It was on, then off and there was speculation it was never going to be finished, but the documentary ‘Johnny Winter: Down and Dirty” finally premiered at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The film by Greg Oliver follows Winter around the world, on stage, back stage and beyond.
When Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips spoke to Winter last year, even Johnny wasn’t confident the film would be completed. “I don’t think he has enough money to finish it,” Johnny said. However, Paul Nelson, WInter’s guitarist and tour manager overheard and was quick to put the story straight. “No,” Paul laughed. “He’s on another project, the projects have overlapped. He’s doing a documentary on Lou Albino, the wrestling guy. We are playing The Olympia in France, in April with Alvin Lee and Robben Ford. He’s going to film there.” As promised the gig was filmed, but sadly Alvin Lee passed away just prior to the show. Australia’s Tommy Emmanuel also played on that bill.
The documentary features cameos by a myriad of rock identities and offers rare archival footage of Winter performing. It is unclear at this stage if the film will get a cinema release, however it will be available on Blue-ray/DVD soon.
www.johnnywinterdownanddirty.com
www.johnnywinter.net
Also see Australian Musician’s chat with Johnny from 2013 in our interviews section on this site