Free Ride (song) explained

Free Ride
Cover:	Free Ride Edgar Winter.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Edgar Winter Group
Album:	They Only Come Out at Night
B-Side:	When It Comes
Released:	August 1973
Recorded:	1972
Genre:	Rock^[1]
Length:	3:05 (single version) 3:20 (full version)
Label:	Epic
Producer:	Rick Derringer
Prev Title:	Frankenstein
Prev Year:	1973
Next Title:	Hangin' Around
Next Year:	1973

"Free Ride" is a song written by Dan Hartman and performed by the Edgar Winter Group from their 1972 album They Only Come Out at Night, produced by Rick Derringer. The single was a top 15 U.S. hit in 1973, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100^[2] and number 10 on Cash Box. In Canada, it peaked at number 8.^[3]

Personnel

• Edgar Winter – clavinet, electric piano, ARP 2600 synthesizer, backing vocals
• Ronnie Montrose – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Dan Hartman – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, percussions
• Rick Derringer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, producer
• Randy Jo Hobbs – bass guitar
• Johnny Badanjek – drums

Other versions

Tavares recorded a version of the song for their 1975 album, In the City. Their version peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100^[2] and number 8 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Hartman himself re-recorded the song and released it on his 1979 album Relight My Fire. When The Cats Away recorded a version and was released in January 1990 and peaked at number 12

Charts

Weekly charts

Edgar Winter Group

Chart (1973)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[4]	84
Canada 100 (RPM)	8
US Cash Box Top 100^[5]	10

Tavares

Chart (1975–76)	Peak position
Canada RPM Top Singles	71
US Billboard Hot 100	52
US Billboard R&B	8
US Cash Box Top 100^[6]	56

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)	Rank
Canada^[7]	109
US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)^[8]	115
US Cash Box Top 100^[9]	65

In popular culture

The song was featured in Air America and in The Drew Carey Show episode "The Dog and Pony Show".^[10] The song is featured in the 1993 film, Dazed and Confused while Hartman's recording appeared in and on its soundtrack album.^[11] It was also featured as a song in the video game tie-in for the film, Cars, and is also used in the Disney California Adventure ride, Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!^[12] It was sampled on the Girl Talk mash-up album Feed the Animals.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Greenwald . Matthew . Free Ride by The Edgar Winter Group - Track Info AllMusic . allmusic . 26 March 2023 . en.
2. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 –
3. RPM100 Singles. 34. 2. October 20, 1973. RPM. Ottawa

   Library and Archives Canada

   . November 8, 2015.
4. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 341.
5. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 10/20/73 . 2016-12-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150609225628/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19731020.html . 2015-06-09 . dead .
6. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, January 10, 1976 . March 10, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181018175620/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19760110.html . October 18, 2018 . dead .
7. Web site: Item. Library and Archives. Canada. 17 July 2013. Bac-lac.gc.ca. 7 June 2021.
8. Book: Whitburn, Joel . 1999 . Pop Annual . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin . Record Research Inc. . 0-89820-142-X.
9. Web site: Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1973 . 2016-12-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140715135835/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1973YESP.html . 2014-07-15 . dead .
10. News: Hello, 'Monty': Drew drops drawers. Archerd. Army. October 16, 1997. Variety. January 19, 2014.
11. Web site: Dazed and Confused (1993) . IMDb.com.
12. Web site: Tuttle . Brittani . 2017-04-26 . Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! to have its own Awesome Mix . 2023-05-17 . Attractions Magazine . en-US.