# Kurt Winter

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**Kurt Frank Winter** (April 2, 1946 – December 14, 1997) was a Canadian guitarist and songwriter, best known as a member of [The Guess Who](/source/The_Guess_Who).

## Biography

Winter was born in [Winnipeg](/source/Winnipeg), [Manitoba](/source/Manitoba). He attended [Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute](/source/Daniel_McIntyre_Collegiate_Institute).[1] 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).[2][3][4] In 1969 Winter, Wallace, and Schmidt formed the band [Brother](/source/Brother_(Canadian_band)), who were associates of [The Guess Who](/source/The_Guess_Who).[1] 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](/source/Randy_Bachman) left The Guess Who in 1970, and that's when the band's leader [Burton Cummings](/source/Burton_Cummings) recruited Winter and Greg Leskiw as Bachman's replacements.[2][3] Winter was with The Guess Who for four years and became one of the band's primary songwriters in tandem with Cummings.[5] After six studio albums, Winter left The Guess Who for undisclosed reasons in 1974,[5] and was replaced by [Domenic Troiano](/source/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](/source/Jim_Kale) in 1977–1978, and contributed to the album *Guess Who's Back*.[6]

Winter then retired from the music industry and resided in Winnipeg for the rest of his life.[1] Burton Cummings invited Winter to write songs for his 1990s solo albums, though Winter chose a life away from music.[1] Winter suffered from health problems attributed to excessive alcohol use, and died at age 51 from [kidney failure](/source/Kidney_failure) on December 14, 1997.[1] His alma mater, Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, initiated an annual scholarship in Winter's name in 1998.[5] Cummings memorialized Winter in "Kurt's Song" on his 2008 album, *[Above the Ground](/source/Above_the_Ground)*. Cummings described Winter as "one of my fondest writing partners".[7]

## Discography

Main article: [The Guess Who discography](/source/The_Guess_Who_discography)

**With The Guess Who:**

- 1970 *[Share the Land](/source/Share_the_Land)*
- 1971 *[The Best of The Guess Who](/source/The_Best_of_The_Guess_Who)*
- 1971 *[So Long, Bannatyne](/source/So_Long,_Bannatyne)*
- 1972 *[Rockin'](/source/Rockin'_(The_Guess_Who_album))*
- 1972 *[Live at the Paramount](/source/Live_at_the_Paramount_(The_Guess_Who_album))*
- 1973 *[Artificial Paradise](/source/Artificial_Paradise_(The_Guess_Who_album))*
- 1973 *[#10](/source/10_(The_Guess_Who_album))*
- 1973 *[The Best of The Guess Who Volume II](/source/The_Best_of_The_Guess_Who_Volume_II)*
- 1974 *[Road Food](/source/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

1. Einarson, John (2012). ["Kurt Winter"](http://www.manitobamusicmuseum.com/obituaries/winter_kurt.html). *[Manitoba Music Museum](/source/Manitoba_Music_Museum)*. Retrieved October 8, 2024.

1. ["Gettysbyrg Address"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160305011238/http://www.canadianbands.com/Gettysbyrg%20Address.html). *CanadianBands.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.canadianbands.com/Gettysbyrg%20Address.html) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2015.

1. ["Brother"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012808/http://www.canadianbands.com/Brother.html). *CanadianBands.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.canadianbands.com/Brother.html) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2015.

1. ["Fifth, The"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160109024457/http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/F/Fifth.html). *[Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia](/source/Canadian_Pop_Music_Encyclopedia)*. December 5, 2004. Archived from [the original](http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/F/Fifth.html) on January 9, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2015.

1. Einarson, John (December 15, 2013). ["Winter's tale"](http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/winters-tale-235911331.html). *Winnipeg Free Press*. Retrieved November 10, 2015.

1. ["The Guess Who – Guess Who's Back (1978, Vinyl)"](https://www.discogs.com/The-Guess-Who-Guess-Whos-Back/release/1568019). *[Discogs](/source/Discogs)*. 1978.

1. Ostick, Stephen (October 3, 1988). ["Cummings picks wah-wah as career highlight"](http://www.hillmanweb.com/gueswho1.html). *[Winnipeg Free Press](/source/Winnipeg_Free_Press)*. As reprinted by Hillman Web. Retrieved November 14, 2015.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kurt Winter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Winter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Winter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.