Posted May 2025
Creating a Rick Derringer discography turned out to be my entrance into the mainstream music industry in the early 1980s. I listened to all his group and solo albums, as well as Johnny and Edgar Winter’s albums. I dove deep into all the Blue Sky Records releases, which was their label as well as that of Dan Hartman and David Johansen.
My interview and discography were published in Goldmine Magazine, and more assignments found ways from my heart to my readers. I stayed in touch with Rick and his wives, especially Liz who gave me lots of great career building advice and Jenda, who was Rick’s pit bull, setting the record straight. I didn’t keep track of all Rick’s releases until the pandemic when we spoke and texted periodically.
In addition to getting poetry ideas from our conversations, I spent a few days looking online for videos and new songs.
Some leads came from social media friends, who collaborated with Rick. These included productive people that were working steadily but maybe never were signed to bigger record companies. .
Liz and Rick both stressed kindness to everyone. Liz said, “The secretary is just as important as the boss.” Rick sent the elevator down and found the uniqueness about everyone. He wanted artists to stay who they were when they were signed, “A label signs an artist and the first thing they try to do is change them. Weren’t they signed for who they are?”
Artists that Rick worked with were different, creatively and image-wise. Weird Al, Johnny and Edgar Winter, Cyndi Lauper, Richie Havens, Bebe Buell, Todd Rundgren, Cheap Trick, Steely Dan, Barbra Streisand are unique and have made significant impacts in the world.
I chose a couple of favorite left field sessions, plus some releases from Rick’s catalog in his solo career and bands—The McCoys and Derringer.
1) “Hang On Sloopy” with the Ohio State March Band, 2016 – The State Rock Song of Ohio! www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvMBli5UwtA
2) The McCoys “Beat The Clock” – This single was not on an album, and it’s great to dance and listen to. Psychedelic with jazz influences. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXboLnpD67E
3) The McCoys—Side two of “The Infinite McCoys” would be loved by fans of jam bands. Jeff Buckley co-writer Gary Lucas cited “Jessie Brady.” Other highlights on side two included is a musical version of Edgar Allan Poe’s “El Dorado,” a cover of Tim Buckley’s “Song For Janie,” and a theatre of the mind-styled performance “He Likes It.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbgo0OUy0xg
4) Rick Derringer - “It’s Raining” from “All American Boy.” I heard this on a recent yacht rock radio broadcast. It belonged. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsiTtAYm5xs Recently Rick and Jenda recorded an album “Yacht The Rock,” and my favorite song on it is “Winter.” https://youtu.be/WjkOd70bVGo?si=vSc60wQ21j7vEV8A
5) Derringer - "Comes a Woman" A number of songs on the first band album by Derringer were co-written with Cynthia Weil, who with Barry Mann gave us “Only in America,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “Walking in the Rain” and 100 more hits from the 1960s! www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFis9F96M8Q
6) Derringer’s “Sweet Evil” album starts with a song “Don’t Stop Loving Me.” For a long time, I thought the song had the most honest opening line ever offered in a recording studio, “This might be a record, but I am really here.” This song has a “Baba 
Nick Seeger, Rick, and Richie HavensO’Reilly”-styled musical introduction. www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ArG2aYHZM
7) Ritchie Havens – “The Fire Down Below” from the 1980 album “Connections.” Rick plays guitar on this Bob Seger cover. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FItkELmKR8
Back in 1971, Richie assembled a number of Greenwich Village musicians including Rick for his album, “Alarm Clock.” Rick played electric guitar, then, on the second song, "To Give All Your Love Away.”
8) Jenda Derringer “Cigarette” www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVTee0IOmWI
This is my favorite Rick and Jenda collaboration. It’s an alt-rock anti-smoking song.
9) Donald Fagen title track from “The Nightfly.” WJAZ radio. 😊 I love the all-night radio personalities. Rick played guitar on a number of Steely Dan songs. This is Donald Fagen’s solo album. https://youtu.be/-rrrof1TJc4?si=vg7LRVD4wzx8T9pY
10) “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” w/ “Girl, You Really Got Me” from “Derringer Live.” I came across a video short about Rick opening for a few Van Halen dates until they kicked him off for “playing ‘Eruption’ at the show.” Turns out Rick’s live cover of “Rock’n’roll Hoochie Koo” included part of the Kinks song, which Van Halen released a year after the Live album. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N1Wcdwxw
11) Johnny Winter’s title cut from “Still Alive and Well” www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdIGrNcXcs4
Rick produced the album, wrote the song, and played guitar with Johnny. There are so many albums with these two. The other Johnny releases are “Johnny Winter And,” “Johnny Winter And Live,” and “Together” with Edgar. Johnny plays on “Cheap Tequila” on “All American Boy.” “Still Alive and Well” is Rick’s song about surviving as a number of his contemporaries were dying.
12) Kentucky Headhunters “Cheap Tequila” is a new discovery for me that I learned from the Headhunters’ guitarist Greg Martin. They covered Rick’s song in a slower and heavier style on their 2021 album, “That’s a Fact, Jack.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCDt0zkz0pQ
13) Weird Al Yankovic “I Love Rocky Road’ from the first Weird Al album, “Weird Al Yankovic.” Rick’s then-manager Jake Hooker had was credited with co-writing Joan Jett’s hit “I Love Rock’n’roll” with his Arrows’ bandmate, Alan Merrill, who was also in Rick’s band. Al wanted to cover the song, and Jake said, “We got a great producer, who’d love to work with you.” Rick did a supportive job on the album, emphasizing Weird Al’s band, especially the accordion, playing in the sessions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=beTsDOBRs8I
14) Cyndi Lauper “Calm Inside the Storm” from Cyndi’s “True Colors” album. Pre-“She’s Unusual,”/ Post-Polydor dropping Blue Angel, Rick produced demos for the group to help them get a deal. Cyndi was the only one signed by Epic Records. After her first album, she remembered Rick and had him join her band for the “Change of Heart” album and tour. This included a co-write, “Calm Inside the Storm.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4x_PQKhm-Y
15) Blues Deluxe “Hide Away” Rick made five albums for Mike Varney’s Blues Bureau International /Shrapnel Records. I think his “Blues Deluxe album is a master class of blues guitar stylings and chose “Hide Away,” which is a feel-good, old-school boogie song. Another song I loved is a B. B. King-inspired “Something Inside of You.” https://youtu.be/KGW_X71jg4U?si=DixZKDhJ26ANh9YN
16) “Free Ride” is a Smooth Jazz album including a mellow version of “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” called “Jazzy Koo.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlV2dIBXbfI
I feel like including two videos for historical purposes:
Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band’s video of Ringo Starr, Greg Bissonnette, Edgar Winter, and friends playing “Hang on Sloopy” on Rick’s birthday at Rancho Mirage Casino, California. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SyD9cfORSk
“The Wizard of Waukesha” is a documentary on Les Paul that Rick and Mike Bloomfield talks about Les’ contribution to the guitar and multi-track recording. Most of the video features Les in performance, on film, or in dialog.
Rick loved Les. In the early to mid-1980s, Rick was active in the Recording Academy as an officer and hosted an in-person tribute to Les Paul that included music and stories from an array of Les’s devotees including Rick, Peter Frampton, Tal Farlow, and Bucky Pizarelli. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgFrBXNnd60
