I've heard that Frakenstein existed way before "They Only Come Out at Night" and was played quite alot when you (EDGAR) used to play with Johnny and it used to be referred to as the "Double Drum" song. I heard it became known as FRANKENSTEIN because it was cut up and edited so much in the studio. Is there a copy of the uncut unedited studio version of this song anywhere? This is a GREAT song and it was the one that started the whole EDGAR experience for me over 25 years ago.
Edgar Winter:
You're absolutely right. It was an untitled song that we recorded without even the intention of including it on the album because it was so lengthy. It was just our jamming warming up song that we could loosen up on and get to play. It was a situation where we were trying to edit it and get it down to album length and there were like 40 pieces of tape lying all over the control room, draped over the backs of chairs, on the couch. We were trying to figure out how to put it all together and Chuck Ruff, the drummer, said "Wow man...it's like Frankenstein!" Drawing the analogy of an arm here and a leg there and pasting the thing back together, and as soon as I heard it i said "WOW!! Frankenstein!! That's it!" The monster was born!
As far as there being an existing version of that, I don't know if we did a safety or not. It might be in the CBS vault somewhwere, but I dont have one. When I rerecorded it for Waynes World 2, we did an unedited version, and I've done many versions of it since.
I wrote the song years earlier with Johnny in mind. He had his blues trio, he played the first half of the set and then said "And now I'd like to bring on my little brother Edgar" I would come on and we did a couple of blues songs. We did Tobacco Road and a Ray Charles song called Tell the Truth...and I was looking for an instrumental that would sorta showcase my instrumental abilities playing the Hammond B3 , alto sax and doing a dual drum solo with Johnnies drummer, Red Turner. I thought that riff would be something that Johnny would like, something that was appropraite to the blues vibe that was going on. It was simple and repetitive. At the time I was into jazz and I didnt want to do anything too complicated. I thought that was a very simple , bold statement. I wanted something that would be powerful in a live situation. And that's really all I was thinking about when I wrote it. We played it for a year or so, and then stoopped for a year or two. I thought of it with the advent of the synthesizer. I was looking for a powerful kind of instumental to showcase the synthesizer and I thought "Hey, that old Double Drum song was kind of a cool thing". So we started doing it live and it was just one of those things we enjoyed playing. So when we came in to do the record, the first thing we would usually warm up on was Frankenstein, just to loosen up. It was one of the first pieces that I had ever written, right around the same time that I did Entrance. Most people dont know that Johnny and I collaborated on Entrance and that Johnny wrote the majority of the lyrics on Entrance. Frankenstein, or Double Drum song, was around for several years before I ever recorded it. One of the most frequently asked questions I get is if I've ever tired of playing Frankenstein live over the years. I don't tire of Frankenstein..It continues to change and evolve. Only about 5% of it that ever remains the same. We write a new section just about on every tour..so it's always new.
Quote Ends Here
One of the greatest rock instrumentals of all time, and the first to feature a synthesizer as a main instrument.
From an interview with Edgar Winter by his fan club ( http://edgar.thevine.net/interviews.htm ):
Quote Begins Here GLMJ asks Edgar:
I've heard that Frakenstein existed way before "They Only Come Out at Night" and was played quite alot when you (EDGAR) used to play with Johnny and it used to be referred to as the "Double Drum" song. I heard it became known as FRANKENSTEIN because it was cut up and edited so much in the studio. Is there a copy of the uncut unedited studio version of this song anywhere? This is a GREAT song and it was the one that started the whole EDGAR experience for me over 25 years ago.
Edgar Winter:
You're absolutely right. It was an untitled song that we recorded without even the intention of including it on the album because it was so lengthy. It was just our jamming warming up song that we could loosen up on and get to play. It was a situation where we were trying to edit it and get it down to album length and there were like 40 pieces of tape lying all over the control room, draped over the backs of chairs, on the couch. We were trying to figure out how to put it all together and Chuck Ruff, the drummer, said "Wow man...it's like Frankenstein!" Drawing the analogy of an arm here and a leg there and pasting the thing back together, and as soon as I heard it i said "WOW!! Frankenstein!! That's it!" The monster was born!
As far as there being an existing version of that, I don't know if we did a safety or not. It might be in the CBS vault somewhwere, but I dont have one. When I rerecorded it for Waynes World 2, we did an unedited version, and I've done many versions of it since.
I wrote the song years earlier with Johnny in mind. He had his blues trio, he played the first half of the set and then said "And now I'd like to bring on my little brother Edgar" I would come on and we did a couple of blues songs. We did Tobacco Road and a Ray Charles song called Tell the Truth...and I was looking for an instrumental that would sorta showcase my instrumental abilities playing the Hammond B3 , alto sax and doing a dual drum solo with Johnnies drummer, Red Turner. I thought that riff would be something that Johnny would like, something that was appropraite to the blues vibe that was going on. It was simple and repetitive. At the time I was into jazz and I didnt want to do anything too complicated. I thought that was a very simple , bold statement. I wanted something that would be powerful in a live situation. And that's really all I was thinking about when I wrote it. We played it for a year or so, and then stoopped for a year or two. I thought of it with the advent of the synthesizer. I was looking for a powerful kind of instumental to showcase the synthesizer and I thought "Hey, that old Double Drum song was kind of a cool thing". So we started doing it live and it was just one of those things we enjoyed playing. So when we came in to do the record, the first thing we would usually warm up on was Frankenstein, just to loosen up. It was one of the first pieces that I had ever written, right around the same time that I did Entrance. Most people dont know that Johnny and I collaborated on Entrance and that Johnny wrote the majority of the lyrics on Entrance. Frankenstein, or Double Drum song, was around for several years before I ever recorded it. One of the most frequently asked questions I get is if I've ever tired of playing Frankenstein live over the years. I don't tire of Frankenstein..It continues to change and evolve. Only about 5% of it that ever remains the same. We write a new section just about on every tour..so it's always new. Quote Ends Here
One of the greatest rock instrumentals of all time, and the first to feature a synthesizer as a main instrument.