Christopher Wintrip - Brimstone

Brimstone were a band from Canton, Ohio that lasted from 1971 to 1980. With a progressive rock and Christian vibes, they recorded an LP at Peppermint in 1973 and a 45 in Cleveland later that year. The 45 was part of a second LP that was never released. The band continued for many years with several personnel changes with Wintry being one of the few consistent members keeping the Brimstone legacy alive. This is his story.

What was growing up like for you? Are you originally from Canton, Ohio? When did you first begin playing music and was this something that was relevant while you were growing up? Do you have any siblings?

I was born and raised in Clinton, Oh. When I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show it changed my life and told my dad, “I wanna do that!” My parents were both musicians and listened to 50s and 60s records. My grandfather was also a musician and so my dad took me over to his house for guitar lessons at the age of 12. I started in ‘Mel Bey’ Primer sight reading notes and learning melodies to famous legendary songs. My readings skills were not proficient and I learned a lot about timing. My grandpa gave me my first guitar, a Sears Silver-tone and I grew very passionate about playing it. Both of my sisters grew up listening to music and became musicians in the high school marching band. We were around music constantly. I joined my first band at the age of 14 playing at Junior High Sock Hop.

Brimstone.

Where would you go to see live concerts and who were some of the first bands you saw? Who left a heavy impression on you in those early days? Ohio had an incredible rock scene back in the 60s and 70s. I imagine you saw some greats! Did you participate in any groups prior to Brimstone? What were your first impressions of your bandmates? When and where did the band first get together to rehearse, or jam together? What was the chemistry like right off the bat?

I went to see my first live event at Skateland Roller Rink at our local fairgrounds when I was 15. It was the origins James Gang. First big concert was in ‘67 with Terry Knight and the Pack and Three Dog Night at our local Memorial Auditorium. Later I saw Glass Harp, Cactus, GFR… Boy was I hooked! Mom bought me a sharp 2 channel reel to reel tape deck with sound on sound and I recorded ll kinds of crazy little compositions just playing rhythm guitar and singing. I began to live in my bedroom creating what would eventually be the beginnings of a band (I had no idea at the time) Brimstone. I was also an artist and drew many album covers, pencil sketches of players inventing band names. My very first band was called “The Moonrackers”, named after The Jams Bond movie. We played around at the school festivals and dances performing covers from the lates 50’s and 60’s. Second band was called “The Immortals” and again covers playing in parks and dances. I was a strong rhythm player that could sing, so I was always asked to be in a band.

When and where did the band make their live performance debut? What was that experience like? What was the band’s process and approach to writing music until it came time to record the group’s lone debut LP?

In 1970 I met Ken Miller at a high school combined school choir event and we started composing together. He later introduced me to Jimmy “Greek” Papatoukakis. Greek also dabbled in piano and the three of us wrote many early songs that weren’t on the Lp. Material was somewhat scripture based due to my influence from Phil Keaggy of Glass Harp. This went on through ‘70-’71. I met Greg Andrews at a battle-of-the bands at Memorial Auditorium. We talked a bit and he expressed interest in our project. A friend turned me onto Yes and Genesis and I began my journey exploring lead/rhythm guitar covering al the harmonic structures of our music. Gregg joined and became our frontman/lead Vox and lyricist. All 4 of us could sing lead trading places back and forth. A lot of the songs of ‘PWD’ were written before Bernie Nau joined. He was one of Greg’s connections. There was a lot of issues one we became a 5 piece band, personality clashes, ideas in and out and I felt the control of the leadership slipped away to Bernie. Not necessarily a bad thing thing mind you, but a different and more progressive rock direction from his influence of Keith Emerson. Brimstone soon became an iconic force to be reckoned with. We met our promoter/manager Pat Fugate who took Brimstone to new heights opening for Climax Blues Band and Meyers Lake Ballroom. That concert gave us the drive to push on as an original band/artist!

Brimstone.

Tell me about writing as well as recording the band’s lone LP “Paper Winged Dreams”. When and where did recording start in ‘73? I understand you guys worked on the album at the legendary Peppermint Studios. Can you tell me about those sessions and what that experience was like when creating that album?

The writing would start with me at first then the band would follow my idea and expand on it in collaboration. Songs like “Dead Sleep At Night, End Of The Road, Fields Of Clay” and the whole second side were written all together with primary writers Gregg, Bernie and I. To this day we still own all the rights. Our manager Pat arranged for us to go into Peppermint and record an album while we were playing six nights a week at the Warren Brown Derby. Sleep deprived, we stayed up many nights and rehearsed while living in a motel apartment cooking our next session.

Did you continue to play music after Brimstone was all said and done? When you reflect on your time in the band, what are you most proud of? What memories and times do you cherish the most and what advice would you give musicians coming up during these rather strange times?

We did not self release the Lp. It was handled and controlled by our manager Pat and his connections. Cleveland International released and distributed ‘PWD’ and during that there was a chain of stores called “Recordland” while that was going on Pat got us a show opening for The Raspberries at the Cleveland Agora. That’s how we met Arnie Rosenberger at Agency Studios and cut our first single, “Homecoming/Visions of Autumn.” We disbanded in ‘74 after several attempts to save the legacy with new band members. We ended up in a psych/prog/fusion direction (King Crimson, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant). More experimental than commercial and it didn’t go anywhere.

Did you continue to play music after Brimstone was all said and done? When you reflect on your time in the band, what are you most proud of? What memories and times do you cherish the most and what advice would you give musicians coming up during these rather strange times?

I met a new drummer Scott Grewell and brought back bassist John Davis who replaced Ken Miller in Brimstone while we were touring the US playing various clubs just to survive. Scott, John and I formed a power trio writing new material that later became Brimstone Two! Nothing was ever released from the garage and studio recordings. From (1975-1980) we opened for bands such as New York Dolls, CBB, Roger McQuinn Band , Renaissance, Babe Ruth, Skynyrd, Frampton’s Camel and The Raspberries.