Edgar Winter | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Edgar Holland Winter |
Born | Beaumont, Texas, U.S. | December 28, 1946
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Occupations |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1969–present |
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Member of | Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band |
Formerly of |
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Website | edgarwinter |
Edgar Holland Winter [3] (born December 28, 1946) [4] is an American multi-instrumentalist, [5] working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. [6] His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their popular songs "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride". [7] He is the brother of late blues singer and guitarist Johnny Winter.
Winter was born to John Winter II and Edwina Winter on December 28, 1946, in Beaumont, Texas. [8] Both he and his older brother Johnny were born with albinism. [9] By the time he left the family home, Winter had mastered numerous instruments and reading and writing music. [10]
Winter composed and performed songs of numerous genres, including rock, jazz, blues, and pop. [10] His critically acclaimed [10] 1970 debut release, Entrance , [8] was first to demonstrate his unique style of genre-blending musicianship. His early recording of "Tobacco Road" gained attention. Edgar followed Entrance with two hit albums backed by his group White Trash, a group originally composed of musicians from Texas and Louisiana. White Trash, with Winter and Jerry Lacroix both on lead vocals and sax, [11] released the studio album Edgar Winter's White Trash , [12] in 1971. It reached #111 on the charts, [13] and 1972's follow-up album (partially recorded at New York's Apollo Theater) Roadwork achieved gold status. [8]
In late 1972, Winter brought together Dan Hartman, Ronnie Montrose and Chuck Ruff to form The Edgar Winter Group, [8] who created such hits as the number one "Frankenstein" [14] and "Free Ride" (with lead vocals by its writer Hartman). [15] Released in November 1972, They Only Come Out at Night , [8] peaked at the number 3 position on the Billboard Hot 200 [13] and stayed on the charts for 80 weeks. It was certified gold in April 1973 by the RIAA, [16] and double platinum in November 1986. [17]
Winter invented the keyboard body strap [3] early in his career, an innovation that allows him the freedom to move around on stage during his multi-instrument high-energy performances. [10]
After They Only Come Out at Night, Winter released Shock Treatment , featuring guitarist Rick Derringer in place of Ronnie Montrose. [18] That album contained Winter's third and final Top 40 single "River's Risin'", [13] again sung by Hartman. [19] Later albums included Jasmine Nightdreams , The Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer, Together: Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter Live , Recycled, a reunion with White Trash, Standing on Rock, Mission Earth , Live in Japan, Not a Kid Anymore, The Real Deal , Winter Blues and Rebel Road. [20]
Winter also kept busy doing session work, playing saxophone on Meat Loaf's "All Revved Up with No Place to Go", [21] Dan Hartman's solo hit "Instant Replay", [22] Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" [23] and David Lee Roth's remake of "Just a Gigolo", [24] as well as appearing on material by Rick Derringer, [25] Johnny Winter, [26] Ronnie Montrose, [27] Todd Rundgren, [28] Michael McDonald [29] and many others.
Major national television and radio campaigns have used Winter's music to advertise their products. [30] Winter has also made frequent television appearances, both to promote his music and to give his opinions, on shows such as Politically Incorrect . [31] Winter also starred with George Hamilton in a commercial for Miller Lite beer. [32] He appeared in the film Netherworld [33] and the TV shows The Cape, [10] Mysterious Ways, [34] Late Show with David Letterman , [35] and Jimmy Kimmel Live! . [36]
Winter's music has been used in many film and television projects, including Netherworld , Air America , Dazed and Confused , My Cousin Vinny , Encino Man , Son in Law, What's Love Got to Do with It , Wayne's World 2 , Starkid, Wag the Dog , Knockabout Guys, Duets, Radio, The Simpsons , Queer as Folk , and Tupac: Resurrection . [33] Tupac: Resurrection , a biography of rapper Tupac Shakur, produced and co-written by Eminem, [37] sampled Winter's song "Dying to Live" as "Runnin' (Dying to Live)," [38] incorporting vocals by the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, and Winter himself. "Runnin'" peaked at number 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles Sales chart and the soundtrack was #1 for 8 consecutive weeks. [39] Blues performer Jonny Lang also covered "Dying to Live" [40] around this time. Winter performed the song solo at the piano on Jimmy Kimmel Live![ citation needed ]
Winter's 2003 CD and DVD titled Live at the Galaxy was recorded live at the Galaxy Theatre for Classic Pictures. [41] It features the songs, "Keep Playing That Rock and Roll", "Turn on Your Love Light", "Free Ride", "Texas", "Show Your Love", "New Orleans", "Frankenstein" and "Tobacco Road". [42] In addition, the DVD includes a 30-minute documentary, Edgar Winter: The Man and His Music. [18]
Winter also played with Ringo Starr in the ninth (2006), tenth (2008), eleventh (2010-2011) and fifteenth (2022-) iterations of his All-Starr Band. [43] The band's 2010–11 tour featured the reunion of Winter and Rick Derringer. [44] From August to early-September 2017, The Edgar Winter Band toured as the opening act for both Deep Purple and Alice Cooper as they performed several North American tour dates as part of The Long Goodbye Tour. [45]
In 2017, Cherry Red released a four-CD remastered compilation of all of the Edgar Winter solo albums from 1970 until 1980, entitled Tell Me in a Whisper: The Solo Albums 1970 - 1980. [46] In 2018, Cherry Red also released a remastered six-CD compilation of the Edgar Winter: White Trash Band and the Edgar Winter Band albums entitled I've Got News for You: Featuring the Edgar Winter Group & Edgar Winter's White Trash 1971 - 1977. [47]
Winter also produced, arranged, and performed on the 1986 album Mission Earth . [48] This album's lyrics and music were written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. [49] Hubbard is said to have left detailed instructions and audio tapes for the musicians and producers to follow when making the album. [50] Winter described Mission Earth as "both a return to rock's primal roots and yet highly experimental." Winter wrote, "Ron's technical insight of the recording process was outstanding." [51] Winter also described Hubbard's delineation of counter-rhythm in rock as something "which was nothing short of phenomenal, particularly in as much as it had then been entirely unexplored and only later heard in the African-based rhythms of Paul Simon's work, some five years after Ron's analysis." [34]
Winter and his wife, Monique, [52] live in Beverly Hills, California. [10] The couple have no children. [4] Winter stated in an interview: "I can see how that would be a wonderful rewarding thing, but I think there are enough people in the world" and that "it might have been more problematical if I had children with a career and all of it. I tour all the time. If I were to have children, I would want to be home all the time." [53]
Year | Name | US Top 200 [54] | |||||
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1970 | Entrance | 196 | |||||
1975 | Jasmine Nightdreams | 69 | |||||
1979 | The Edgar Winter Album | – | |||||
1981 | Standing on Rock | – | |||||
1985 or 1986 or 1989 (disputed) | Mission Earth | – | |||||
1994 | Not a Kid Anymore | – | |||||
1996 | The Real Deal | – | |||||
1999 | Winter Blues | – | |||||
2003 | Live at the Galaxy | – | |||||
2004 | Jazzin' the Blues | – | |||||
2008 | Rebel Road | – | |||||
2022 | Brother Johnny | – | |||||
"–" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Year | Name | Peak chart positions | Notes | ||||
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US Top 200 [54] | Can Top 100 | ||||||
1971 | Edgar Winter's White Trash | 111 | 82 | ||||
1972 | Roadwork | 23 | – |
| |||
1977 | Recycled | – | – | ||||
"–" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Year | Name | Peak chart positions | Notes | ||||
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US Top 200 [54] | AUS [56] | Can Top 100 | |||||
1972 | They Only Come Out at Night | 3 | 28 | 4 | |||
1974 | Shock Treatment | 13 | – | 9 |
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1975 | The Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer | 124 | – | – | |||
2018 | I've Got News for You, 1971–1977 | – | – | – | 6 cd compilation set | ||
"–" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Year | Name | Peak chart positions | Notes | ||
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US Top 200 [54] | AUS [56] | Can Top 100 | |||
1996 | People Music | – | – | – | |
2002 | The Best of Edgar Winter | – | – | – | |
2014 | The Essential Edgar Winter | – | – | – | |
Year | Name | US Top 200 [54] | |||||
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1976 | Together with Johnny Winter | 89 | |||||
1990 | Edgar Winter & Rick Derringer Live in Japan | – | |||||
2007 | Edgar, Johnny Winter & Rick Derringer (live) | – | |||||
2010 | An Odd Couple - with Steve Lukather (live) | – | |||||
"–" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certification | Album | |||||
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US [54] | AUS [56] | CAN | GER | MEX | UK [58] | ||||
1970 | "Tobacco Road" | – | – | – | – | – | – | Entrance | |
1971 | "Where Would I Be" | 128 | – | – | – | – | – | Edgar Winter's White Trash | |
"Give It Everything You Got" | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
"Keep Playin' That Rock 'n' Roll" | 70 | – | 51 | – | – | – | |||
1972 | "I Can't Turn You Loose" | 81 | – | – | – | – | – | Roadwork | |
"Round & Round" | 108* | – | – | – | – | – | They Only Come Out at Night | ||
1973 | "Frankenstein" | 1 | 19 | 1 | 39 | 10 | 18 |
| |
"Free Ride" | 14 | 84 | 8 | – | – | – | |||
"Hangin' Around" | 65 | – | 39 | – | – | – | |||
"We All Had a Real Good Time " | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
1974 | "River's Risin'" | 33 | – | 61 | – | – | – | Shock Treatment | |
"Easy Street" | 83 | – | 79 | – | – | – | |||
"Someone Take My Heart Away" | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
1975 | "One Day Tomorrow" | – | – | – | – | – | – | Jasmine Nightdreams | |
"Little Brother" | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
"I Always Wanted You" | 129* | – | – | – | – | – | |||
"People Music" | – | – | – | – | – | – | The Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer | ||
1976 | "Diamond Eyes" | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
"Let The Good Times Roll" | – | – | – | – | – | – | Together | ||
1977 | "Stickin' It Out" | – | – | – | – | – | – | Recycled | |
1979 | "Above & Beyond" | – | – | – | – | – | – | The Edgar Winter Album | |
"It's Your Life to Live" | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
1981 | "Love Is Everywhere" | – | – | – | – | – | – | Standing on Rock | |
1983 | "Frankenstein 1984" [59] | – | – | – | – | – | – | Single only | |
1989 | "Cry Out" [60] | – | – | – | – | – | – | Mission Earth | |
2000 | "Texas" [61] | – | – | – | – | – | – | Winter Blues | |
"–" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. "Above & Beyond" reached 94 on the US Dance chart in 1979. |
John Dawson Winter III was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1960s into the early 2000s. He also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
"Frankenstein" is an instrumental track by the American rock band Edgar Winter Group that was featured in the 1972 album They Only Come Out at Night and additionally released as a single.
The McCoys were a rock group formed in Union City, Indiana, United States, in 1962. They are best known for their 1965 hit single "Hang On Sloopy". Originally named Rick and the Raiders, they changed their name to "The McCoys" from the B-side of The Ventures' hit record "Walk, Don't Run" titled "The McCoy".
Rick Derringer is an American musician, producer, and songwriter. He gained success in the 1960s with his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", became a number-one hit in 1965 and is now regarded as a classic track from the garage rock era. The McCoys had seven songs chart in the top 100, including covers of "Fever" and "Come on Let's Go".
Daniel Earl Hartman was an American pop rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, and songwriter and original frontman for several bands, including The Soploids, Mak and the Turnarounds, Our Wringer, Last Wing, and Orion. Among songs he wrote and recorded were "Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits "Relight My Fire", "Instant Replay", "I Can Dream About You", "We Are the Young" and "Second Nature". "I Can Dream About You", his most successful US hit, reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 in 1985. The James Brown song "Living in America", which Hartman co-wrote and produced, reached No. 4 on March 1, 1986.
Ronald Douglas Montrose was an American musician and guitarist who founded and led the rock bands Montrose and Gamma. He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock, Beaver & Krause, Boz Scaggs, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, The Beau Brummels, Dan Hartman, Tony Williams, The Neville Brothers, Marc Bonilla and Sammy Hagar.
Bobby Caldwell is an American drummer, songwriter, producer and arranger who co-founded the rock bands Captain Beyond and Armageddon during the early 1970s. Prior to these projects he played on seminal Johnny Winter albums such as Live Johnny Winter And and Saints and Sinners. Caldwell was also the drummer on Rick Derringer's All American Boy, which produced the classic-rock radio staple "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo"; a song originally written by Derringer and recorded by the band, Johnny Winter and, with Derringer's brother, Randy Z on drums. He also played with John Lennon, Ringo Starr, The Allman Brothers Band, and Eric Clapton. Caldwell and Derringer recorded "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" at Caribou Ranch in Colorado.
They Only Come Out at Night is the debut studio album by American rock band The Edgar Winter Group, released in November 1972 by Epic Records. A commercial success, the album reached #3 on the US Billboard 200 chart and features the band's signature songs, "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride". The album was certified gold on April 30, 1973, and platinum on November 21, 1986, by the RIAA. The single "Frankenstein" was certified gold June 19, 1973, by the RIAA. In Canada, the album reached #4 on 2 separate occasions - May 5 and June 16, totaling 14 weeks in the top 10. The third single, "Hangin' Around", reached #39 in the singles chart.
Charles W. Ruff III was an American rock drummer well known for his work with Edgar Winter on the popular instrumental "Frankenstein".
"Free Ride" is a song written by Dan Hartman and performed by the Edgar Winter Group from their 1972 album They Only Come Out at Night, produced by Rick Derringer. The single was a top 15 U.S. hit in 1973, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on Cash Box. In Canada, it peaked at number 8.
Roadwork is a live album by vocalist/keyboardist/saxophonist Edgar Winter and his band White Trash, a powerful revue famous for their fusion of funk, gospel, R&B, and rock 'n' roll. It was released as a double LP in 1972. Roadwork was the second of only three albums the band recorded together.
Johnny Winter And is the fourth studio album by Texas blues guitarist Johnny Winter, released in 1970. Besides Winter, the group included guitarist Rick Derringer, bassist Randy Jo Hobbs and drummer Randy Zehringer, all former members of the McCoys. This was the first album released with Rick Derringer as a sideman. It was also the name of his band for a short time.
Live Johnny Winter And is an album by Johnny Winter, recorded with his group Johnny Winter And live during the fall of 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York City and at Pirate's World in Dania, Florida. It was released in March 1971.
Together: Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter Live is a 1976 album by brothers Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter. Released just three months after Johnny Winter's Captured Live!, it is composed entirely of rock and roll and soul standards. This album is a chance to hear The Edgar Winter Group playing with Johnny Winter's band together on a same stage.
"Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" is a rock song written by American musician Rick Derringer. It was first recorded in 1970 by Johnny Winter and his band Johnny Winter And, of which Derringer was a member. In 1973, Derringer recorded a solo version, which was his only Top 40 chart hit as a solo artist in the U.S. It became a staple of 1970s classic rock radio and rock music compilations. Both Winter and Derringer have recorded multiple live versions of the song.
Edgar Winter's White Trash is the second studio album by Edgar Winter, and his first with his group White Trash. The album reached #111 on the Billboard charts, and produced the single "Keep Playin' That Rock 'n' Roll", which went to #70 on Billboard's Top 100. The album was prepped for quadraphonic sound, but was left unreleased in this format. The album was produced by Rick Derringer. In Canada, the album reached #82. The track "Dying to Live" is sampled in 2Pac's posthumous release Runnin' .
Images is Dan Hartman's second full-length release but his first album of new material. It features an interesting mix of players to assist the multi-instrumentalist continue his pop rock themes featured in his tenure with the Edgar Winter Group and fittingly has Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer and Ronnie Montrose as guests. Montrose appears on two songs which was in exchange for the two Hartman written songs, "What are You Waiting For?" and "Rich Man", that appeared on Jump On It, the same year. Drummer John Wilcox and bassist John Siegler, both of Utopia, were the principal rhythm section.
Blue Sky Records was a custom record label created by Steve Paul for Columbia Records, featuring acts managed by Steve Paul, primarily blues-oriented performers Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Dan Hartman, David Johansen, and Muddy Waters.
True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story is a compilation album by blues rock guitarist and singer Johnny Winter. Comprising four CDs, and packaged as a box set, it contains songs selected from numerous albums – some recorded in the studio and some live – released over a 43-year period, from 1968 to 2011, as well as several previously unreleased tracks. The box set also includes a 50-page booklet of essays and photos. It was released by Legacy Recordings on February 25, 2014.
The Real Deal is an album by the American musician Edgar Winter, released in 1996. Winter supported the album with a North American tour that included shows with Hank Williams Jr.