The Progressive Blues Experiment

The Progressive Blues Experiment is the unauthorized debut album by American blues rock musician Johnny Winter. He recorded it in August 1968 at the Vulcan Gas Company, an Austin music club, with his original trio of Tommy Shannon on bass guitar and John "Red" Turner on drums. The album features a mix of Winter originals and older blues songs, including the standards "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Help Me", and "Forty-Four".

Local Austin, Texas-based Sonobeat Records issued the album with a plain white cover in late 1968. After Winter signed to Columbia Records, the rights were sold to Imperial Records, who reissued it in March 1969. The Imperial edition, with a new cover, reached number 40 on the Billboard 200 album chart. In 1973, United Artists reissued it with another new cover under the name Austin Texas. In 2005, Capitol issued a 24-bit remastered edition of the album on compact disc.

"Bill Josey, who owned Sonobeat Records, had recorded a live show at the Vulcan Gas Company in Austin so Johnny would have a demo to shop for a major label. However, Josey released that performance as Progressive Blues Experiment on his own label. But before the ink had dried on Johnny’s Columbia contract, Josey sold the LP to United Artists. This album is still one of Johnny’s best-selling and most highly acclaimed releases, but the artist never saw a penny. 'Bill Josey had the tapes and he got the money,' Johnny says. 'Even now when they sell that CD, I don’t get any money.'”

Track listing
Songwriters and track running times are taken from the original Sonobeat LP. Other releases may have different listings.

Personnel

 * Johnny Winter – vocals, electric guitar, National steel guitar, mandolin, harmonica
 * Tommy Shannon – bass guitar
 * John "Red" Turner – drums