The passing of Rick Derringer means we lost one of classic rock’s driving forces in the 70s. It still seems odd that he wrote Hang On Sloopy. About as far away from rock n roll’s hoochie koo as is possible.
He was one of those artists whose music I grew up on after first hearing him on Live Johnny Winter And. Still a great, uplifting live album. Then following him through the Johnny Winter albums and the ones with Edgar Winter, Jasmine Nightdreams, along with They Only Come Out At Night and Shock Treatment. In playing on Frankenstein he helped create one of the era’s classic sounds.
So for years he was, to me, a sideman but later I started hoovering up his solo albums, of which All American Boy is probably the best, along with Derringer Live, opening with the all pervasive Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo which had first appeared on the Johnny Winter And studio album and any amount of live versions.
Then there was the band Derringer. A classic mid-70s hard rock band who released 4 albums and the promo Live In Cleveland. Just a collection of records he’s on would be a good collection.
He’s on Steely Dan albums, Countdown To Ecstasy, Katy Lied and Gaucho, Donald Fagan’s and even Kiss. There was lots of retreading former glories from the 90s onwards and some Christian music. I suppose it was hard to have a career after being a vital part of the warp and weft of rock in the 70s. They were such glory days and he took part in and recorded some superb music.
As another musician drops off life’s conveyor belt, I can’t bear it. And it makes me determined to honour these people, appreciate the role they played in our rock lives for so long. In an important way, they live on.
‘Lawdy mama, light my fuse’!!
photo:
Carl Lender
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
