Watch Edgar Winter Show Multi-Instrumental Prowess With ‘Frankenstein’ On ‘Midnight Special’ In 1973

Famed 1970s late night program The Midnight Special continues to roll out stellar musical performances on their YouTube channel. TMS recently shared video of Edgar Winter showing off his multi-instrumental chops on the classic instrumental “Frankenstein” in 1973.

“Frankenstein” appears on The Edgar Winter Group’s 1972 debut album, They Only Come Out at Night. But it almost didn’t. As the story goes, the song was dubbed “Frankenstein” by drummer Chuck Ruff because it took a lot of editing to shorten the instrumental as the band kept going out on tangent jams in the studio.

Seen as more of a live song rather than an album cut, “Frankenstein” was included on They Only Come Out At Night as an afterthought. It also found a home as the B-side to the LP”s “Hangin’ Around.” But as disc-jockeys were overwhelmed with calls requesting “Frankenstein,” the songs’ roles were reversed. “Frankenstein” hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1973.

Edgar Winter Group — Edgar, Ruff, bassist Dan Hartman and guitarist Jerry Weems performed the song on The Midnight Special on September 7, 1973. As he does on the much shorter album version, Edgar plays saxophone, timbales and synthesizer — the latter with his pioneering “keyboard body strap,” a protoype of the keytar.

Watch Edgar Winter Group perform “Frankenstein” on Midnight Special below: