They Only Come Out At Night
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Album Summary
They Only Come Out At Night was recorded and released in 1972 on Epic Records, produced by the legendary Rick Derringer alongside Edgar Winter himself — and baby, that combination was pure lightning in a bottle. Edgar, the albino prodigy from Beaumont, Texas, brought together a tight, road-hardened band and walked into the studio with something to prove. This was a record that refused to be pinned down — part rock, part blues, part jazz, part funk — and that glorious refusal to stay in one lane is exactly what made it special. Derringer's production gave the whole thing a punchy, live-wire feel, like the band was always one beat away from blowing the roof off the joint.
Reception
- They Only Come Out At Night was a massive commercial success, climbing to number three on the Billboard 200 and spending over 80 weeks on the charts — a remarkable run that spoke to just how deeply this record connected with the record-buying public.
- Critics at the time recognized the album's genre-blending ambition, praising Edgar Winter's multi-instrumental virtuosity and the band's ability to swing from hard rock ferocity to tender balladry within the same side of a record.
- Free Ride became a breakout radio smash and Top 20 hit, but it was the instrumental Frankenstein that shocked everybody — rising all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 and proving that a hard rock instrumental could own the airwaves.
Significance
- Frankenstein stands as one of the most audacious and innovative rock instrumentals ever committed to tape — a piece that used early tape-editing and synthesis techniques to create something that sounded like it genuinely crawled out of the future, and it remains a towering monument in the history of rock music.
- The album cemented Edgar Winter's place as one of rock's true Renaissance men, showcasing his mastery of keyboards, saxophone, and vocals across a set of songs that refused to respect genre boundaries at a time when rock radio was hungry for exactly that kind of adventurous spirit.
- They Only Come Out At Night helped establish the blueprint for arena rock in the mid-1970s — a big, bold, muscular sound with serious musicianship underneath the flash — and its fingerprints can be felt across a generation of hard rock and classic rock that followed in its wake.
Samples
- Frankenstein — one of the most sampled rock instrumentals in hip-hop history, with its thunderous synth riff and drum breaks appearing across countless productions; sampled by artists including Busta Rhymes and used extensively in hip-hop and electronic music contexts.
- Free Ride — its infectious guitar riff and energetic groove have been sampled and interpolated across multiple hip-hop and R&B productions over the decades.
Tracklist
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A1 Hangin' Around 119
3:02
-
A2 When It Comes 123
3:16
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A3 Alta Mira 102
3:08
-
A4 Free Ride 123
3:20
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A5 Undercover Man 129
3:49
-
B1 Round & Round 126
4:00
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B2 Rock 'N' Roll Boogie Woogie Blues 117
3:25
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B3 Autumn 138
3:00
-
B4 We All Had A Real Good Time 96
3:06
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B5 Frankenstein 95
4:45
Artist Details
The Edgar Winter Group burst onto the scene out of Beaumont, Texas in the early 1970s, led by the impossibly talented albino multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter, a man who could blow your mind on saxophone, keyboards, and just about anything else he picked up. This group laid down some of the heaviest, most electrifying blues-rock and jazz-funk fusion the decade had to offer, and their 1972 smash "Frankenstein" became one of the first instrumental tracks to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, cementing their place in rock history as true innovators. The Edgar Winter Group proved that boundary-pushing musicianship and raw, funky soul could live side by side, influencing a generation of artists who understood that real music had no limits.
