AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Edgar and johnny winter4/29/2023 ![]() In the 1960s, Johnny used to call out his little brother Edgar to blow some saxophone or play some keyboards. I think we’re all tempted to feel like the time we came up was somehow special but I really do believe objectively that there were two golden eras in music: the ’40s and ’50s for jazz and and the ’60s and ’70s for rock, although the ’50s laid rock’s foundations. He loves ’70s classic rock and his mission is to try to carry on that music and recreate that atmosphere of freedom. Finally, though, I met this guy, Bruce Quarto, who has a label, Quarto Valley Records. It just seemed exploitive to me, like doing it for the wrong reasons and trying to capitalize on my brother’s name. I got a lot of requests from people all over, musicians as well as record companies, all expressing interest. “I had been very reluctant to do it at first. “I finally decided to do a Johnny Winter tribute album,” says the late Beaumont, Texas guitarist’s little brother Edgar. (Photo by Michael Marks/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) All I know is he put his whole heart and soul into it, and I am so sad that I never found a way to thank him properly as he so deeply and profoundly deserved.Musician brother duo Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter pose for a portrait session on Jat the Lamar Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I would guess (like most all musicians) Taylor couldn’t help but identify with it. Johnny wrote it around the time of his first rehab, and it expresses feelings almost everyone I know has been through in one way or another. It’s a song about the lure of sex, the danger of drugs, and the Love of Rock ‘n’ Roll. I listened to it last night, and couldn’t help but cry. Most probably all these things - but whatever it was, he gave it His ALL! And Rock HE DID! I don’t know if it was out of respect for Johnny, a desire to help me in what I was doing, compassion for the nature of the project, or his friendship with Ross. He said - I don’t want ANYTHING for doing this, I just want’a get out there and Rock. When I tried to open a business discussion, he simply would not hear of it. That session was an experience I will never forget. ![]() I can be very opinionated - but as soon as heard what he was doing, I knew it was best to step back, stay out of the way, and let him do his thing. He had a unique spontaneous style different from anyone I’ve ever worked with before. I had only just met Taylor, and barely got to know him, but I was so impressed by his sincerity, positive energy, and pure enthusiasm. ![]() On his website, Edgar wrote about working with Hawkins: Edgar didn’t know Taylor Hawkins before recording a version of Johnny’s 1970 hard rocker “Guess I’ll Go Away,” but producer Ross Hogarth suggested Hawkins as a collaborator, and Hawkins came in to sing on the song. On the LP, Edgar teams up with guests like Ringo Starr, Billy Gibbons, and Michael McDonald to play his brother’s songs. It’s a tribute to Johnny Winter, Edgar’s late brother, who died in 2014 at the age of 70. And now, the blues-rock great Edgar Winter has shared a song that he recorded with Hawkins shortly before Hawkins’ death.Įdgar Winter has recently been working on the album Brother Johnny. After Hawkins’ death, other rock titans like Paul McCartney and Liam Gallagher paid tribute. Like so many other Hawkins performances, that one just radiated joy. The Foo Fighters drummer died suddenly last month at the age of 50, and in the wake of his passing, one of the videos that immediately circulated was a clip of Hawkins singing Queen’s “Somebody To Love” at Lollapalooza Chile, in what would turn out to be his final set with Foo Fighters. ![]() One thing about Taylor Hawkins: That guy loved rock ‘n’ roll.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |