Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein

Sunday, time for a classic.

As it's Halloween atm I though we play something that is a bit scary. So why not "Frankenstein", the instrumental tune by THE EDGAR WINTER GROUP from their 1972 album "They Only Come Out At Night".

The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in May 1973, being replaced by Paul McCartney's "My Love". It sold over one million copies. In Canada it fared equally well, reaching number 1 on the RPM 100 Top Singles Chart the following month. That same month the song peaked at number 18 in the UK Singles Chart. The following month, the song peaked at number 10 in Mexico. The song also peaked at number 39 in West Germany, remaining on the chart for one week. The single was certified gold June 19, 1973, by the RIAA.

The song's title, coined by the band's drummer Chuck Ruff, derives from the fact that the original recording of the song was much longer than the final version, as the band would often deviate from the arrangement into less structured jams. The track required numerous edits to shorten it. The end result was spliced together from many sections of recording. Winter frequently refers to the appropriateness of the name also in relation to its "monster-like, alumbering beat". (One riff was first used by Winter in the song "Hung Up", on his jazz-oriented first album Entrance. He later tried a variation on it, "Martians" on the 1981 Standing on Rock album.)

Winter played many of the instruments on the track, including keyboards, saxophone and timbales. As the release's only instrumental cut, the song was not initially intended to be on the album, and was only included on a whim as a last-minute addition. It was originally released as the B-side to "Hangin' Around", but the two were soon reversed by the label when disc jockeys nationwide in the United States, as well as in Canada, were inundated with phone calls and realized this was the hit. The song features a "double" drum solo, with Ruff on drums and Winter on percussion. In fact, the working title of the song was "The Double Drum Song". The single was one of the few No. 1 chart records to include an extended passage featuring the ARP 2600 synthesizer. The group performed the song, with Rick Derringer on guitar, on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973.

The song was actually performed three years previously when Edgar was playing with his older brother Johnny Winter at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970. This rare recording was released in 2004 as one of several live bonus tracks included in the two-disc Legacy Edition CD of Johnny Winter's Second Winter.

Today's tune "Frankenstein", taken from the album "They Only Come Out At Night", enjoy!



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