Post by Pete70s on Sept 16, 2006 13:48:43 GMT -5
I was going to do this tomorrow, and make this a Sunday feature, but I'm going to be away with no access to the Internet. So here is this weeks "Contender", one day early... They're actually two sepearte artists, so this week you get two for the price of one!
Johnny & Edgar Winter
Both of these artists were tremendous live acts in the early 70's. One a great blues guitarist and the other a rocker who crossed over onto the pop chart with a #1 single. Today they are mostly forgotten and overlooked.
Raised in Beaumont, Texas, the Winter brothers took to music at a young age, playing in local bands and releasing a few records on small labels. The two would split in the late 60's to pursue their own musical interests, with Johnny releasing a solo album and Edgar forming the band White Trash.
While Johnny stuck to guitar and blues music, Edgar was a multi-talented musician, playing saxophone, keyboards, and percussion. All of these he played on the #1 instrumental "Frankenstein" in 1973. He followed up with "Free Ride", another top 20 hit single. Both of these songs were taken from The Edgar Winter Group album, "They Only Come Out At Night". While Johnny did enjoy some chart success with cover versions of "Johnny B. Goode" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash", it was clearly Edgar who was the mainstream success.
Edgar's band featured some top-notch players, including former McCoy Rick Derringer, Dan Hartman and Ronnie Montrose (who played the guitar solo on "Frankenstein"). The brothers would occasionally reunite for various projects throughout the 70's, but would all but dissapear in the 80's. Today Johnny continues to perform srtictly blues in his concerts, while Edgar recently toured as part of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. Yet neither brother gets the name recognition or Hall consideration they so rightly deserve.
Artists like this were the original inspiration for why I started the "Contender" feature, because it seems like everybody who was alive in the 70's knew who they were, but hardly anybody knows them today.. A shame, as almost EVERYBODY who's ever watched Beavis & Butthead knows that "Frankenstein" riff..
Johnny & Edgar Winter
Both of these artists were tremendous live acts in the early 70's. One a great blues guitarist and the other a rocker who crossed over onto the pop chart with a #1 single. Today they are mostly forgotten and overlooked.
Raised in Beaumont, Texas, the Winter brothers took to music at a young age, playing in local bands and releasing a few records on small labels. The two would split in the late 60's to pursue their own musical interests, with Johnny releasing a solo album and Edgar forming the band White Trash.
While Johnny stuck to guitar and blues music, Edgar was a multi-talented musician, playing saxophone, keyboards, and percussion. All of these he played on the #1 instrumental "Frankenstein" in 1973. He followed up with "Free Ride", another top 20 hit single. Both of these songs were taken from The Edgar Winter Group album, "They Only Come Out At Night". While Johnny did enjoy some chart success with cover versions of "Johnny B. Goode" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash", it was clearly Edgar who was the mainstream success.
Edgar's band featured some top-notch players, including former McCoy Rick Derringer, Dan Hartman and Ronnie Montrose (who played the guitar solo on "Frankenstein"). The brothers would occasionally reunite for various projects throughout the 70's, but would all but dissapear in the 80's. Today Johnny continues to perform srtictly blues in his concerts, while Edgar recently toured as part of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. Yet neither brother gets the name recognition or Hall consideration they so rightly deserve.
Artists like this were the original inspiration for why I started the "Contender" feature, because it seems like everybody who was alive in the 70's knew who they were, but hardly anybody knows them today.. A shame, as almost EVERYBODY who's ever watched Beavis & Butthead knows that "Frankenstein" riff..
