Frankenstein (song)
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| “Frankenstein” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Edgar Winter from the album They Only Come Out at Night |
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| Released | 1973 | ||||
| Genre | Hard rock | ||||
| Length | 4:44 | ||||
| They Only Come Out at Night track listing | |||||
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"Frankenstein" is a rock instrumental by The Edgar Winter Group from their album They Only Come Out At Night. In live performances of the song, Edgar Winter further pioneered the advancement of the synthesizer as a lead instrument by becoming the first person ever to strap a keyboard instrument around his neck, giving him the on-stage mobility and audience interaction of guitar players. The song topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for a week starting in May of 1973, and sold over one million copies. It was knocked out of the #1 spot by Paul McCartney's "My Love." Frankenstein reached #18 in the UK the following month.[1]
The song's title, coined by the band's drummer Chuck Ruff, is derived from the fact that the original recording of the song was much longer then 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 literally pieced together from many different sections of recording tape through the use of a razor blade and splicing tape. Winter frequently refers to the appropriateness of the name also in relation to its "monster-like, lumbering beat". (One riff was first used by Winter on his jazz-oriented debut album Entrance in the song "Hung Up". He later tried a variation on it, "Martians" from the 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 were inundated with phone calls and realized this was the hit. The song features a "double" drum solo (Ruff on drums and Winter on percussion). In fact, the working title of the song was "The Double Drum Solo."[2]
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 recently released as one of several live bonus tracks included in the two disc Deluxe Edition CD of Johnny Winter's Second Winter.
[edit] Trivia
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- The original version of the song was much longer, but due to the editing of the master, this version is no longer extant; however, a live recording of the full version of the song from CalJam '74 exists which runs 8:54. Listening to this version points out where the edits were made in the hit version; this track was released on a bootleg CD entitled "Rick Derringer Owes Me Money". There is also a version which runs for 9:12 recorded in the UK in 1973 for the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test.
- A digitized version of the song serves as the opening to Maniac Mansion.
- The song was played at many Phish concerts, including the New Year's Eve 1995 - Live at Madison Square Garden show.
- The song was frequently played during the encore at many They Might Be Giants concerts in the 1990s.
- The song can be found in Harmonix's 2005 PlayStation 2 music video game Guitar Hero, and later released as a part of a 3-song pack via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 title Guitar Hero II on April 11, 2007. Strangely, the player will in addition to the guitar-based sections have to play the saxophone and synthesizer parts of the song in order to complete it, a conception that quickly makes it one of the harder songs in the game(s).
- The song was featured in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homerpalooza" and hummed in the episode Homer Defined.
- The song was also featured in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Crook and Ladder"" in which Homer was acting like a zombie.
- The song was played in an episode of the NBC show My Name Is Earl where Earl starts a band.
- The song was played at the beginning of the movie Wayne's World 2.
- The song was featured in the video game Forza Motorsport. Although slightly edited, it was included in the games classic rock based soundtrack created by Junkie XL.
- This song was covered by the Brass Funk and Jazz Rock group Bonerama, from New Orleans, Louisiana.
- The song can be heard blaring from Pauly Shore's headphones in the film Encino Man
- Keyboardist Derek Sherinian recorded a cover of the song on his 2001 album, Inertia.
- The band Overkill did a metal-version of the song on their album "Horrorscope".
- To imply that something is cool, MTV's Beavis and Butthead often mouth-guitar the lead guitar hook from this song.
- This was the entrance music used by 911 in ECW.
- This song was covered by the Massachusetts born guitarist Gary Hoey.
- Jazz Bassist Marcus Miller covered the song on his 2005 album Silver Rain.
- This was the entrance music of the Heavenly Bodies tag team in Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
- The song in Featured in the Movie Detroit Rock City.
- The song is a staple of many college marching bands including USC's marching band, and the UC Davis California Aggie Marching Band-uh!.
- The song has been used in the recent ads for the movie Strange Wilderness starring Steve Zahn.
[edit] Other songs with this name
- A 1973 song was featured on the debut album by the pioneering pre-punk band, the New York Dolls.
- The hard rock band Clutch also has a song titled "Frankenstein" on the 2001 album Pure Rock Fury.
- Iced Earth has a song titled Frankenstein
References:
- ^ Rock Movers & Shakers by Dafydd Rees & Luke Crampton, 1991 Billboard Books.
- ^ Morse, Tim. Classic Rock Stories: The Stories Behind the Greatest Songs of All Time (c) 1998 Tim Morse.
| Preceded by "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" by Stevie Wonder |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Edgar Winter Group song) May 26, 1973 |
Succeeded by "My Love" by Paul McCartney and Wings |
