TOP PHOTO ABOVE: I affectionately call this exclusive © 2007 photo “Two Ricks.” It was seen for the very first time ever, just this year, when first published by THE OFFICIAL DAN HARTMAN TRIBUTE WEBSITE. It was taken on the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio, immediately following Rick's outdoor concert performance there a few years ago.
MIDDLE PHOTO ABOVE: Always a favorite of the ladies, that's a younger Rick Derringer as he appeared on one of his earlier album covers.
BOTTOM PHOTO ABOVE: Pulled from deeeeeeep within my own personal archives...is another © 2007 exclusive, never before seen, photo of Rick as he appears today. It was taken on August 13, 2006, during yet another Derringer outdoor performance in one of Cincinnati, Ohio's upscale northern suburbs. When someone in the crowd yelled out and asked if he was going to be playing his Gibson “Les Paul” model guitar...Rick smiled...and stated the guitar he would be using, for that day's show (shown in photo), just happens to be a “Rick Derringer Model," custom-made only for him, and is “The finest guitar in the world!”
Strangely enough, nobody seemed to mind that at all!
A REAL High Caliber Derringer
Moving forward past the unexpected thrill of Dan Hartman's website publishing my previous article entitled “Revisiting The Edgar Winter/Dan Hartman/James Brown Connection,” and the joy it has caused me to feel, knowing I am now officially on record as being included, right along side the likes of Edgar Winter, and the many other fine individuals selected to publicly share their memories of Dan on THE OFFICIAL DAN HARTMAN TRIBUTE WEBSITE...which is located here:
I find it only logical to now be able to discuss someone who, according to a recent article I read, is allegedly supposed to be one of Rock's most “under-rated” guitarists, Rick Derringer. I am not sure if I agree with that assessment or not. Everyone I know in the Rock & Roll business knows him. In fact, most have known him for years. In my extensive travels, I easily find the name "Derringer" associated with very high caliber guitar work both live and in the studio. He has been producing in the studio since he was a kid and I doubt if too many artists would pass up the opportunity to have him behind the board when they're recording. Furthermore, I don't think I've ever met so much as one decent rock guitarist, in the business, who has not heard Rick Derringer's massive hit single "Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo." When the truth is known, I'm almost certain that most, if not all, of them can crank up their amps and belt that tune out on their instruments too.
If you happened to read my full and complete profile, which should be present right now, on the far right-hand side of this very page, then you know I happen like versatility. I admire those who excel in more than one thing. Furthermore, a lot can be said about those who are, in fact, versatile in being able to consistantly remain gainfully employed in one of the world's most competitive businesses. No doubt, Rick Derringer, who is the subject of Steely Dan's single called “Rikki Don't Lose That Number,” is one such individual. He has excelled, not only as one of Rock's guitar greats, but as a damn good producer, as well. Somewhere along the line he met either Steely Dan's Donald Fagen or Walter Becker, or both, and the above mentioned tune references Derringer not forgetting to give them a ring to work on some upcoming recording projects together—which, in fact, they did. Funny...but all this time you probably thought that the song was about a girl. Right? Sure you did!
Derringer scored big...and really big too...while just a young and naive, sixteen or seventeen-year old kid, with his band, The McCoys. Their 1965 classic hit single “Hang On Sloopy” went all the way to number one on the charts and is still being played today. During a live radio interview, on August 13, 2006, he told long-time Cincinnati radio DJ, Jim “The Music Professor” LaBarbara, that “We were all kids,” at the time, and “got screwed” out of the money for the Sloopy single. But he went on to say that he has no regrets because it was that one hit record which set in motion a very long and extensive career which, even today, remains in full swing. The once sixteen-year old kid, with a smash hit record, has managed to build a very long lasting and versatile career since his childhood days. In the "Post-Sloopy Era" and the early childhood fame it brought, and despite getting “screwed” out of the money for that hit, Derringer's outlook on life remains both happy and healthy. I like that attitude! I like it a lot. How many sixteen or seventeen-year olds, including YOU, when you were that age, would know what to do in the same, or similar, circumstances? How many twenty-five year olds could even handle it?
Somewhere in time, after finding early and totally unexpected success with The McCoys, Derringer would later meet, as well as perform with, Texas blues legend Johnny Winter, and Johnny's band, which later became internationally known as a band called “Johnny Winter And.” While a lot of people are very familiar with the group “Johnny Winter And,” most of those same people are completely unaware that the name of Johnny Winter's band was originally supposed to be called:
“Johnny Winter & The McCoys”
but was later shortened to the streamlined, three-word version that Johnny's record label eventually used.
Since then, Rick Derringer has produced and toured with many name performers and will never be forgotten as a long-term band member and producer of Edgar Winter, with whom his association dates back thirty plus years. Even to this very day, it is not, at all, uncommon to see Derringer and Edgar Winter on the same concert venue performing together.
As a solo artist, Derringer's “Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo” has also become another classic rock hit for which he can be proud. As producer, his credits are long and notable. They are far too extensive to name here. He always has been terrific as both a stellar guitarist and as a person too. In the several times he and I have crossed paths, over the years, Rick Derringer has always been a complete gentleman. His reputation in the business is excellent and his feet remain firmly planted on solid ground--as producer, performer, husband, and father. Everybody likes him. In fact, I can honestly say that, unlike some of the other widely known jerks and prima donnas out there, I know of no one who doesn't always manage a kind word in reference to one of Rock's musical mainstays, Rick Derringer. After all, he is a fellow child of The Midwest, born right here in the corn country of good ole' Ohio, who was later to grow up, just across the state border from us, in the small town of Union City, Indiana. He has never forgotten his roots and returns home often...and everybody around these parts is always happy to see him when he does.
Rick is exceptional!
You can count on hearing more from me about him at a later date.
