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The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rick Derringer obituary
As a member of the American band the McCoys, the guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer Rick Derringer, who has died aged 77, scored a US No 1 hit with the 1965 single Hang on Sloopy, which also made it to No 5 in the UK. Later he went on to record and perform with some of the most famous names in the music industry over a career spanning six decades. Hang on Sloopy, with Derringer on vocals, was not the McCoys' own song; written by Wes Farrell and Bert Berns, it had first been recorded the year before by the Los Angeles soul vocal group Vibrations, and had largely gone unnoticed, although it quickly became a favourite of US garage rock bands of the era. The McCoys' version made the song popular across the world, and they went on to have a another Top 10 hit in the US with a cover of Fever, written by Eddie Cooley and John Davenport, and a Top 40 interpretation of Come on, Let's Go, written by Ritchie Valens. However, two subsequent psychedelic albums failed to build on the popularity of those singles, and when the group disbanded in 1969, Derringer joined the blues guitarist Johnny Winter to play on Johnny Winter And (1970) and Live Winter And (1971). He also recorded with Johnny's younger brother, Edgar Winter, producing the hit singles Frankenstein (1973) and Free Ride (1973), among others. That work gained him a strong reputation as a guitarist and producer, and he subsequently worked with Alice Cooper and Todd Rundgren, played slide guitar on the Steely Dan single Show Biz Kids (1973), and a guitar solo on the song Chain Lightning, on their Katy Lied album (1975). He also worked with Bonnie Tyler, Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf, and in 1986 Cyndi Lauper called on him to provide guitar work for two tracks on her album True Colors. Another powerhouse vocalist, Barbra Streisand, featured him as lead guitar player on her single Left in the Dark (1984), and he played on Air Supply's Making Love Out of Nothing at All (1983) as well as Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983). In addition he toured three times with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr band, and played in a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York with Paul McCartney to celebrate Starr's 70th birthday in 2010. Derringer was born Richard Zehringer in Celina in Ohio, the son of John, a railway worker, and his wife, Janice (nee Thornburg), and grew up in Fort Recovery, Ohio. His family moved to Union City, Indiana, when he was in his early teens, and it was there that he began his music career in 1962, forming Rick and the Raiders with his brother Randy on drums and Dennis Kelly on bass. With expansion and personnel changes, they eventually became the McCoys, and following the success of Hang On Sloopy, Derringer also changed his name – in order, he said, to make it easier to pronounce and remember. Derringer's first solo album, All American Boy (1973), featured his composition Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo, which has become a classic of rock radio. The track was released as a single that peaked at No 23 on the US charts, and is featured on the soundtracks of Richard Linklater's movie Dazed and Confused (1993) and in season four of the Netflix series Stranger Things (2022). Subsequent solo albums were not commercially successful, but the list of artists that Derringer worked with in the 80s read like a Who's Who of popular recording acts of the era. Two of his more left-field collaborations came as producer of the first six albums for the comedy musician Weird Al Yankovic and of two albums of music in conjunction with the World Wrestling Federation, The Wrestling Album (1985) and Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II (1987), both featuring the theme music of various wrestlers. His song Real American was the theme for the tag team US Express and subsequently for Hulk Hogan, and in 2011 President Barack Obama used that tune as walk-on music at the White House correspondents' dinner while his birth certificate was displayed on a video screen; an irony given that Derringer was a Donald Trump supporter. With his third wife, Jenda Hall, Derringer later recorded four Christian-themed albums. Two earlier marriages, to the journalist Liz Agriss and then to the singer and percussionist Dyan Buckelew, ended in divorce. He is survived by Jenda and a daughter, Mallory, from his second marriage. Richard Dean Derringer (Zehringer), musician, born 5 August 1947; died 26 May 2025
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rick Derringer, ubiquitous guitarist in US pop and rock, dies aged 77
Rick Derringer, the singer and guitarist who topped the US charts with his band the McCoys and was a sideman for a host of stars including Barbara Streisand, Cyndi Lauper and Steely Dan, has died aged 77. The news was announced in a Facebook post by his close friend Tony Wilson, who did not give a cause of death. While he didn't achieve household name status, Derringer was one of the great Zelig figures of American pop and rock, in a career stretching back to his mid-teens. Born Richard Zehringer in Ohio, he and his family moved to Union City, Indiana, where he formed garage rockers the McCoys. They got the chance to record their own version of the rhythm and blues song My Girl Sloopy, with a 17-year-old Derringer as frontman – renamed Hang on Sloopy, it reached No 1 in the US in 1965. After Ohio State University's marching band started playing it at college football games, it got another boost in popularity and eventually, in 1985, Ohio designated it the state's official rock song. The McCoys had another US Top 10 hit with the follow-up, a cover of Little Willie John's Fever. Come On, Let's Go reached No 22 the following year and the group recorded five albums together. The McCoys then partnered with blues rocker Johnny Winter for the group Johnny Winter And, who made the first recording of another Derringer rock classic: Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo. The definitive version came in 1973, performed by Derringer for his debut solo album All American Boy. This raunchy and swaggering hard-rock track reached No 23 in the US, and later earned high-profile syncs on the soundtracks to Richard Linklater film Dazed and Confused and the fourth season of Stranger Things. Also in 1973, Derringer returned to the top of the US charts thanks to his production and guitar playing for the Edgar Winter Group (fronted by the brother of Johnny Winter), on the hard-rocking instrumental Frankenstein. He also contributed to their No 14 hit Free Ride the same year. Derringer continued to release studio albums, eventually numbering 14 in all, but his most high-profile work came as a guitarist and producer for others. By 1973 he'd already played on a couple of songs on Alice Cooper's 1971 album Killer, and begun a fruitful partnership with Todd Rundgren, appearing on a number of his albums over the years. He later played on the Steely Dan albums Countdown to Ecstasy, Katy Died and Gaucho, and, in collaboration with Jim Steinman, two of the biggest power ballads of the 1980s: Air Supply's Making Love Out of Nothing at All and Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. Derringer went on to work with another Steinman acolyte, Meat Loaf, on the album Blind Before I Stop and the TV show Way Off Broadway, and played lead guitar on the Steinman-penned Left in the Dark, the lead single from Barbra Streisand's 1984 album Emotion. Another repeat collaborator was Weird 'Al' Yankovic, including on his Grammy-winning Michael Jackson spoof Eat It. More cheerfully silly work was in the world of American wrestling, with Derringer writing Hulk Hogan's theme song Real American and producing tie-in albums for the World Wrestling Federation. The 1980s and 90s brought a partnership with Cyndi Lauper – Derringer played on her album True Colours and A Night to Remember, and joined her touring band. He later went on three world tours with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, and recorded albums with his wife Jenda, including one with their children Lory and Marn. Derringer continued to tour throughout his life, and his most recent album Rock the Yacht, another collaboration with Jenda, was released in 2023.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Rick Derringer dead at 77: Grammy-winning classic rock guitarist who worked with Cyndi Lauper & had number 1 hit dies
RICK Derringer, guitarist behind the garage rock number-one hit Hang On Sloopy, has died at 77. The musician passed away surrounded by his loved ones on Monday, according to a Facebook post by longtime friend and carer Tony Wilson. 3 3 Rick had suffered from several health issues in recent months, according to the post, though no specific cause of death was given. He shot to fame when he was just 17 after his band, The McCoys, recorded 'Hang On Sloopy" in 1965. The record hit number one and is revered as a classic from the garage rock era. After four years of touring, three members of The McCoys including Rick joined forces with the long-white-haired blues rocker Johnny Winter, in 1969. As a four-piece the group put out an album called Johnny Winter And. Rick later joined Johnny's brother, Edgar Winter, full-time in his band White Trash, releasing the EP Roadwork. In 1973, he worked a solo album, All American Boy, which featured the hit single Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo. Over the ensuing years Rick played alongside a string of rock'n'roll greats including Alice Cooper, Steely Dan, Richie Havens, Cyndi Lauper, Barbra Streisand, and Kiss - amongst others. He is also credited with discovering Weird Al Yankovic, producing music for his albums and videos, such as the Michael Jackson parodies 'Eat It' and 'Who's Fat.' Rick's sole Grammy Award came from his work producing Yankovic's albums.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gibson gives its Les Paul Special an ultra-rare pickup overhaul with new Mini Humbucker models
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Gibson has given its Les Paul Special line of electric guitars a rather rare electronic overhaul with the unveiling of two new models that feature – potentially for the first time in a standard run LP Special – mini-humbuckers. Indeed, it looks probable that this is the first time in the venerable 70-year history of the Les Paul Special that the model has been officially sold with mini-humbuckers. Its relative, the SG Special, was produced with mini-humbuckers during the 1970s, but the LP variant seemingly missed out. Two models, both dubbed 'a new take on the classic', have been released, with the self-explanatory names "Les Paul Special with Mini Humbuckers" and "Les Paul Special with Mini Humbucker and P-90". The latter guitar features a mini-humbucker in the neck position and a P-90 pickup in the bridge. Both guitars are available in any color you like as long as it's Tobacco Burst. The mini-humbucker was invented by Epiphone and Gibson acquired the design when they bought Epiphone in the late 1950s. Gibson describes the mini-humbucker tone as between that of a full-size PAF-style humbucker and a P-90, with positive characteristics from each. The pickups, Gibson writes, offer a "slightly brighter and more open tone than what is normally associated with standard Patent Applied For style humbucker pickups, resulting in a tone that combines some of the brightness that P-90s are known for and some of the warmth of humbuckers, all while remaining hum-free". Mini-humbucker fans have included Johnny Winter, Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham (who had them in his early-Lizzy Les Paul Deluxe), The Who's Pete Townshend, and Mr Big's Paul Gilbert. Beyond the pickup changes, the new Gibson models offer standard Les Paul Special specifications. These include a slab mahogany body, mahogany neck, and a bound rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets. The bridge is a one-piece wraparound type. Like its full-fat Les Paul sibling, the Special has separate volume and tone controls for each pickup, with Orange Drop capacitors. The special gets a slippery GraphTech nut to minimise friction. To find out more, head over to Gibson. Gibson recently triumphed in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Dean Guitars.
