Edgar Winter - vocals, keyboards, sax, percussion
Rick Derringer - guitar, vocals
Dan Hartman - bass, vocals
Chuck Ruff - drums
This show came two years after Edgar Winter disbanded his first band, the R&B-based White Trash, and emerged with the lean and mean four-piece Edgar Winter Group and his landmark, multi-platinum album, They Only Come Out At Night. Winter had lost ace guitarist Ronnie Montrose (who departed after the Night record and Winter's '72/73 world tour, to start his own group with an unknown singer named Sammy Hagar).
Knowing he had some big shoes to fill, Winter recruited Rick Derringer, former guitarist and leader of the '60s pop band, The McCoys. Derringer was well known to Edgar, having been musical director for brother Johnny (and playing with Johnny Winter And), and been part of the management roster of Steve Paul (who also looked over the careers of the Winter brothers). Derringer had just released All American Boy and was enjoying his own chart success with the bona fide hit, "Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo," which both Johnny and Edgar Winter also included in their repertoire.
Edgar Winter was on the road promoting the follow up to They Only Come Out At Night, entitled Shock Treatment, which did well but failed to have the hit singles of its predecessor. This show is a combination of older and newer Edgar Winter material, as well as a few tracks sung by Derringer from All American Boy. Highlights include "Keep Playin' That Rock N' Roll" (from his White Trash days), "Hanging Around," "Free Ride," "Frankenstein" (all from the Night LP) "Uncomplicated," and the Derringer tracks "Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo" and "Teenage Love Affair." They close with an 11-minute jam on the '60s rock classic, "New Orleans."
After spending several years as part of the backup band for his famous sibling, Johnny Winter, Edgar landed a record deal of his own on Epic Records (sister label to Johnny's label, Columbia Records). His initial solo debut, Entrance, in 1970, was praised by critics and had some great material (including his fiery remake of the 1963 Nashville Teens' classic, "Tobacco Road") but failed to make any substantial impact as a big seller.
Winter returned in 1971 with a stunning R&B/rock opus and an eight-piece horn-driven band called Edgar Winter's White Trash (a reference to the fact that both he and Johnny are albinos). The group did a solid year of touring, and made one memorable double live album entitled Roadwork, before Edgar Winter decided it was time to get lean and mean. The solution for Edgar Winter was to re-vamp his set up with down-to-the-bone four-piece rock 'n' roll machine. Hence, the Edgar Winter Group, which debuted in 1972 with Winter on keyboards, sax and percussion, Dan Hartman on bass, drummer extraordinaire Chuck Ruff, and a sassy Bay Area guitarist named Ronnie Montrose, who had worked with Van Morrison, among others.
The result was a brilliant pop album called They Only Come Out at Night, which included several hits singles ("Hangin' Around," "Free Ride," and his career single, the instrumental "Frankenstein"). This show was recorded at the onset of the band's 18-month run at the top of the charts. Edgar has released several excellent LPs since They Only Come Out At Night, but has never matched the commercial success he saw with that 1972 release. Both Edgar and Johnny Winter went on to record an album together, and Winter eventually reunited with Rick Derringer in the 1990s for a live LP and a tour of Japan. He continues to work on the road today, on a regular basis.
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