Edgar Winter
Music is very spiritual, it has the power to bring people together.Collection: Power
I really had little interest in becoming famous. When I write my book, it will be my guide to avoid becoming a rock star.Collection: Famous
I can't imagine anything more worthwhile than doing what I most love. And they pay me for it.Collection: Work
I started out playing ukulele when I was 5 or 6 years old.
We started out when I was 6 years old. We played ukuleles and sang Everly Brothers songs.
I just want to thank all my fans for their loyalty and support-for coming out to the shows and buying the CDs.
I guess that I'm primarily thought of as a rocker, largely because of 'Frankenstein' being such a heavy song - you know, it was really hard rock, almost a precursor of heavy metal and just the image of the synthesizer. I happened to be the first guy to get the idea of putting a strap on the keyboard.
As far as I'm concerned, blues and jazz are the great American contributions to music.
There's a bootleg album that was recorded when I was 14 or 15, a compilation of things live at different clubs. Songs like Girl from Ipanema and Cry Me A River. I don't know what the title of it is.
The most profound, tangible influence in my life has been my wife, Monique. I don't know that I would even be alive were it not for her, and I certainly would not be the person that I am today.
I hadn't realized the number of people that are still interested in listening to what I am doing, people I would never know about if not for being online.
I liked the more sophisticated urban style of blues like Ray Charles and B. B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, Lou Rawls; people like that with more of a tendency toward jazz.
When I was first starting out, you'd have to bang an old upright piano and stick a mike in it and it would always feed back and you could never turn it up loud enough to be heard and I would beat my hands black and blue and bloody.
I'm primarily thought of as a rocker, and certainly 'Frankenstein' had a very dramatic power rock image. It was almost a precursor of heavy metal and fusion. But I also love jazz and classical and if there's one common thread that runs through all my music, it is blues.
I believe that blues and jazz are the two uniquely American contributions into music.
So yeah, I am definitely a blues man at heart.
But when I played Woodstock, I'll never forget that moment looking out over the hundreds of thousands of people, the sea of humanity, seeing all those people united in such a unique way. It just touched me in a way that I'll never forget.
I love music more just in and of itself. I love harmony and rhythm.
I think The Doors are one of the classic groups, and I think we're all tempted to feel like the time in which we grew up was somehow special, but I really do believe that there were two golden eras in music: The Forties and Fifties of big band, jazz and swing, and the Sixties and Seventies of rock. To me, they're really unparalleled.
There is a real formula to writing music, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge. It's very formulaic. The subject matter that you can address in pop music is somewhat restricted. It just doesn't allow that same emotive quality that you can put into poetry.
When I did 'Frankenstein,' the record company said, 'Now you can do 'Dracula' and 'Wolf Man' and we'll call the whole thing Monster Rock!' and I said, 'No, that's not going to happen, I'm not going to do that.' I kind of enjoy defying categorization. I love music in and of itself. I love the beauty of harmony and rhythm.
I've always considered myself something of a musical rebel.
I played Woodstock in '69, and it really changed my life. Without a doubt, it was the single event that really changed the way I felt about music. Up to that point, I hadn't really thought of myself as more serious musician, and I didn't really have that much interest in pop music.
I get really tired of hearing of all these old rockers whine and complain about how hard life on the road can be. Just stop if you don't like it. I don't think of it as work. I love it all.
There's just no telling what I'll do. But I can say for certain I will continue to play, record, and put out music.
The mountain is high, the valley is low, and you're confused on which way to go. So I've come here to give you a hand, and lead you into the promised land. So, come on and take a free ride, come on and sit here by my side, come on and take a free ride!Collection: Travel
I used to go to these old tent revivals and listen to the gospel singers. If you think rock and roll is energetic, it pales in comparison to a Pentecostal tent revival.Collection: Thinking
This year's Hippiefest tour is truly a 'Classic Rock 'n Blues Tour' - a landmark, historic, musical celebration of which my band and I are proud to be a part. It's going to be a Guitar Guru Gala of Gargantuan proportions. For me personally, it will simply be the Greatest! So, see you at one of the dates on the tour. Believe me, this is not one you want to miss. All I can say is Get Ready To Rock'n'Roll!!!Collection: Believe
I've always had a great love of music since childhood. It changes every day.. every time you write, it's a new experience. It's a self expression.Collection: Writing
When you record for a label, they own that material in perpetuity, meaning that they can release, chose not to release , or repackage it any way they so choose... with or without the permission of the artist.Collection: Artist