''Roadwork'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by vocalist/keyboardist/saxophonist

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

and his band

White Trash White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a ...

, a powerful revue famous for their fusion of funk, gospel, R&B, and rock 'n' roll. It was released as a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

LP in 1972. ''Roadwork'' was the second of only three albums the band recorded together. Highlights include Winter's vocals and virtuoso keyboard work, plus the guitar stylings of

Rick Derringer Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American guitarist, vocalist, producer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the 1960s as founding member of his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", was ...

. The longest track on the album was the band's own version of the

John D. Loudermilk John Dee Loudermilk Jr. (March 31, 1934 – September 21, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter. Although he had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter. His best-known songs include "I ...

song, "

Tobacco Road Tobacco Road may refer to: Prose * ''Tobacco Road'' (novel) (1932), by Erskine Caldwell ** ''Tobacco Road'' (play) (1933), by Jack Kirkland ** ''Tobacco Road'' (film) (1941), directed by John Ford Music * "Tobacco Road" (song) (1960s), by John D. ...

", which lasted over 17 minutes, taking up an entire side of the album. Derringer contributed lead vocals to "Still Alive and Well" and " Back in the USA", and

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

made a special appearance singing lead and playing guitar on "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo". Louisiana native Jerry LaCroix, who shared lead vocals with Winter in White Trash, is also prominently featured. The album was recorded before live audiences at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

and the Academy of Music in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the legendary

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

night club. The album was certified gold December 18, 1974 by the RIAA.https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=Edgar%20Winter

Track listing

Personnel

: Lead and backing vocals, Keyboards, Saxophone *Jerry LaCroix: Lead and backing vocals, saxophone * Jon Smith: Backing vocals, saxophone *

: Lead vocals, guitars *

Randy Jo Hobbs Randy Jo Hobbs (March 22, 1948 – August 5, 1993) was an American musician born in Winchester, Indiana. Hobbs played bass for The McCoys during the 1965-1969 period and in the bands of the brothers Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter during 1970-1976 ...

: Bass *Bobby Ramirez: Drums *Marshall Cyr: Trumpet *Mike McClellan: Trumpet *Tilly Lawrence: Trumpet *

: Lead vocals, guitar on "Rock & Roll, Hoochie Koo" *Pete Weiss - engineering

Production notes

At the start of their appearance at the

, the host

Frankie Crocker Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker (December 18, 1937 – October 21, 2000) was an American disc jockey who helped grow WBLS, the black music radio station in New York. Early soul radio According to popeducation.org, Crocker began his career in Buffalo ...

, a New York d.j. who introduced them, chided their evident late arrival saying (slightly off mic): ''"Y'know, every time we used to go downtown to them jive jobs they give us, they always say 'black folks: late, can't be on time,' now look at the White Trash!" (chuckle)'' The comment was met with laughter from the audience. After the introduction, the audience again broke out into sporadic laughter, and a loud gasp after seeing Edgar's albino complexion, possibly not expecting much from the band as it consisted of all white musicians (apart from drummer Ramirez), but their doubts were quickly dispelled when the band launched into "Cool Fool", a funky R&B song. This snippet appears on the original vinyl release at the beginning of Side 4.

References

{{Authority control Edgar Winter albums 1972 live albums Epic Records live albums Albums recorded at the Apollo Theater Albums recorded at the Whisky a Go Go