“Living with a saint is more grueling than being one.”
- Robert Neville
It's All Saints' Day, November 1. Let me acknowledge a guitar saint we lost this year, Rick Derringer, who died on May 26.
Derringer formed the band The McCoys in his teens and had a number one hit song before he turned 18. When I heard Hang on Sloopy all over the radio as a seven-year old boy in the mid-1960s, I had no inkling that Rick Derringer was the kid singing it. It was just a catchy tune to me.
I became aware of him, specifically, in the early 70s when he joined up with one of my first guitar heroes, Johnny Winter in Winter's band Johnny Winter And. They were the perfect compliment in styles. Rick was The Sundance Kid to Johnny's Butch Cassidy.
He next joined Johnny's brother's band, The Edgar Winter Group. He was on board for their hit's Frankenstein and his guitar work on Free Ride is tasty and hard to forget.
in 1973 he released his first solo album, Rick Derringer: All American Boy. It was an eclectic effort with a mix of songs that was not easy to categorize. I bought it the week it was released and wore it out. It contained the song Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo which will be heard on Classic Rock stations and playlists until time stands still. My favorite cut, though, is Cheap Tequila, which I've included below. I'd be hard pressed to ever get tired of it.
Derringer went on to a distinguished career, working with a who's who of famous music stars. RIP Rick Derringer. ROCK ON!
RP