THE REAL McCOY

Rick Derringer, famous for 60s classic Hang On Sloopy and Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo, died in May. Late last year he granted our sister title Guitar Player a rare and exclusive interview, in which he recalled inspiring Eddie Van Halen, being in a band with Johnny Winter, and much more.

- Words: Joe Bosso

In 2024, Guitar Player contributing writer Joe Bosso tirelessly tracked down the elusive guitarist for a rare interview to discuss his wide-ranging career — from his time as a teen guitarist and singer with 60s group the McCoys to his 70s work with each of Johnny and Edgar Winter, his solo career, and his later work with 'Weird Al' Yankovic and former Beatle Ringo Starr's band.

Through great persistence, Bosso finally got his interview. Derringer proved to be a tough, though generous, subject, taking time to go through the disparate facets of his career and the various musicians he's known and befriended over the years.

Rick Derringer was a uniquely talented guitarist and songwriter, whose stylistic range covered everything from rock to fusion to pop. Amid all his work with and for other artists - including Todd Rundgren and Steely Dan's Donald Fagen - he recorded a solo album that remains essential in rock'n'roll: 1973's All American Boy.

“I was a natural,” Rick Derringer says, dispensing with any pretense of modesty. He's recalling the time when, at nine years old, in 1956 (the “Year of Elvis,” he calls it), he got his first real guitar - a Harmony-type model with one pickup - and a copy of Mickey Baker's Complete Course In Jazz Guitar, and how, on his first night he was off and running. “Right away, I was playing chord sequences like a pro. I was totally hooked, and it all came very easily to me. I know some people hate to hear that, but I was just blessed by the good Lord with the ability to play anything I heard.”

Within weeks, Derringer - or as he was known then, Rick Zehringer - was playing country and western tunes in bars in and around his hometown of Fort Recovery, Ohio, with his uncle Jim, a singer and guitar player. “It seemed like the most normal thing in the world,” he says.