coliseum. The shows featured as many as twenty opening acts, playing one or two songs. Johnny’s band played “Eternally” and earned twenty-five dollars. The pay didn’t matter; the experience and the exposure made the gig worthwhile.
Years later, when Johnny was a rising star and ran into Jerry Lee Lewis at the Scene, a happening nightclub in New York City, he walked up to the legend and asked if he remembered him from that gig in Beaumont. “He was a real asshole,” says Johnny, laughing at the memory. “He said, ‘Boy, What are you doing with hair like that? That hair looks pitiful, boy.’ I said, ‘Jerry Lee, your hair was as long as mine is now.’ He said, ‘No, man. I never had hair like that.’ He liked me when I didn’t have long hair, and he was pissed off at me when I did.”
When Jerry Lee met Johnny in Beaumont, the Beatles hadn’t landed on American shores and Johnny’s slicked-back pompadour was still the rage. On August 3, 1963, the Beatles debuted on the U.S. Billboard charts with “From Me to You.” On January 18, 1964, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” topped the charts; “She Loves You” hit number one the following week. Their three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 changed the face (and the hairstyle) of American music.
Johnny remembers the first time he heard the Beatles on the radio. “I loved ’em as soon as I heard them,” he said. “I saw ’em on Ed Sullivan too. I liked what they were doing and thought it was the kind of stuff I’d like to do. It really turned me on; it was great music with only two guitars. The Beatles were also the first group that wrote their own songs. That made me want to write and play more of my own songs.”
Johnny also watched the Rolling Stones make their U.S. TV debut on The Hollywood Palace in June 1964 singing “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” a song written by Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. “I liked the Rolling Stones and I liked their image,” he says. “When I saw them on TV, I couldn’t see how they made it—they dressed so horrible. And they had girls—I thought that was pretty good. They played good blues. The style of blues they played was not as authentic as the blues I played, but I was glad they were doin’ it.”
Shortly after the Rolling Stones appeared on The Hollywood Palace, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, prohibiting discrimination against black men and women in public facilities, in government, and in employment. House and Senate votes were divided by region, not by party, with the majority of Southern Congressmen and Senators voting against the bill. Enforcement powers were initially weak and many Southern states simply refused to comply with the law.
“Back then, Beaumont was still segregated,” says Johnny. “Schools weren’t integrated yet. They had all-black and all-white water fountains. A lot of restaurants, too. Black people sat in the back of the bus. White people figured they were better than black people. It pissed me off. We had some black people at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. They went to the early service, but they still went to a
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