ALBUM: Edgar Winter, ‘The Definitive Collection’
I have to admit, listening to Real Gone Music’s new two-CD release, Edgar Winter: The Definitive Collection, took me back in time. I liked Edgar Winter when I was growing up, and in fact, the first 8-track tape I ever bought was the smash 1972 album They Only Come Out at Night (more on that in a bit). But over the years, I grew more interested in R&B and moved away from the music of my formative years such as Black Sabbath, Grand Funk, Led Zeppelin, and Edgar Winter. I know that lineup of groups sounds like the antithesis of what I write about for REBEAT, where I’ve recently done interviews with Tommy Roe, Freda Payne, KC, and Dennis Tufano of the Buckinghams, but I was really into rock as a kid. I guess that’s why listening to this CD this week, for the first time since junior high school, I realized how much of an impact Edgar Winter and his various bands and their own version of Texas-influenced bluesy rock had on my musical development.
This double-CD set contains selections from all of Edgar Winter’s albums from the 1970s, and from his first album, Entrance, there are several cuts, of which the best known to me was the John D. Loudermilk-penned song “Tobacco Road.” I wasn’t familiar with Winter’s version, but did, of course, know the 1964 version recorded by the Nashville Teens. In fact, listening to this CD, it became apparent to me that my experience with Winter’s music originated with his second album, Edgar Winter’s White Trash (1971). Six of that album’s 10 tracks are contained here, including one of my all-time favorite recordings by any artist, “Keep Playing that Rock and Roll,” which was Winter’s first chart single though it only went to #70.
This album, which was very big when I was young, was a teen-party staple back in the day. Having the six best tracks included here was a real trip down memory lane — and a good one.
Winter’s next LP was Roadwork (1973), a live recording. There are couple of selections from that album, and the most interesting is a live version of “Rock & Roll, Hoochie Coo.” Though Rick Derringer (who would later join Winter’s group) wrote the song for Edgar’s brother Johnny Winter, Derringer would record the best-known version himself and take it to the Top 40 in 1974. This recording predates Derringer’s chart single by a year, and this live version features Edgar and Johnny playing the song together on stage.
Of course, if you only know Edgar Winter’s music from his hits, you’ll be most interested in the cuts from his fourth album, 1973’s They Only Come Out at Night. At this point the group was looking for more of a radio-friendly commercial sound, and they were no longer going by the name White Trash but now appearing as the Edgar Winter Group. The group now included soon-to-be-stars-on-their-own Ronnie Montrose and Dan Hartman, and it was Hartman who penned “Free Ride,” a #14 chart hit.
But it wasn’t a hit initially. It was released and tanked, and only became a chart hit after the release and success of a song I’m sure everyone reading this review knows, “Frankenstein,” which went all the way to #1.
It was with this album that those old 8-track memories came into play. I found myself remembering the lyrics on songs such as “Round and Round” and “Alta Mira” that I have thought of many times, but really couldn’t recall where they came from. Now I do. Five of this album’s 10 tracks are here, and my one quibble with this collection is that “Hangin’ Around” is not included, even though it charted at #65. It seems that a Top 100 hit could have made the cut in a collection of 30 songs — especially given that the group had so few. More understandable is that the balled “Autumn” isn’t here (it’s not a typical song for the group and is merely a personal favorite), nor is “When it Comes,” another good one. But look, I understand; the point of this collection was not to reproduce They Only Come Out at Night in its entirety, so I’m nitpicking. This is as good as it gets short of buying an old 8-track player.
Their next album, Shock Treatment, contained a couple of low-charting singles, “River’s Risin”(#33) and Easy Street”(#83), and I’m happy to say both are in the collection as well as a couple of other album cuts. I think it’s pretty indicative though that Winter’s music was quickly fading from the public consciousness in 1974, and that’s reflected in this collection. Not only were the two songs that charted from this album the last two records that ever charted for the group, but after this album Winter released five more albums over the next six years yet only eight songs from those releases appear here. This is not a negative, and I appreciate that Real Gone focused on the group’s better recordings and didn’t try to force the later work down the listeners’ throats simply because they felt they had to be all-inclusive.
There’s no doubt that almost all of the group’s best cuts are here, and short of going out and buying every one of the group’s albums from the ’70s (if you could find, and afford, 10 vintage albums), there’s simply no way you can get a collection as good as this. Most of the hits and best non-hits are here. The sound quality is great, and the liner notes are thorough and superb. If you like the group’s hit songs such as “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride,” you’ll like this collection. Better yet, if you want to hear a wide sampling of all of the Edgar Winter’s excellent 70’s work, you have to get this. For me, the trip down memory lane was well worth the listen.
To get your copy of Edgar Winter’s Definitive Collection, head over to the Real Gone Music online shop!
