I told Edgar, ‘Your brother was such a huge part of my musical childhood, and my experience of my older brother.’” Plus, Hogarth says, while growing up, “My brother would drag me to the Capitol Theater and the Fillmore East to go and see Johnny or Edgar play. Hogarth empathized with Winter’s loss, he says, having lost his brother less than a year before Edgar approached him about the project in the summer of 2018. FIRST, PICK THE SONGS Edgar Winter performed his vocals at home, with a signal chain set up by Hogarth: Neumann U 67 mic into a Firlotte Branch preamp into a Manley original ELOP compressor.
#EDGAR WINTER JOHNNY WINTER TRIBUTE ALBUM PLUS#
I never wanted to be in competition with Johnny, so I avoided the blues, but blues is my favorite music.” The resulting track list reflects some of the highlights from Johnny Winter’s record releases and stage shows over the years, both originals and covers, plus a couple of new songs written for the album by Edgar. “I tried to make it a balance of both,” Winter says, “the record that I think Johnny would have wanted me to make. The big question then became whether to make a straight-ahead blues record, like Johnny would have made, or a tribute based on Edgar’s personal favorites. I could not have done this record without him.”
Winter explains: “Ross knows what works, how it works and why it works. The final puzzle piece fell into place when engineer and producer Ross Hogarth, with whom Winter worked in 2008, came on board. “He wanted to make it for all the right reasons,” Winter says. Then Bruce Quarto, president of Quarto Valley Records, offered his backing. “She said, ‘You owe that acknowledgment to your brother, to yourself and to the world.’ Without her, I doubt that I would have undertaken this project.”
But then, he says, his wife, Monique, persuaded him that the time was right. because Winter felt that people were pressing him to release a tribute for the wrong reasons. And they had so much love and respect for Johnny.”īrother Johnny, a 17-song album to be released on April 22, nearly didn’t get made. But for the most part, he says, “It was a joyous, uplifting, inspiring experience because I got to meet so many people that I had never had the opportunity to meet and play with. The late Taylor Hawkins (right) is one of the all-star guests on Edgar Winter’s new album, ‘Brother Johnny.’ PHOTO: Courtesy of Ross HogarthĮdgar Winter knew that making a tribute album to his brother, Grammy-winning blues-rock singer and guitarist Johnny Winter, who passed away in 2014 while on tour in Europe, was going to be emotional.