Edgar Holland Winter (born
December 28, 1946, in Beaumont, Texas
) is an American musician. Edgar is a
multi-instrumentalist,
performing on the
keyboards, and as a
vocalist,
saxophonist and
percussionist, well-versed in
jazz,
blues and
rock. He was most successful in the 1970s with
his band
The Edgar Winter
Group. He is easily recognized by his
albinism.
History
As teens Edgar and
Johnny (who is two
years older than Edgar) began performing together at local
watering holes such as Tom's Fish Camp. The two
played in
R&B and
blues groups; Johnny and the Jammers, The Crystaliers,
and The Black Plague. By the time he was of college age Edgar had
become competent on keyboards, saxophone,
bass,
guitar and
drums.
In 1969, Winter appeared with Johnny for two
songs ("I Can't Stand It" and
"Tobacco Road") at the Woodstock
Festival
.
After recording with his brother, Edgar was signed to his own
Epic Records contract in 1970 and
recorded two
R&B flavored albums,
Entrance and
Edgar Winter's White
Trash. In 1972 he formed The Edgar Winter Group which
included
Dan Hartman,
Ronnie Montrose and
Chuck Ruff. It was with this band that
he had his biggest successes: first with the
1972 album
They Only Come Out at
Night which featured the #1 hit instrumental "
Frankenstein" which pioneered the use of
the synthesizer as a lead instrument and reached number one in the
U.S. in May 1973 and the top 15 single
Free Ride; which reached number 14
that same year, then the album
Shock Treatment which featured
the song "Easy Street."
Winter playing saxophone
The preponderance of vocals and songwriting by Hartman on
Shock
Treatment led to the release of
Jasmine Nightdreams
with all vocals by Winter. It was nominally a solo album, but it
used the same personnel as the Edgar Winter Group. A full band
album followed, the Edgar Winter Group with
Rick Derringer, featuring songs and vocals by
Derringer.
Success was waning, however, and Edgar teamed with brother Johnny
for a live album of blues and early rock classics, including
Harlem Shuffle (later a
revival hit for the
Rolling Stones).
This album too performed below expectations, so the White Trash was
reformed. They recorded
Recycled, and toured as an opening
act to support the album. The tour was cut short by a tragic plane
crash, which killed some members of the tour's headliner,
Lynyrd Skynyrd. This was followed by two solo
albums, an attempt at literate disco on the
Edgar Winter
Album and a return to 1970s rock on
Standing on Rock.
Since then there have been more obscure solo albums and session
work, namely with
David Lee Roth on
Crazy from the Heat in 1985, which included a cover
version of the song
Easy Street.
With over 20 albums and many television and radio appearances both
to promote his music and to give his opinion on everything
politically incorrect, Edgar Winter's music is solidly in the
popular vein. Winter's 1970s albums are bluesier than his later
albums, but there are blues tunes like "Big City Woman" on his 1990
album
Not a Kid Anymore. In 2005, "Frankenstein" was
featured in the
PlayStation 2 music video game Guitar Hero. It has also
been covered by
Gary Hoey on the 2003
album "Wake Up Call," as well as by
Derek Sherinian on his album
Inertia. "Free Ride" is the main song used in the
Disney/Pixar video game "Cars" which is the video game spin off of
the animated film of the same name, the initial guitar riff is used
on the menu screens and the full song features during game
play.
In 2006, Winter joined Hamish Stuart,
Rod
Argent,
Richard Marx,
Billy Squier, and
Sheila
E touring with
Ringo Starr & His
All Starr Band. In 2008, he appeared in the 10th All-Starr Band
with
Colin Hay,
Billy Squier,
Hamish
Stuart, first timer
Gary Wright and,
on drums,
Gregg Bissonette.
Relationship with the Church of Scientology
Winter performing in 2006
Winter is a
Scientologist. He has
appeared in at least seven issues of the
Church of Scientology magazine
Celebrity between 1995 and 2005, which list the
Scientology courses that he has completed.
Winter also produced, arranged, and performed on the album
Mission Earth (1986).
This album's words and music were written by Scientology founder
L. Ron
Hubbard. Hubbard supposedly left detailed instructions and
audio tapes for the musicians and producers to follow when making
the album. Edgar described
Mission Earth as "both a return
to rock’s primal roots and yet highly experimental." Winter had
glowing words for Hubbard when he wrote, "Ron's technical insight
of the recording process was outstanding." Winter also described
Hubbard's delineation of counter-rhythm in rock as something "which
was nothing short of phenomenal, particularly inasmuch 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."
Discography
Soundtracks
Edgar Winter's songs have been featured in the soundtracks of these
films:
References
- Celebrity Magazine -- issues number 286, 301, 349,
353, 357, 365, and 367
- RonTheMusicMaker.org Mission
Earth Lyrics and Music by L. Ron Hubbard (last accessed 15 Sept
2006)
- RonTheMusicMaker.org Mission
Earth - L. Ron Hubbard (last accessed by 15 Sept 2006)
External links
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