Edgar Winter Group: "Frankenstein"

I was Edgar’s tour manager for awhile. Also Derringers and Johnnys at different times. Honestly they don’t get the respect they deserve. Rick was/ is a much better guitar player than people know. There is so much more to his playing and his abilities. Of course Johnny was a badass. Edgar is another who is capable of so much more than people know. There were nights with all of them when I would have my jaw on the floor. One other thing, all of them gave everything they had each night no matter how many were in attendance. They had the worst manager in the world at that time. I wanted to choke him many times. The story of what he did to Johnny is 100% true

 

The "machine gun fire" effect sounds cooler on the single mix : queue to 2:36-2:41

 

It was in the top ten with Frankenstein at the same time.

1 4 FRANKENSTEIN –•– The Edgar Winter Group (Epic)-12 (1 week at #1)
2 6 MY LOVE –•– Paul McCartney and Wings (Apple)-7
3 5 DANIEL –•– Elton John (MCA)-8
4 2 TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE –•– Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando (Bell)-15
5 1 YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-11
6 9 PILLOW TALK –•– Sylvia (Vibration)-10
7 3 LITTLE WILLY –•– The Sweet (Bell)-19
8 7 DRIFT AWAY –•– Dobie Gray (Decca)-14
9 10 WILDFLOWER –•– Skylark (Capitol)-15
10 13 HOCUS POCUS –•– Focus (Sire)-1
11 11 REELING IN THE YEARS –•– Steely Dan (ABC)-12
12 20 I’M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY –•– Barry White (20th Century)-7
13 8 STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU –•– Stealers Wheel (A&M)-13
14 22 PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND –•– Clint Holmes (Epic)-10
15 16 FUNKY WORM –•– The Ohio Players (Westbound)-14
16 12 THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA –•– Vicki Lawrence (Bell)-16
17 18 THE RIGHT THING TO DO –•– Carly Simon (Elektra)-9
18 19 THINKING OF YOU –•– Loggins and Messina (Columbia)-9
19 23 STEAMROLLER BLUES / FOOL –•– Elvis Presley (RCA)-7
20 14 DAISY A DAY –•– Jud Strunk (MGM)-15
21 27 I’M DOIN’ FINE NOW –•– New York City (Chelsea)-13
22 25 RIGHT PLACE WRONG TIME –•– Dr. John (Atco)-7
23 26 LEAVING ME –•– The Independents (Wand)-8
24 15 THE CISCO KID –•– War (United Artists)-13
25 30 WILL IT GO ROUND IN CIRCLES –•– Billy Preston (A&M)-9
26 29 NO MORE MR. NICE GUY –•– Alice Cooper (Warner Brothers)-7
27 28 IT SURE TOOK A LONG, LONG TIME –•– Lobo (Big Tree)-8
28 31 ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS –•– First Choice (Philly Groove)-12
29 35 ONE OF A KIND (Love Affair) –•– The Spinners (Atlantic)-5
30 43 LONG TRAIN RUNNIN’ –•– The Doobie Brothers (Warner Brothers)-6
31 33 SUPER FLY MEETS SHAFT –•– John and Ernest (Rainy Wednesday)-7
32 37 AND I LOVE YOU SO –•– Perry Como (RCA)-7
33 34 TEDDY BEAR SONG –•– Barbara Fairchild (Columbia)-14
34 59 GIVE ME LOVE (Give Me Peace On Earth) –•– George Harrison (Apple)-2
35 36 I CAN UNDERSTAND IT –•– The New Birth (RCA)-10
36 17 OUT OF THE QUESTION –•– Gilbert O’Sullivan (MAM)-13
37 38 HEARTS OF STONE –•– The Blue Ridge Rangers (Fantasy)-9
38 39 LET’S PRETEND –•– The Raspberries (Capitol)-10
39 42 GIVE IT TO ME –•– The J. Geils Band (Atlantic)-9
40 44 CLOSE YOUR EYES –•– Edward Bear (Capitol)-7

 

I don't listen to it much anymore, but it was a favorite in my early classic rock radio listening days. It always stood out to me as one of the few instrumentals that got played often on classic rock radio (when it was just late 60s though the early 80s) along with Jessica (Allman Brothers) and Fire On High (ELO).

 

My best friends big brother had a quadrophonic 8 track of TOCOAN and enough speakers to play it. I remember Frankenstein ping ponging around his room.

 

The songs in this chart are etched in my mind forever . A golden time for me as far as listening to AM radio. Great stuff!

 

The top ten on that chart is interesting. You have two progressive rock classics mixed with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Elton John. I noticed Steely Dan "Reeling in the Years" was at number eleven.

 

Yep. That's what was so great about to me. Living in Western KY, I could pick up WLS from Chicago once it got dark, and those DJs (especially John "Records" Landecker) played a great mix of stuff. It was a great time to start diving into music, and I've never looked back.

 

The radio edit lacks much of the building tension of the album version for the sake of a minute or so and completely kills it for me. TOCOAN is a great album if a bit 'of its time'.

 

An earlier version of Frankenstein (Originally titled "Double Drum Song") can be found on the 2 CD Legacy edition of Johnny Winter's "Second Winter " album.
Edgar was in Johnny's band at that time.

 

I made a mix tape I called vintage rock in the late 70s that included songs from this album and other bands such as Guess Who , Three Dog Night and Golden Earring. I guess i should’ve called it classic rock lol

 

Such a fun instrumental. I grabbed it right away at time.

 

As an owner of the ARP 2600 synthesizer, I was always impressed that Edgar Winter opted to sling the 3604 keyboard controller over his shoulders... that sucker is heavy!