Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American musician, producer, and songwriter. He gained success in the 1960s with his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", became a number-one hit in 1965 and is now regarded as a classic track from the garage rock era. The McCoys had seven songs chart in the top 100, including covers of "Fever" and "Come on Let's Go".
Derringer was born in Celina, Ohio,[1] and grew up in Fort Recovery, the son of John Otto and Janice Lavine (Thornburg) Zehringer, a section foreman on the Nickel Plate Railroad.[2] According to Derringer, aside from his parents' extensive record collection, his first major influence was his uncle, Jim Thornburg, a popular guitarist and singer in Ohio. Derringer recalled first hearing him play guitar in the kitchen of his parents' home and knowing immediately that he wanted to learn the instrument. He was eight years old at the time, and his parents gave him his first electric guitar for his ninth birthday.[3] Soon after, he and his brother Randy began playing music together.
After eighth grade, the family moved to Union City, Indiana, where Derringer formed a band he initially called the McCoys. He later renamed it the Rick Z Combo and then Rick and the Raiders before reverting to the original name.
In the summer of 1965, before Derringer turned 18, the McCoys were hired to back up a New York-based band called the Strangeloves in concert. The Strangeloves, who were also record producers from New York City, were looking for a band to record the song "My Girl Sloopy" and chose the McCoys. Derringer later persuaded the producers to change the title to "Hang On Sloopy". After the Strangeloves recorded the guitar and instrumental parts, Derringer and the McCoys were brought into the studio to sing on the recording, which was then released under their name. The song reached number one on the charts while The Beatles' "Yesterday" held the number two spot.[4] "Hang On Sloopy" has since become synonymous with Derringer's home state of Ohio, as fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes often chant "O-H-I-O" during breaks in the song's chorus, and it is frequently played at home football games at Ohio Stadium. The song is also played during Cleveland Guardians home games at Progressive Field.
Derringer, along with his band, the McCoys, joined Johnny Winter in a group they called "Johnny Winter And," with the "And" referring to the McCoys. Derringer later became part of Edgar Winter's White Trash and subsequently the Edgar Winter Group.[6]
In 1973, Derringer released his first solo album, All American Boy,[7] which featured his hit song "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo".[8] By then, the song had already appeared on Johnny Winter And (1970)[6] and the White Trash Roadwork (1972) albums. Derringer's version reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, becoming his highest-charting single.[9] One critic described the album as a "sadly neglected album of great merit".[10]
Derringer's later albums, both solo and with his band Derringer, included 1977's Sweet Evil, co-written with Cynthia Weil and Rolling Thunder Revue author Larry Sloman.[11] He also released the critically acclaimed album Guitars and Women (1979), which was re-released with liner notes by Razor & Tie in 1998.
Around this time, Derringer played guitar on two Steely Dan tracks: "Show Biz Kids" on Countdown to Ecstasy (1973) and "Chain Lightning" on Katy Lied (1975). Derringer is credited with helping Donald Fagen secure a record deal in 1972.[12]
During this period, Derringer collaborated with his neighbor Todd Rundgren, playing on four of Rundgren's solo albums. He was also a regular in Andy Warhol's circle[13] and frequently visited Warhol's studio, The Factory.[14]
1980s and 1990s
Derringer played guitar on "My Rival" from Steely Dan's Gaucho (1980) and also contributed to Donald Fagen's first solo album, The Nightfly (1982). In 1983, he played guitar on two hit power ballads written and produced by Jim Steinman: Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Derringer has stated that his guitar solo in "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" is his favorite of all the solos he has recorded.[15] That same year, he recorded guitar parts for Meat Loaf's poorly received album Midnight at the Lost and Found. Both "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" were originally offered to Meat Loaf by Steinman for that album, but Meat Loaf's record company refused to pay Steinman for the compositions.[16]
In 1983, Derringer also wrote "Shake Me" for his Good Dirty Fun solo album, accompanied by a video produced by Jake Hooker, the husband of Lorna Luft. Singer Lourett Russell Grant appeared in the video alongside Derringer.
In 1985, Derringer's friendship with Cyndi Lauper led him and Steinman to collaborate again, with Derringer producing The Wrestling Album (1985) for the World Wrestling Federation, an album consisting mostly of wrestlers' theme songs. He wrote several songs for the album, including Hulk Hogan's theme song "Real American,"[17] co-written with Bernard Kenny. This song was notably used by U.S. President Barack Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, where he played the song while unveiling his birth certificate.[18] It was also used as a campaign song by Hillary Clinton, as a victory song by Newt Gingrich, and in four videos during the campaign of Donald Trump.[19]
In 1986, Derringer returned to working with Meat Loaf for Blind Before I Stop, co-writing the song "Masculine."
Also in 1986, he played guitar on two songs from Cyndi Lauper's album True Colors, "Calm Inside the Storm" and "The Faraway Nearby." From 1986 to 1992, he served as a guitarist on her tours, comparing her live performances to those of Barbra Streisand by saying, "She's better live than Barbra." He played with Lauper again on her third album, A Night to Remember, which was released in 1989.
In 1987, Meat Loaf appeared on Way Off Broadway, a nationally distributed cable TV show with Derringer as the music director. The show was hosted by comedienne and interviewer Joy Behar. Other guests on the show included Larry Carlton, Robbie Dupree, and Edgar Winter.[20]
Also in 1987, Derringer returned to the World Wrestling Federation to produce its second music album, Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II. He co-wrote the theme song for Demolition and also recorded a new version of "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" as a duet with Gene Okerlund.[21]
He worked for several New York City-based jingle houses in the 1980s. Derringer went on to produce "Weird Al" Yankovic's debut album, "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983). Between 1983 and 1989, Derringer produced six Yankovic albums, for which he received his only Grammy Award.[22] Yankovic has expressed openness to working with Derringer again.[23]
In 2001, Derringer, Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice released the album Derringer, Bogert & Appice (DBA): Doin' Business as... on the German record label Steamhammer Records.[27] Derringer had previously worked with Appice on an album, Party Tested by DNA (Derringer'n'Appice), and it was re-released in 2011.[28]
In 2001, Derringer, his wife, and their children released the first two of four Christian music albums, all through Panda Studio Productions:[29]Aiming 4 Heaven (2001),[30][31]Derringer X 2 (2001),[32] the holiday album, Winter Wonderland (2004),[33] and We Live (2008).[34][35] In 2002, Derringer was featured in a book written by Dan Muise, titled Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower – Their Lives and Music.[36]
He released Free Ride Smooth Jazz (2002), which featured vocals by his wife Jenda (née Brenda Jean), who sang the title song "Free Ride" and co-wrote the song "Hot & Cool" with Derringer. Also included is his smooth jazz radio hit remake, "Jazzy Koo".[37]
In May 2009, he self-released the album Knighted by the Blues and its popular song, "Sometimes," which was once again co-written with Jenda. Derringer followed up with the release of The Three Kings of the Blues (Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King) on Mike Varney's Blues Bureau International Records.[38]
In the 1980s, he produced the Kodomo Band and toured in Asia, including with Edgar Winter, during the 1990 White Light tour.[41]
In 2013, he and Jenda created the Asia Project after she discovered that the two largest-selling songs in history are Chinese. As Ricky Wu and Jenda Tu, the Derringers recorded and released their versions of the songs: Wang Qiwen and Yang Chengang's 2004 song "Mouse Loves Rice,"[42] and the actress Liu Shi Shi's "Season of Waiting."[43]
In 2017, Derringer was charged with carrying a loaded gun on a Delta Air Lines flight from Cancún in Mexico to Atlanta, Georgia. According to his manager, Derringer believed he was permitted to carry the gun due to his possession of a valid Florida concealed weapon permit.[45] Derringer later pleaded guilty, agreeing to pay a $1,000 fine, and stated that it would not happen again, "not even a water pistol".[46]
A re-recording of 1985's The Wrestling Album's "Real American" with updated lyrics was released on May 28, 2017, debuting on Alex Jones's radio show.[47] The lyric "I gotta be a man, I can't let it slide" was changed to "I gotta lend a hand, I can't let it slide," and "fight for the right of every man" became "fight for the rights of everyone." Additionally, "Best not mess with my US" was added before the second verse, along with a new line stating, "Ours is a cause that's right and just, we're built on truth, in God we trust."[48] That same year, Derringer appeared on Alex Jones's show, where he was interviewed by political consultant Roger Stone about Derringer's support for Donald Trump.[49]
– Formed in 1965 by Richard Zehringer on guitar and vocals, Dennis Kelly on bass (who would be replaced by Randy Jo Hobbs) and Randy Zehringer on drums.
The Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer (1975) — Epic
Together: Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter Live (1976) — Blue Sky
– Although this album was published under the name of Johnny Winter, it was recorded when The Edgar Winter Group still existed, and Johnny's band and Edgar's played together on a tour.
The Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer – Live in Japan (1990) — Cypress
Not to be confused with the Derringer group, this band, The Derringers, was a family project bringing together Rick Derringer himself, his wife Brenda Jean, and their two children towards religious music. Four albums were produced under this name:*
Thomas Jefferson Kaye by Thomas Jefferson Kaye (1973) — Acoustic and electric guitar
Still Alive and Well by Johnny Winter (1973) — Guitar on Cheap Tequila and Still Alive and Well; slide guitar on Silver Train; pedal steel on Ain't Nothing to Me
First Grade by Thomas Jefferson Kaye (1974) — Acoustic, electric, and slide guitar
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