Blues guitarist Johnny Winter became a major star in the late '60s and early '70s. Since that time he's confirmed his reputation in the blues by working with Muddy Waters and continuing to play in the style, despite musical fashion. Born in Beaumont, TX, Winter formed his first band at 14 with his brother Edgar in Beaumont, and spent his youth in recording studios cutting regional singles and in bars playing the blues. His discovery on a national level came via an article in Rolling Stone in 1968, which led to a management contract with New York club owner Steve Paul and a record deal with Columbia.

In the absence of a proper Johnny Winter box set, one that chronicles the best tracks from The Progressive Blues Experiment through his brilliant tenure with Columbia Records and its subsidiaries, one that digs deep into his work as a recording artist as well as a producer of Muddy Waters' fine last recordings, this will have to do. And as such, it does pretty well. Shout Factory has assembled a two-disc collection here; it contains 35 cuts that cross-license music from 1967 through to 2004 on Imperial, Columbia, Blue Sky (a defunct Columbia imprint), Alligator, Pointblank, and Virgin. Some fans might be deeply satisfied with this set because it concentrates on Winter's more ferocious guitar wizardry and his blues and roots rock pedigrees. The set commences with "Rollin' and Tumblin'" from 1967's The Progressive Blues Experiment and then jumps right into the Columbia years with his cover of B.B. King's "Be Careful with a Fool," "Country Girl," and "I'm Yours and I'm Hers" from his raucous self-titled debut for the label in 1969, recorded with Uncle John Turner and Tommy Shannon, who would later become Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble. Tracks from Second Winter, Johnny Winter And, Live Johnny Winter And, Still Alive and Well, Saints & Sinners, John Dawson Winter III, Captured Live!, Together: Johnny and Edgar Winter, White Hot & Blue, Raisin' Cain, and Nothin' But the Blues are included. The final four tracks are from his later labels, and bottom line don't really measure up to the Columbia material.

Tracklist:

Disc 1
1. Rollin' And Tumblin'
2. Be Careful With A Fool
3. Country Girl
4. I'm Yours And I'm Hers
5. Highway 61 Revisited
6. Hustled Down In Texas
7. Memory Pain
8. Slippin' And Slidin'
9. Black Cat Bone (Live)
10.Look Up
11.Prodigal Son
12.Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo
13.Good Morning Little School Girl (Live)
14.Jumpin' Jack Flash (Live)
15.Mean Town Blues (Live)
16.Johnny B. Goode (Live)
17.All Tore Down

Disc 2
1. Still Alive And Well
2. Silver Train
3. Rock Me Baby
4. Bony Moronie
5. Rolling Cross The Country
6. Stone County
7. Thirty Days
8. Rock & Roll People
9. Self-Destructive Blues
10.It's All Over Now (Live)
11.Rock & Roll Medley (Live)
12.Sweet Love And Evil Women
13.Messin' With The Kid
14.Like A Rolling Stone
15.It's My Life, Baby
16.Johnny Guitar
17.Hideaway (Live)
18.Lone Wolf