Scientology Critical Information Directory

This site is best viewed using a highly standards-compliant browser

Collaboration with Hubbard led Winter to 'Earth'

Title: Collaboration with Hubbard led Winter to 'Earth'
Date: Friday, 30 June 1989
Publisher: Daily News
Author: Bruce Britt
Main source: link (322 KiB)

Disclaimer: This archive is presented strictly in the public interest for research purposes. All the copyrights of materials reproduced here are the properties of their respective owners.

Initially labeled a blues-rock singer, Edgar Winter went on to record popular hard-rock albums like "Frankenstein," "They Only Come Out at Night" and "Shock Treatment" during the 1970s.

Winter has been out of the spotlight lately, but he has kept busy touring with former Doobie, Brothers singer Michael McDonald as well as singer-songwriter Leon Russell. He also performed on David Lee Roth's rendition of Winter's 1974 hit "Easy Street."

Recently Winter returned to the recording studio to record in album titled "Mission Earth." His collaborator on the Rhino Records album is none other than author and Scientology mastermind the late L. Ron Hubbard.

"Mission Earth" is actually a 10-book social satire that provides an alien's-eye view of planet Earth. Winter said the album is both a return to his rock and experimental roots.

"I was sort of a pioneer in the synthesizer field, and (synthesizers) tied in perfectly with the futuristic theme," the singer explained. "The project really interested me."

Plans for the album were first drawn up in 1985, when Hubbard, an old fan of Winter's music, approached the singer with the idea for the album. Intrigued, Winter read unedited drafts of the "Mission Earth" series. The singer wash so impressed, he agreed to collaborate with Hubbard.

Hubbard began sending cassettes to Winter containing skeletal melodies played on synthesizers. Winter would then return the revised music and lyrics to Hubbard for his approval. The two never met throughout the recording of the album.

"When I agreed to do the project, I had hoped we would meet," Winter admitted. "But there was no real necessity in our meeting. The cassettes Ron sent me were really detailed, and, in some ways, I think it was better accomplished this way. Had he been there looking over my shoulder, I might not have had the freedom to fully inject my input."

Hubbard died in January 1986.

Winter, who said he wrote about 75 percent of the music and 25 percent of the lyrics, said his goal was to make the album as accessible as possible.

"I tried to make the album in such a way that there was a wide variety of stuff," Winter said. "That way the album would stand on its own without people never having to read any of the books."

[Picture / Caption: "Had he been there looking over my shoulder, I might not have had the freedom to fully inject my input." Edgar Winter, right, says of collaborating with L. Ron Hubbard prior to the latter's death in 1986.]

[unrelated stuff follows]