"Free Ride" | ||||
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Single by Edgar Winter Group | ||||
from the album They Only Come Out at Night | ||||
B-side | "When It Comes" | |||
Released | August 1973 | |||
Recorded | 1972 | |||
Genre | Rock [1] | |||
Length | 3:05 (single version) 3:20 (full version) | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Dan Hartman | |||
Producer(s) | Rick Derringer | |||
Edgar Winter Group singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
"Free Ride" on YouTube |
"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 [2] and number 10 on Cash Box. In Canada, it peaked at number 8. [3]
Tavares recorded a version of the song for their 1975 album, In the City . Their version peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 [2] and number 8 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Hartman himself re-recorded the song and released it on his 1979 album Relight My Fire .
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The song was featured in Air America and in The Drew Carey Show episode "The Dog and Pony Show". [11] The song is featured in the 1993 film, Dazed and Confused while Hartman's recording appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and on its soundtrack album. [12] It was also featured as a song in the video game tie-in for the film, Cars, [13] and is also used in the Disney California Adventure ride, Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! [14]
Daniel Earl Hartman was an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, 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 song, reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 and No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985. The James Brown song "Living in America", which Hartman co-wrote and produced, reached No. 4 on March 1, 1986.
Edgar Holland Winter is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their popular songs "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride". He is the brother of late blues singer and guitarist Johnny Winter.
"Ain't That Peculiar" is a 1965 song recorded by American soul musician Marvin Gaye for the Tamla (Motown) label.
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.
"Hurts So Good" is a song by American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp, then performing under the stage name "John Cougar". The song was a number two hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for the singer/songwriter. It was the first of three major hit singles from his 1982 album American Fool. The others were "Jack & Diane" and "Hand to Hold On To," which were all released in 1982. The song was also a critical success with Mellencamp, winning the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male at the 25th Grammy Awards on February 23, 1983.
"Christine Sixteen" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss. It originally appeared on their 1977 album Love Gun. Released as a single in the US in 1977, the song peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year, and did well in Canada, peaking at number 22.
"(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago VII (1974). The first single released from that album, it reached number 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number 8 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 5.
"No Tell Lover" is a song written by Lee Loughnane, Danny Seraphine, and Peter Cetera for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets (1978), with Cetera and Donnie Dacus singing lead vocals. The second single released from that album, it reached No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 5 on the adult contemporary chart.
"Who Loves You" is the title song of a 1975 album by The Four Seasons. It was composed by Bob Gaudio and Judy Parker and produced by Gaudio. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1975.
"Touch Me When We're Dancing" is a song written by Terry Skinner, J. L. Wallace and Ken Bell. Skinner and Wallace headed the Muscle Shoals, Alabama session group Bama, who first recorded this song and released it as a single in 1979 reaching number 42 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was later recorded by The Carpenters in 1981 for their Made in America album. In 1984, it was recorded by country music artists Mickey Gilley and Charly McClain for their 1984 duet album It Takes Believers and in 1986 by the country music group Alabama.
"Heartlight" is a song written by Neil Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager and her then-husband, Burt Bacharach, and recorded by Diamond in 1982. It is the first track on Diamond's 1982 album, also titled Heartlight, and reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his thirteenth top 10 hit on the chart. It also spent four weeks atop the adult contemporary chart in late 1982, and was the last of his eight #1s on that chart. Reportedly, it was inspired by the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Diamond allegedly settled with MCA/Universal for $25,000, due to its supposedly drawing on the material of the film.
"I Won't Hold You Back" is a song by American rock band Toto, written and sung by Steve Lukather for their fourth album, Toto IV, released in 1982. The song features the Eagles' bass player Timothy B. Schmit on backing vocals during the choruses.
"(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again" is a hit song written by Len Ron Hanks and Zane Grey for R&B/funk band L.T.D. Released from their Something To Love album, it spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in the fall of 1977. It became a gold record. Jeffrey Osborne is the lead singer.
"Fox on the Run" is a song by the British glam rock band Sweet, first recorded in 1974. It was the first Sweet single written by the band, rather than producers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, and was their 14th single overall. The song became the best charting single in Australia in 1975, with six weeks at number one.
"Listen to the Music" is a song recorded by American rock band the Doobie Brothers on their second album, Toulouse Street (1972). The song was the Doobie Brothers' first big hit in 1972. It was written by Tom Johnston. In 1994, it received a remix by Steve Rodway a.k.a. Motiv8 in 1994, which eventually peaked at #37 UK.
"What You Won't Do for Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobby Caldwell. It was released in September 1978 as the lead single from his eponymous debut album. It was written by Caldwell and Alfons Kettner, and produced by Ann Holloway. The song has been covered and sampled numerous times, including by Tupac Shakur in the posthumous 1998 hit "Do for Love".
Instant Replay is the third full-length album from singer-songwriter Dan Hartman. Released in 1978, where all the album tracks reached number 1 on the American dance chart. The title track/first single peaked at number 29 on the Hot 100 in the U.S. & number 8 in the United Kingdom. The follow-up single, "This Is It", was only a minor Hot 100 hit, reaching number 91 in 1979, while rising to number 18 in the U.K.
"All I Know" is a song written by American songwriter Jimmy Webb, first recorded by Art Garfunkel on his 1973 debut solo album, Angel Clare, released by Columbia Records. Instrumental backing was provided by members of the Wrecking Crew, L.A. session musicians. Garfunkel's version is the best known and highest-charting version, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Easy Listening chart for four weeks in October 1973. Garfunkel's version begins with a solo piano, before he begins to sing. When the orchestration is beginning to fade out, the solo piano takes over, playing melodic passages to the song's end.
"It Hurts to Be in Love" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller which was a Top Ten hit in 1964 for Gene Pitney. It was one in a long line of successful "Brill Building Sound" hits created by composers and arrangers working in New York City's Brill Building at 1619 Broadway.
"Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)" is a song by Eagles guitarist Don Felder with lead vocals sung by Don Felder with backing vocals sung by Timothy B. Schmit and Don Henley. It is the theme song of the animated film Heavy Metal, not to be confused with the song of the same title by Sammy Hagar, also included on the same movie soundtrack. The B-side, "All of You", is also a track on the movie's soundtrack album.