REVIEW: EDGAR WINTER – Rebel Road (2015) 

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Legendary guitarist goes back to basics and comes up with something pretty special


Even by his own admission Edgar Winter’s solo career hasn’t always taken his fans along for the ride. That’s to his credit in one respect, the jazzy stuff, the science fiction, whilst not, shall we say, universally popular, was clearly music he needed to get out of system.

In another way, of course, he’s an performer and performers crave an audience. With the rock, blues and country stylings of “Rebel Road” he’s no doubt going to get one.

The 11 songs that make up the release are essentially the history of classic rock distilled. The track “Rockin’ The Blues” (which Edgar explains in the informative sleeve notes was originally going to be the title track) is most probably going to attract most of the attention, given that it’s a duet with his late and much missed brother Johnny, and you get the feeling that it’s laid back, confident grooves will always be special to the man who sings it.

But “Rebel Road” is far from a one song affair, any more in fact than its a blues record. In amongst the bluesy stuff you are just as likely to encounter the hard rock of the title track, which sees guitar added by Slash, that 1980s feel continues on “Eye On You” which features a kind of Aerosmith-type swagger and the closing “Oh No No” which shows Bon Jovi’s middle of the road recent output the middle finger on its way out of the door.

In addition to his brother and Mr. Saul Hudson, there is one other special guest, and the country star Clint Black adds a real blue collar grit to the catchy as hell “Power Of Positive Drinkin'” and “On The Horns Of A Dilemma” – the latter of which could have come straight off Southside Johnny’s “Better Days” record.

“…..Road” is a record that just sounds like it is bursting with energy. There’s a sheer joy and love of music on work like the Who-influenced “Freedom” that you can’t fake, and there’s an appreciation of rock history that few can match elsewhere, notably on “Peace And Love”, which is a classy Beatles-ish slice of psychedelics (dedicated here to Ringo Starr).

Winter reckons the album amounts to his autobiography. If that’s true then one of its tracks stands above all others. “Texas Tornado” sees Winter cut loose on the sax and contains the telling lines that: “I love my music/I love my wife/gonna be happy for the rest of my life”. And what a glorious thought that is.

More importantly, what a glorious record this is.

Rating 9/10

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