{{Short description|Canadian musician (1946–1997)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Kurt Winter | image = Kurt Winter.png | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = Kurt Winter with The Guess Who in 1970 | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date|1946|4|2}} | birth_place = | origin = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|1997|12|14|1946|4|2}} | death_place = | genre = Rock<ref name="MMM-Einarson" /> | occupation = Guitarist, songwriter | instrument = {{hlist|Guitar}} | years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) --> | label = | past_member_of = {{unbulleted list|Brother|The Guess Who}} }} '''Kurt Frank Winter''' (April 2, 1946 – December 14, 1997) was a Canadian guitarist and songwriter, best known as a member of The Guess Who.
== Biography == Winter was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He attended Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute.<ref name="MMM-Einarson">{{cite web |last=Einarson |first=John |author-link=John Einarson |title=Kurt Winter |url=http://www.manitobamusicmuseum.com/obituaries/winter_kurt.html |access-date=October 8, 2024 |work=Manitoba Music Museum |date=2012}}</ref> From the mid-1960s he was a member of several local Winnipeg rock bands, collaborating at various times with bassist Bill Wallace and drummer Vance Schmidt (later known as Vance Masters).<ref name="CB-Gettysbyrg">{{cite web |title=Gettysbyrg Address |url=http://www.canadianbands.com/Gettysbyrg%20Address.html |website=CanadianBands.com |access-date=November 4, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305011238/http://www.canadianbands.com/Gettysbyrg%20Address.html |archive-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref><ref name="CB-Brother">{{cite web |title=Brother |url=http://www.canadianbands.com/Brother.html |website=CanadianBands.com |access-date=November 3, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012808/http://www.canadianbands.com/Brother.html |archive-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last= |first= |date=December 5, 2004 |title=Fifth, The |url=http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/F/Fifth.html |encyclopedia=Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109024457/http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/F/Fifth.html |archive-date=January 9, 2016 |access-date=November 7, 2015}}</ref> In 1969 Winter, Wallace, and Schmidt formed the band Brother, who were associates of The Guess Who.<ref name="MMM-Einarson" /> Brother was together for less than six months, but became known for the fact that all three members later joined The Guess Who.
Guitarist Randy Bachman left The Guess Who in 1970, and that's when the band's leader Burton Cummings recruited Winter and Greg Leskiw as Bachman's replacements.<ref name="CB-Gettysbyrg" /><ref name="CB-Brother" /> Winter was with The Guess Who for four years and became one of the band's primary songwriters in tandem with Cummings.<ref name="WFP-Wint">{{cite news |last=Einarson |first=John |author-link=John Einarson |title=Winter's tale |url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/winters-tale-235911331.html |access-date=November 10, 2015 |work=Winnipeg Free Press |date=December 15, 2013}}</ref> After six studio albums, Winter left The Guess Who for undisclosed reasons in 1974,<ref name="WFP-Wint" /> and was replaced by Domenic Troiano.
After The Guess Who broke up, various former members of that band attempted reunion tours with floating lineups. Winter briefly joined a lineup led by bassist Jim Kale in 1977–1978, and contributed to the album ''Guess Who's Back''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Guess-Who-Guess-Whos-Back/release/1568019|title=The Guess Who – Guess Who's Back (1978, Vinyl)|website=Discogs |date=1978}}</ref>
Winter then retired from the music industry and resided in Winnipeg for the rest of his life.<ref name="MMM-Einarson" /> Burton Cummings invited Winter to write songs for his 1990s solo albums, though Winter chose a life away from music.<ref name="MMM-Einarson" /> Winter suffered from health problems attributed to excessive alcohol use, and died at age 51 from kidney failure on December 14, 1997.<ref name="MMM-Einarson" /> His alma mater, Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, initiated an annual scholarship in Winter's name in 1998.<ref name="WFP-Wint" /> Cummings memorialized Winter in "Kurt's Song" on his 2008 album, ''Above the Ground''. Cummings described Winter as "one of my fondest writing partners".<ref>Ostick, Stephen (October 3, 1988). [http://www.hillmanweb.com/gueswho1.html "Cummings picks wah-wah as career highlight"]. ''Winnipeg Free Press''. As reprinted by Hillman Web. Retrieved November 14, 2015.</ref>
==Discography== {{Main|The Guess Who discography}} '''With The Guess Who:''' * 1970 ''Share the Land'' * 1971 ''The Best of The Guess Who'' * 1971 ''So Long, Bannatyne'' * 1972 ''Rockin''' * 1972 ''Live at the Paramount '' * 1973 ''Artificial Paradise'' * 1973 ''#10'' * 1973 ''The Best of The Guess Who Volume II'' * 1974 ''Road Food'' * 1978 ''Guess Who's Back'' * 1988 ''Track Record: The Guess Who Collection'' * 1997 ''The Guess Who: The Ultimate Collection'' * 1999 ''The Guess Who: Greatest Hits'' * 2003 ''Platinum & Gold Collection: The Guess Who'' * 2006 ''Bachman Cummings Song Book''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Discogs artist|Kurt Winter}}
{{The Guess Who}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Kurt}} Category:1946 births Category:1997 deaths Category:Canadian male songwriters Category:The Guess Who members Category:Musicians from Winnipeg Category:Writers from Winnipeg Category:Canadian rock guitarists Category:Canadian male guitarists Category:Deaths from kidney failure Category:20th-century Canadian guitarists Category:20th-century Canadian male musicians Category:Burials at Brookside Cemetery (Winnipeg)