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Raisin' Cain: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter (Book) |  | Author: Mary Lou Sullivan
Publisher: Backbeat Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $15.09
as of 9/5/2010 11:36 CDT details
You Save: $9.90 (40%)
New (20) Used (5) from $15.09
Seller: pbshopus
Rating:  11 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 0879309733
Dewey Decimal Number: 787.871643092
EAN: 9780879309732
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780879309732 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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Product Description
Author Mary Lou Sullivan sat with Johnny Winter for hours of exclusive, no-holds-barred interviews, covering the guitar slinger's entire career. From toughing it out in Texas to his appearance at Woodstock, his affair with Janis Joplin, his stadium-filling tours, and washing out on drugs and the temptations of the road before finally fulfilling his dream of becoming a 100-percent pure bluesman, resurrecting the career of Muddy Waters, and winning a Grammy Award for his effort, this is a raucous roller coaster of story. Rolling Stone magazine has called Johnny Winter one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Ripped off and beaten down by unscrupulous managers, strung out, living the extreme highs and extreme lows of an uncompromising musician, Johnny is a true rock 'n' roll survivor. Signing with Columbia in 1969 for the largest advance ever paid a musician (which led to his appearance at Woodstock, recently reissued in the deluxe Woodstock Experience box set) he has jammed with guitar heavies Hendrix, Clapton, and the Allman Brothers. He is a legend and an icon, paving the way for fellow Texas superstars Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZ Top. Along the way he has gone from boom to bust and back again, but has never lost his lust for his own brand of blues. Still on the road, playing hundreds of gigs a year to his devoted, adoring fans, Johnny, like this book, is the real deal.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
Buy This Book! And Learn About Johnny. May 6, 2010
Robert L. Robison (Kingman Arizona)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
As a Johnny Winter fan since I was 18 years old? I have spent 34 years loving his music in my home and going to see him Live since 1977.There has never till now been a way to learn anything about his amazing life. Mary Lous book just picks you up and takes you with Johnny on that wild ride.My favorite part is you get to get on the bus right where your experience with Johnny started! Mine was his awesome L.P Johnny Winter And. Yours will be different but? Its all there.And done with insight and humor as well.The Fans have their book now.Because of Mary Lou Sullivan.Buy this book! thank you. Lee Robison. Kingman Arizona.
For Every Johnny Winter Fan May 9, 2010
Skyman (Brooklyn,NY)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Just finished reading Rasin' Cain. It was enjoyable, interesting & informative. Mary Lou Sullivan has written this book with the love & devotion of a true fan of Johnny Winter, as a musician and a human being. Most of this book is derived from Johnny's own words. Being a fan from day one it was great to relive all of his amazing music through the years. Surprising he survived at a time when we lost so many musical artists of that era. Johnny, thanks for the music. Mary Lou, thanks for the book.
One of the great biographies of any musician May 28, 2010
K. MacDonald (Wexford, PA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
It took 25 years of Mary Lou Sullivan's persistence and passion to shed light on the true story of legendary blues musician Johnny Winter. In the face of a manipulative manager who felt the truth was better left hidden, the impediment of Winter's failing health, and his own fluctuating enthusiasm for her effort, Sullivan faced a task wrought with obstacles, seemingly endless travels, and relentless research.
And boy did it pay off!
But, how does one get the understated Johnny Winter to open up for an interview, much less a biography? Well, not easily at all, since the living legend is infamous for his one-word answers and lack of both focus and patience. Yet, somehow, Sullivan not only got the understated Winter to open up for comprehensive interviews, she was welcomed into his home to share his extensive recollections with explicit candor.
Sullivan's "Raisin' Can: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter" is nothing short of a triumphant depiction of Winter's roller-coaster life from his Texas childhood as a legally blind albino shunned by his schoolmates, a local up-and-coming guitarist searching for his own identity, an accomplished blues musician bucking the industry definition of what "success" is, all the way to finding true contentment as a touring elder statesman of the blues.
Winter provides unabashed honesty about his relationships with heavy-hitting contemporaries like Joplin and Hendrix (and their failures to overcome their excesses), the ups and downs of his own addiction and recovery, his cavalier infidelities, the subversive agendas and eventual betrayals by his own management, and much more. However, in contrast to the dark side of this tumultuous journey, Winter brings great clarity to his family life, his influences and band mates, his celebrated work with the great Muddy Waters and other blues elites, as well as his own appreciation for those who stuck with him, including his beloved wife, Susan.
Understanding that the Johnny Winter story needs no window-dressing, Sullivan leans heavily on exhaustive research, interviews with past and present colleagues, and Winter's own amazingly sharp memory. With such an absorbing story, she rightly doesn't let her personal style or "storytelling" cloud the riveting commentary; she simply navigates the reader through the twists and turns of a life that needs no embellishment. It's naked for all to see, and Johnny wouldn't have it any other way.
Johnny Winter fans, like myself, have waited far too long to get a genuine life chronicle of what many of us consider to be the greatest blues guitarist ever (though Johnny would surely disagree) and true national treasure. Far too often, we've had to rely on rumors, second-hand stories with hidden agendas or sensationalist fabrications geared only to make headlines. With great thanks to Sullivan's perseverance and Winter's blunt forthrightness, we have one of the great biographies of any musician.
Ron MacDonald, Wexford, PA
BEST MUSIC BIO I'VE EVER READ!!! June 15, 2010
Steven Pearl (North Hollywood)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I just finished reading this book in 2 days. I was gonna read about 15 pages a day to make it last, but I literally couldn't put it down! This is easily the best music biography I've ever read ("The Real Frank Zappa Story" was, but now it's #2) and there isn't a word or story in it that's less than riviting. The fun times made me smile and laugh, and the dark parts scared the crap outta me! At times I thought I was reading a well written science fiction novel! Mary Lou Sullivan has done her research thoroughly and there isn't a stone left unturned or a wrong date or reference (as so many music bios contain) in the beautifully written amazing roller coaster ride life of one of, if not THE best guitarists ever and a true bluesman whose story is truly captivating and unique. I am a HUGE Johnny Winter fan and have been a friend of his for 25 years, but believe me, even if I'd never heard of Johnny Winter, this would still be one of the best books I've ever read. I will be reading it again many times and it will continue to blow me away every time! Whether you're an over the top Johnny Winter and Blues fan, a casual listener or have never heard of the ol' boy (shame on you!) this book will take you one one wild ass ride you'll never forget! Buy this book and get another one for someone you love. They'll love you even more!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book May 13, 2010
Scot Clark
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Been a big fan since the early '70's. This book is very well written and extremely informative. A ton of work went into it. I was surprised at the huge amount of story telling from Johnny himself. Very entertaining! I enjoyed the great stories like when
Johnny and Edgar were growing up and all the way through to the present. The whole book is great. Loved all the sections and especially the one about the Muddy Waters days. It's also amazing how many people have been interviewed and contributed to this book.
Obviously a huge undertaking.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
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