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<\/p>\nEdgar Winter<\/b> was one of the most popular rock artists of the 1970s. From his solo debut \u2013 1970’s Entrance<\/i> \u2013 through his first album of the next decade (Standing on Rock<\/i>, 1981), Winter crafted catchy and intriguing music that folded in the many styles of music that had influenced him. From gritty rhythm and blues to futuristic synthesizer-based songs, from boogie and glam rock to soulful ballads, Winter and his various groups made music that would endure. He is best remembered for his 1972 instrumental hit \u201cFrankenstein\u201d (at #18, his only hit single in the UK), but Winter scored seven hit singles on the US Hot 100 chart, and eight of the eleven albums he released while signed to CBS\/Epic and associated labels would break the US Top 200.<\/p>\n
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A new compilation of Edgar Winter’s best and most popular songs from that era is being released this summer by Real Gone Music. The Definitive Collection<\/i> brings together 30 songs on two discs. I spoke at some great length with Winter, and that conversation forms the basis of the liner note essay included with the 2CD set. But the more than three hours we spent discussing that fertile period of Winter’s work yielded much more than the liner notes could hold.<\/p>\n
One of the keys to Edgar Winter’s success in the 1970s was his astute choice of collaborators. While a fine singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in his own right, Winter understood the importance of assembling the right band for the right project. As a result \u2013 and to the confusion of those who prefer a tidy discography \u2013 his 70s LPs were variously credited to Edgar Winter, Edgar Winter’s White Trash, The Edgar Winter Group, and The Edgar Winter Group featuring Rick Derringer. And that list doesn’t even include his collaborations with his brother, legendary blues guitar ace Johnny Winter<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Over the course of our two wide-ranging conversations, Edgar reminisced about several musicians, each of whom played a significant role in the music he would record, release and perform live.<\/p>\n
Louisiana-born vocalist Jerry LaCroix<\/b> was a member of Edgar Winter’s White Trash in 1971-72, and part of the reunited group that recorded Recycled<\/em> in 1977. <\/b>Edgar Winter had known LaCroix for years before they played together in White Trash. \u201cIn high school, Jerry and I were in bands together, and sometimes we were competing with my brother Johnny’s bands for gigs at the same clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRay Charles<\/b> was a big influence for Jerry, the other lead singer in White Trash,\u201d Winter says. \u201cJerry LaCroix was one of the most soulful white vocalists ever.\u201d While LaCroix is shown to good effect on Edgar Winter’s White Trash<\/i>, perhaps his finest recorded moments are found on the group’s incendiary 1972 live album, Roadwork<\/i>. Edgar characterizes the high energy gospel-infused \u201cSave the Planet\u201d as the group’s evoking of a Pentecostal tent revival, and LaCroix’s lead vocal is at the center of the arrangement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhite Trash was a real band,\u201d Winter says. \u201cIt was the reunion of all the bands I played in during my high school years. We were playing an indigenous style of the Texas blues sound. We knew exactly what we wanted to do.\u201d But Winter’s interests were moving forward: \u201cI wanted that band to evolve; Jerry and those guys would have been happy to just keep doing Otis Redding<\/b> style r&b forever. I loved that, but I didn’t want it to be our only<\/i> thing.\u201d<\/p>\n After Edgar broke up White Trash, LaCroix would release a solo album, The Second Coming<\/i>, and go on to brief stints fronting Blood, Sweat & Tears<\/b> (he’s on their 1975 Mirror Image<\/i> LP) and Rare Earth<\/b>. By the 1990s he was out of the music scene completely, though he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2012. Two years later, LaCroix passed away, a victim of congestive heart failure.<\/p>\n Guitarist\/producer Rick Derringer<\/b> played with Edgar Winter’s White Trash in 1971-72; he was also a member of The Edgar Winter Group in 1974-75. But Derringer had enjoyed a taste of musical success long before he crossed paths with Edgar Winter. Born Ricky Dean Zehringer, he would form The McCoys<\/b>, and score a 1965 hit with \u201cHang On Sloopy\u201d when he was only 17. \u201cI met Rick through our manager Steve Paul<\/b>,\u201d Edgar says. \u201cSteve had taken us to a club in New York called the Tarot. Rick was playing there with The McCoys. Johnny and I had played ‘Hang On Sloopy’ in clubs, but I had never really listened to The McCoys as a band. So I was immediately blown away; I recognized Rick as sort of a kindred musical spirit.\u201d Edgar feels that was unusual, since Derringer grew up Ohio, in a part of the US that’s very different than Winter’s native Texas. \u201cHe has deep blues roots, and obviously listened to the same music that I grew up with,\u201d Edgar says.<\/p>\n In 1970 Derringer joined the group Johnny Winter And; shortly thereafter, Edgar enlisted Derringer’s expertise at the producer’s desk for the first Edgar Winter’s White Trash album. Derringer eventually became a group member, replacing original lead guitarist Floyd Radford<\/b>. \u201cRick is very organized, very consistent, and always prepared,\u201d Edgar says. Even then, Derringer \u201cknew enough basic theory to be able to play anything: jazz, country, whatever. He’s a great folk picker. He would always come up with a signature solo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we recorded ‘Free Ride,’ Ronnie Montrose<\/b> played the original solo,\u201d Edgar says. \u201cAnd it was just jamming out. But when we released the single, I had Rick redo the solo, and he came up with a signature solo that was much more melodic.\u201d<\/p>\n A couple of years later, after Ronnie Montrose left The Edgar Winter Group, Derringer joined. The resulting album found him co-billed: The Edgar Winter Group featuring Rick Derringer<\/i>. Describing that album as \u201can aggregate effort,\u201d Winter says, \u201cI saw no reason why that band shouldn’t continue on that basis.\u201d His idea was that each member could do his own solo project, but the group would reconvene for albums and live dates. But individual interests and ambitions would fracture that lineup, too.<\/p>\n Rick Derringer began his solo career alongside his involvement in Edgar’s projects, and his version of \u201cRock and Roll, Hoochie Koo\u201d was the most commercially successful of all recordings of the song, peaking at #23 on the Billboard<\/i> Hot 100 chart. He has released more than a dozen albums, and has guested and\/or collaborated on many other musicians’ recordings, including releases from Steely Dan<\/b> and Todd Rundgren<\/b>. Derringer was reunited with Edgar when both were members of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band<\/b> in 2010 and 2011; he continues to record and tour.<\/p>\n After the end of White Trash, Edgar Winter decided he wanted to make music that was \u201cmore wild and unrestrained.\u201d Ronnie Montrose was the original guitarist in The Edgar Winter Group, joining in 1972. \u201c<\/b>Ronnie had a real edge,\u201d says Winter. \u201cI wanted people who had star quality. And what I liked about Ronnie was that he was very different than Rick. He didn’t want to plan anything<\/i>.\u201d Winter says that Montrose had a very \u201crock ‘n’ roll attitude about his playing. He just liked to jam<\/i>.\u201d Edgar refers more than once to Montrose as \u201cMr. Unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n