Serious Business is an album by guitarist and singer Johnny Winter. It was released in 1985 on vinyl and CD by Alligator Records.
Serious Business was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.
Critical reception
On AllMusic, William Ruhlmann said, "Signing to the Chicago-based independent blues label Alligator Records, [Winter] staged his own comeback with 1984's Guitar Slinger, and its follow-up, Serious Business, is in the same vein. That vein is straight Chicago-style electric blues in the manner of Muddy Waters.... He was already developing from his old mile-a-minute playing style into more of an expressive bluesman in the late '70s. Here, the transition is complete.... Maybe Johnny Winter isn't trying to be a superstar anymore, but his striving to be a consummate bluesman is wholly successful."
Track listing "Master Mechanic" (A.D. Prestage, Joe Shamwell, Walter Godbold) – 3:37 "Sound the Bell" (Clarence Garlow, Eddie Shuler) – 3:23 "Murdering Blues" (Doctor Clayton) – 5:02 "It Ain't Your Business" (James Moore) – 3:50 "Good Time Woman" (Johnny Winter) – 6:03 "Unseen Eye" (Sonny Boy Williamson II) – 4:18 "My Time After Awhile" (Bob Geddins) 6:13 "Serious as a Heart Attack" (Johnny Winter) – 3:31 "Give It Back" (Sonny Thompson) – 3:48 "Route 90" (Clarence Garlow, Leon René) – 4:07
Personnel Musicians Johnny Winter – guitar, vocals Ken Saydak – piano Johnny B. Gayden – bass Casey Jones – drums Jon Paris – harmonica on "Murdering Blues", "Good Time Woman", "Unseen Eye", "Give It Back" Production Johnny Winter, Bruce Iglauer, Dick Shurman – producers Justin Niebank – engineering, mixing Fred Breitberg – engineering for "Murdering Blues", "Unseen Eye" Chris Garland – design Ebet Roberts, Terrence Bert – photography Greg Calbi – mastering Recorded at Streeterville Studios in Chicago, Illinois and at Red Label Studios in Winnetka, Illinois
References