Edgar Winter

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Edgar Winter

Edgar Winter in 1974.
Background information
Birth name Edgar Holland Winter
Born December 28, 1947 (1947-12-28) (age 62)
Beaumont, Texas
United States
Genres Hard rock, jazz rock, blues-rock, blue-eyed soul
Occupations Musician, Songwriter, producer
Instruments Vocals, piano, keyboards, saxophone, marimba, timbales, clavinet, synthesizer
Years active 1970–present
Labels Epic Records
Airline Records
Associated acts Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer, The Edgar Winter Group, Sawbuck, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, David Lee Roth
Website Official Website

Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1947), 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.

Contents

[edit] History

After recording with his brother, Johnny Winter, 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, former Sawbuck members Ronnie Montrose and Chuck Ruff and later included the band's producer Rick Derringer in place of Montrose. It was with this band that Winter had his biggest success: the album They Only Come Out at Night (1972) featuring the #1 hit instrumental "Frankenstein", which pioneered the use of the synthesizer as a lead instrument. (During performances, Winter showed his virtuosity performing on the keyboards, synthesizer, saxophone, and drums, all within the confines of the single song on stage.) Frankenstein reached number one in the U.S. in May 1973. Both They Only Come Out at Night and "Frankenstein" each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs by the R.I.A.A. in 1973.[1] The band also had a sizable hit with "Free Ride", taken from the same album.

[edit] Relationship with the Church of Scientology

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.[2]

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 is said to have left detailed instructions and audio tapes for the musicians and producers to follow when making the album.[3] 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." [4]

[edit] Discography

Winter performing in 2006

[edit] Soundtracks

Edgar Winter's songs have been featured in the soundtracks of these films:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 322. ISBN 0-214-20512-6. 
  2. ^ Celebrity Magazine -- issues number 286, 301, 349, 353, 357, 365, and 367
  3. ^ RonTheMusicMaker.org Mission Earth Lyrics and Music by L. Ron Hubbard (last accessed 15 Sept 2006)
  4. ^ RonTheMusicMaker.org Mission Earth - L. Ron Hubbard (last accessed by 15 Sept 2006)

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Winter"
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