Record and Music Industry Executives who shared their insights for Johnny Winter's definitive biography include Bill Bentley, Rick Dobbis, Bruce Iglauer, Mike and Richard Vernon, and John Wooler.
When I interviewed Bill Bentley from his office in Los Angeles, he worked in publicity at Warner Brothers Records. Bill has an impressive background in the music industry. He was a music editor at the Austin Sun and L.A. Weekly, and formed a band with Speedy Sparks (bass player for the Sir Douglas Quintet) and Will and Charlie Sexton (Arc Angels, Bob Dylan) in the late 1970s. He spent 20 years at Warner Brothers handling major artists, including Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, the Blasters, Green Day, X, Lou Reed, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., the Barenaked Ladies, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Wilco.
A native Texan, Bill was living in Houston, but traveled to Austin to see Muddy Waters with opening act Johnny Winter at the Vulcan in August 1968. Bill was blown away by Johnny's performance. He shared his memories of the Vulcan Gas Company, that fateful night with Muddy and Johnny, the excitement of Johnny's performance, and the impact it had on Muddy. "You could tell opening for Muddy was a big thing for him and he didn’t hold back at all," Bill said. "From the very first song, he went for it. He was so good it was unbelievable . . . I think he scared Muddy a little bit . . ."
Rick Dobbis is another heavy hitter in the music business that worked with Johnny. During his 35 year career, he has been President of Sony Music International, President of PolyGram Records, and Senior Vice President of Arista Records. He currently runs an independent Global Business Management Company, where his client list includes the Rolling Stones and Yanni. Rick also produces the TV show Americana Roadhouse 411, and is a partner in Dream Jam World, a children’s entertainment company.
In 1974, when Johnny's manager Steve Paul started Blue Sky Records, a specialty label promoted and distributed by Columbia Records, he hired Rick as executive vice president and general manager. Rick explained the inner workings of the Blue Sky label, his role as a liaison between Blue Sky and Columbia, and his experiences both in and out of the studio with Steve Paul and Johnny.
I interviewed Bruce Iglauer in Tunica, Mississippi, not far from Robinsville, where Robert Johnson spent much of his life. Bruce is founder and president of Alligator Records, with a catalog of over 200 titles and the distinction of being the largest independent blues label in the world. Bruce met Johnny in 1978 at a Son Seals show and the two clicked immediately. In 1984, he signed Johnny to his label, which released Guitar Slinger (1984), Serious Business (1985), and Third Degree (1986).
Bruce candidly shared his experiences having Johnny as a house guest, and of a live recording at the Wise Fools Pub in Chicago where Johnny sat in with Son Seals. He explained his relationship with Johnny in the studio during the sessions for the first two Alligator releases and why Johnny requested that he not be involved in the production of Third Degree. Bruce also offered insight into Johnny's personality, as well as the relationship between Johnny and Teddy Slatus and how Slatus's inability to act as an authoritative manager affected Johnny's s record sales and reputation.
The leading producer of British blues bands in the late 1960s, Mike Vernon produced the legendary Bluesbreakers John Mayall with Eric Clapton LP released by the Decca label in Britain in July 1966. He also produced the Bluesbreakers’ only album with Peter Green, and records by Chicken Shack, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, and Ten Years After. Mike and his brother Richard founded Blue Horizon Records, the successful British blues label that released two Fleetwood Mac albums in 1968. During the late 60s and early 70s, the label released dozens of blues records including albums by traditional blues artists such as Elmore James, Johnny Shines, Sunnyland Slim, Earl Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, B.B. King, and Otis Rush. Producer
With Mike in the U.K. and Richard traveling back and forth from Brazil to Spain, we did our interviews through the mail. Mike and Richard shared their memories of the 1968 trip that Johnny and Keith Ferguson made to England to find a blues label willing to record a white blues artist. The Vernon brothers remembered their initial meeting and impressions of Johnny, and explained the deal they made with Johnny and how it would have taken place if a serendipitous story in the December 7, 1968 issue of Rolling Stone hadn't immediately changed Johnny's life.
I interviewed John Wooler from his offices in Los Angeles, where he works as a music consultant and producer at Exolution Entertainment and as a music professor at Cal Poly Pomona. The president of Pointblank Records, a Virgin blues/roots imprint label he launched in 1989, Wooler was working on a deal with John Lee Hooker when he signed Johnny to the label in 1991. With 26 Grammy nominations and five wins, Wooler was well known for his expertise in the record business. He had joined Virgin Records UK as Deputy Head of A&R in 1984; within ten years he became Senior Vice President of Virgin Records US. He signed all the Pointblank artists, including John Lee Hooker, Charlie Watts, Van Morrison, John Hammond, Pops Staples, Larry McCray, Albert Collins, The Kinsey Report, and Walter "Wolfman" Washington.
Johnny signed with Pointblank after Wooler assured him he would have complete creative control and the ability to do straight blues. Johnny's Pointblank recordings include Let Me In (1991), "Hey Where's Your Brother?" (1992) and Johnny Winter Live in NYC '97 (1998). Producer Dick Shurman extolled John Wooler for the free rein he gave him and Johnny over those projects. Wooler shared his experiences with Johnny on a personal level and in the studio, talked about promotion for those recordings, and explained why then manager Teddy Slatus's attempt to start his own imprint label for Johnny never came to fruition.