Edgar Winter's White Trash

Edgar Winter's White Trash - Recycled - 1977- Blue Sky

The much-anticipated reunion of Edgar Winter's White Trash brings the powerhouse vocalist Jerry LaCroix back to the forefront, allowing Edgar Winter to put more of his energy into the keyboards, saxophones and percussion. While Recycled is by no means any competition for their 1971 debut album or their subsequent live release, Roadwork, it still houses a few punches that will catch you with your guard down if you aren't careful. Extreme musicianship dominates, but a few classic covers might have helped endear this release to its listeners. After all, that was the key to the original success. © Michael B. Smith © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/recycled-r52775

While his brother Johnny mainly sticks to blues and blues rock, Edgar likes to incorporate jazz, soul, rock, R&B as well as blues into his music. And while Johnny Winter is an incredibly talented guitarist, it is often forgotten that Edgar is a multi-instrumentalist, proficient on guitar, alto sax, bass, drums and keyboards. "Recycled" has nine great tracks. Tracks like the bluesy "The In And Out Of Love Blues", and the soul jazz "Parallel Love" are just two examples of Edgar Winter's musical styles. Jerry LaCroix is a fantastic vocalist and shines on this album. However, all the musicians involved are at their best. Jon Smith's sax and Marshall Cyr's trumpet work add a real funky soul flavour to the album. Edgar's piano work is also terrific. White Trash only released three albums and Edgar disbanded White Trash in July 1972, shortly after drummer Bobby Ramirez was tragically killed in a bar room fight. "Recycled" is a great and underrated album of blues, jazz, soul, R&B, and Texas-Louisiana style funk, and is VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to the band's 1971 classic s/t album produced by Rick Derringer. Edgar Winter & Friends' "The Real Deal" album is a fabulous rockin' album and includes artists like Johnny Winter, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Rick Derringer, Ronnie Montrose, and Leon Russell. Also worth checking out is BS&T's 'Mirror Image' album, and also Rare Earth's 'Back To Earth' album which both feature the great vocalist, Jerry LaCroix. Edgar will be joining Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band's 12th All Starr tour, (2011) which will play venues in Russia, The Ukraine, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, England, Scotland, France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, and Austria. Also joining Ringo Starr will be Rick Derringer on guitar, Richard Page on bass, Wally Palmar on guitar & harmonica, Gary Wright on keyboards and Gregg Bissonette on drums. Dates start on 4th June in Kiev, and finish on the 17th July in Vienna. If you get a chance, try and make one of these gigs.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

SIDE 1

1 Puttin' it Back - E. Winter
2 Leftover Love - E. Winter
3 Shake It Off - J.Smith, G.Recile, D.Minatre
4 Stickin' It Out - E. Winter
5 New Wave - E. Winter, J.LaCroix

SIDE 2

Open Up - E. Winter
Parallel Love - E. Winter, J.LaCroix
The In And Out Of Love Blues - E. Winter, J.LaCroix
Competition - E. Winter

MUSICIANS

Dan Minatre, Dan Hartman, Floyd Radford - guitar
Robert "California" Arnold - bass
Edgar Winter - vocals, piano
Bobby Ramirez RIP, George Recile - drums
Jon Smith - sax
Marshall Cyr - trumpet
Jerry LaCroix - lead vocals

ABOUT EDGAR WINTER'S WHITE TRASH (WIKI)

Edgar Winter's White Trash is a 1970s rock band founded by Edgar Winter. Notable members included guitarist Rick Derringer and newcomer Jerry Lacroix on vocals, with Edgar's brother guitarist Johnny Winter a frequent contributor. Formed in 1971 after working on his brother's Second Winter and his own first solo effort Entrance, Edgar Winter's new band White Trash fused elements of funk, gospel, R&B and high-energy rock and roll, propelled by Winter's multi-instrumental workouts and Sly Stone influenced vocals and arrangements, Derringer's fiery guitar work and Lacroix's powerful gospel-tinged vocals. The band's first release, 1971's Edgar Winter's White Trash, was well received, and yielded the modest hit Keep Playing That Rock And Roll. The band toured extensively throughout 1971, developing a reputation as formidable live act. In 1972 following the release the double live LP Roadwork, the group disbanded to pursue individual interests and to make way for Edgar's next project The Edgar Winter Group. In 1977 White Trash reunited briefly in the studio to produce Recycled.

ABOUT EDGAR WINTER

Although he's often skirted the edges of blues music, at heart, saxophonist, keyboardist and composer Edgar Winter is a blues musician. Raised in Beaumont, TX, the younger brother of ukulele player and guitarist Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter has always pushed himself in new directions, synthesizing the rock, blues and jazz melodies he hears in his head. As a consequence, his fan base may not be what it could have been, had he made a conscious effort -- like his brother Johnny -- to stay in a blues-rock mold over the years. He's one musician who's never been afraid to venture into multiple musical arenas, often times, within the space of one album, as in his debut, Entrance (1970 Columbia Records). Edgar Winter, the second son of John and Edwina Winter, was born December 28, 1946 in Beaumont, TX, and much of the credit for Edgar and Johnny's early musical awareness must go to the brothers' parents, who have been a constant source of encouragement throughout their respective musical careers. The boys' father sang in a barbershop quartet, in their church choir, and played saxophone in a jazz group. Edgar and Johnny, who's three years older, began performing together as teens, playing local watering holes like Tom's Fish Camp before they were old enough to drink. The pair's early R&B and blues groups included Johnny and the Jammers, the Crystaliers and the Black Plague. In high school, Edgar became fascinated with the saxophone stylings of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and Hank Crawford, and he began playing alto sax in earnest. As a pre-teen, he had played ukulele, like his older brother. But by the time he was of college age, Edgar had become competent on keyboards, bass, guitar and drums. Edgar was signed to Epic Records in 1970 after performing on his brother's Second Winter album. He recorded Entrance, his debut, which featured himself on most of the instruments. After radio success accompanying his brother on Johnny Winter And, he formed a large horn ensemble called White Trash. Although it was a short-lived group which broke up in mid-'72, Winter assembled another group to record two more albums for Epic Records, White Trash and Roadwork. Winter's single, "Keep Playing That Rock 'n' Roll," reached number 70 on the U.S. rock radio charts, and the album Roadwork hit number 23 on the album charts. By the summer of 1972, through constant touring, (and a ready willingness to do interviews, unlike his older brother), Winter formed the Edgar Winter Group in the summer of 1972. In January, 1973, Epic released They Only Come Out at Night, produced by guitarist Rick Derringer, which reached number three in the U.S. This album had Winter's most famous song, "Frankenstein," which reached number one in the U.S. in May of 1973. Later that year, "Free Ride" from the same album reached number 14. Although he's never matched that kind of commercial radio success again, Winter has continued to tour and record at a prolific pace. He relocated from New York City to Beverly Hills in 1989 to pursue movie score work, which he's had some success with, most notably with a slightly reworked version of "Frankenstein" for the movie Wayne's World II. Although his early-'70s albums like Entrance, White Trash, They Only Come Out at Night and Shock Treatment are bluesier affairs than some of his later albums, there are blues tunes like "Big City Woman" on one of his 1990s releases, Not a Kid Anymore (1994), on the Intersound label, and 1999's Winter Blues was almost wholly devoted to the idiom. A good introduction to Winter for those who weren't around in the early '70s is The Edgar Winter Collection (1993) on Rhino Records. © Richard Skelly © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/edgar-winter-p73272/biography