''Roadwork'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by vocalist/keyboardist/saxophonist

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their pop ...

and his band

White Trash White trash is a derogatory term in American English for poor white people, especially in the rural areas of the southern United States. The label signifies a social class within the white population, especially those perceived to have a ...

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

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

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 Richard Dean Zehringer (August 5, 1947 – May 26, 2025), known professionally as Rick Derringer, was an American musician, producer and songwriter. He gained success in the 1960s with his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, " Hang On Sloopy", ...

. The longest track on the album was the band's own version of the John D. Loudermilk song, " Tobacco Road", 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, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...

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 (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

and the Academy of Music in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 Boulev ...

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: 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, VH-1 VJ, TV host and actor. Crocker helped grow WBLS, the urban adult contemporary and black music radio station, into the #1 station in New York ...

, 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