The Johnny Winter Story

Introduction

In 1958, a 17-year-old Texan girl Margaret Lewis, appeared on Louisiana Hayride, after winning the 2nd prize in a talent competition. Margaret, who already had her own band The Thunderbolts, soon convinced everybody, that she could deal with every kind of music, from gospel and country to r'n'b and rockabilly - which led her signing with Ram Records of Shreveport, Louisiana, ran by a strict business lady Mira Smith. Along with her sister Rose, Margaret worked on the road with Dale Hawkins, recording with him in Chicago's Chess studios. The Lewis Sisters did also solo recordings for Checker, but no singles (expect one compilation-track) were released. Margaret subsequently went on to cut many cool sides for Ram, including clsssic "Shake A Leg". She also toured with Jerry Lee Lewis and recorded with Johnny Winter, The Del-Rays and some of greatest Nashville studio cats like Grady Martin and Boots Randolph. In 1964, Margaret signed with Capitol, and worked on the Las Vegas club circuit until moving base with Mira Smith to Nashville where they set up a songwriting/publishing partnership, placing many of their collaborations with Shelby Singleton (including "Reconsider Me", for Narvel Felts and Johnny Adams). By the time of Mira's death in 1989, Margaret had moved back to Shreveport where she met up again with Mira's cousin Alton Warwick. The couple married and they have recently worked together in the music business in Shreveport.