Edgar Winter, who, along with his older brother Johnny, were doubtless the most famous American albino rock & rollers, was a prodigy of sorts. His wild style combined parts from a bunch of genres, and his virtuosity with a variety of instruments made for an amazing show.
Edgar Holland Winter was born in Texas in 1946. Edgar and his older brother Johnny were both albinos, which gave them a striking appearance that would later add to their unique stage presence. Edgar quickly mastered at least five musical instruments, including keyboards, drums, lead and bass guitar, and the saxophone. Edgar was also an accomplished vocalist; he was, in fact, something of a one-man band. He released his first album, Entrance, in 1970, and went on to produce some notable tunes in the early 1970s; I’ll focus on that time frame here, as that’s when he did the stuff I like best. His second album, humorously titled Edgar Winter’s White Trash, cut with his first band, also named White Trash, was released in 1971. His third album, Roadwork, went gold. It was all uphill from there.
Here are, as mentioned, seven of what I think are his best songs from those first few key years.
Fire and Ice (1970): This song, from Entrance, has a neat sound; mostly jazzy, with some great chord-hopping and what were, for Edgar, rather light vocals. The peppy beat is rather contradicted by some of the lyrics:
Do what you can to get me out of this hole
It's empty
Stuck in a dream I just keep playing a role
Get me out of here
'Cause now I'm afraid to give what I got
And the reason I am is the reason you're not
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Rock & Roll, Hoochie Coo (LIVE) (1971): On this live cut, Edgar is accompanied by his brother Johnny. Interestingly, this tune was written by band member Rick Derringer for Johnny Winter; Rick was in Johnny’s band, Johnny Winter And, and they recorded it in 1970. This live version from 1971 showcases not only Derringer, but both the Winter brothers. About this song, Rick Derringer later wrote:
Just for fun, here’s Rick Derringer’s better-known version, which ended up being his only top 40 hit:Animal (1971): This song has a much more basal feel than a lot of Edgar’s work. It has a slamming beat, some rather discordant notes, and some fierce lyrics:The first song I wrote for Johnny was 'Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo'. 'Rock and Roll' to satisfy the rock 'n' roll that I was supposed to be bringing into the picture, and 'Hoochie Koo' to satisfy the king of blues sensibility that Johnny was supposed to maintain. And it worked out great.
Round & Round (1972): Opening with an almost country beat, vocals, and steel guitar work, this song describes a protagonist in love with an unpredictable woman, calling out plaintively that “one day she’s warm, next day she’s cold.” It’s a fun song, made all the more so by the fact that it could well have been welcomed on a country radio station.Some kind of animal is loose in the night
Leaping and shrieking in freakish delight
Some kind of animal let out on the stage
But, surrounded by people like the bars of a cage
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Free Ride (1972): This may be one of the Edgar Winter Group’s best-known songs and certainly one of their biggest hits. It refers, not to any kind of road trip, as we all thought, but to a spiritual journey. This one was written by band member Dan Hartman, with added lyrics by Edgar Winter, and appeared on the Rick Derringer-produced album They Only Come Out at Night.
Alta Mira (1972): Fun and different, as all of Edgar’s songs were; this song also comes to us from the album They Only Come Out at Night. Again, Edgar Winter shows how easily he skips across the genres, with this tune having an almost island vibe; Jimmy Buffett would have enjoyed it.Frankenstein (1973): True Story – back in the late 1970s, my best buddy Dave and I were engaged in one of our mobile earthquakes of drunken excess we called a “weekend” when this song came on the radio. When the great bit of Edgar’s synthesizer solo came up at about three minutes in, we christened that part as the “electric pigs,” because in our inebriated state, that’s what a couple of small-town Iowa kids thought it sounded like. It’s one of the greatest instrumental rock songs ever; Edgar later said about this song:When we were editing it in the studio, back in those days when you edited something, you physically had to cut the tape and splice it back together, so it was all over the control room, draped over the backs of chairs and the couch. We were making fun of it, trying to figure out how to put it back together, saying 'Here's the main body; the leg bone's connected to the thigh bone...' Then Chuck Ruff, my drummer, says, 'Wow, man, it's like Frankenstein.' As soon as I heard that, I went, 'Wow, that's it!' The monster was born.
As we would have said at the time: Far out, man.
Do you have any Edgar (or Johnny) Winter thoughts, suggestions or memories? Let us know – the comments are, again, all yours.
