Loping and easy to learn, The McCoys’ “Hang On Sloopy” was a three-chord singalong pop masterpiece recorded by a group of teenagers in Ohio then adopted by garage bands across America. In October of 1965, it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. For lead guitarist Rick Derringer (nee Zehringer), it springboarded a career in popular music that lasted six decades.
Derringer was 77 when he died May 26 at a Florida hospital; two months prior, he had undergone triple-bypass surgery.
Not long after he began playing guitar at age nine, his parents took him to tour the Gibson guitar factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In a lobby display case was an Explorer with a split-V headstock and Bigsby vibrato, alongside a Flying V presented as “Guitars of the Future.” Later, he and his brother, Randy, formed a band that played around northern Ohio and went through more than one name change before becoming known as The McCoys.
“The Ventures were heroes of mine, and when I pulled out my most current Ventures album, I found what I thought was the easiest song – ‘The McCoy.’” he told VG in a 1998 interview. “I thought it was cool and figured if we called ourselves The McCoys, we’d have a theme song.”
His first guitar was a Supro, “…one of those three-pickup models with gold hardware and lots of knobs” that he plugged into a small Gibson amp. He later acquired a Gretsch Silver Jet and a mono Gibson ES-355TDC, among other instruments.
The explosion of “Hang On Sloopy” took the quartet across the country, playing all sorts of venues including Murray the K shows at Brooklyn’s Fox Theater and black clubs in Chicago. The follow-up was an improbable cover of Peggy Lee’s “Fever” (penned by Little Willie John), and while they gave it an innovative arrangement, it wasn’t a sensation.
“It didn’t have that big chorus,” Derringer recalled. “There’s something about a big hold note at the beginning of a chorus that really sells it.”
The band charted again with “I Got To Go Back (And Watch That Little Girl Dance),” which was later covered by soul singer Otis Redding. They opened for the Rolling Stones on a 1966 American tour, and would continue to record and tour throughout the decade before frustration set in over being categorized as a “bubblegum” band.
“It’s really a shame we never did a live album,” Derringer said. “One of the reasons we got a record deal is we really were a good live band. When we did our Mercury records, Infinite McCoys and Human Ball, we did a live instrumental called ‘Human Ball Blues’ that showed the kind of stuff we were doing live.”
The McCoys finished the ’60s with seven Top 100 hit singles. Though they matured, musically, sales of their singles and albums waned.
In 1970, three members left to back Texas blues icon Johnny Winter. The quartet was known as Johnny Winter And, and their first two albums were co-produced by Winter and Derringer. The second, a live effort on which Derringer used a goldtop Les Paul with a Bigsby vibrato, became a favorite of many aspiring guitarists including Craig Chaquico.
“I first found out about Johnny Winter albums at Tower Records in Sacramento in the very early ’70s,” he recalled. “(I was) a bicycling teenager with a yellow Tower Records bag on the handlebars. So, many of us discovered Live – Johnny Winter And; Rick Derringer was so young to be so good! But then I heard he’d been in the McCoys with ‘Hang On Sloopy’ at the age of 16, and that the original McCoys band were the ones rockin’ out so well on that live album with Johnny.
“I was one of many who listened to that record in high school way more than I listened to my teachers. I played along with it day and night. A lot of players my age did the same, wishing we could be that kid rocking out with Johnny Winter onstage.”
Surprisingly, Derringer didn’t cotton to the presentation on the live effort.
“It drives the guitar players wild,” he said with a chuckle. “It seems to be the favorite of a lot of players, but to me it was overboard – too frenetic – and had too many edits.”
In the early ’70s, Derringer bought a vintage Gibson Explorer with a split-V headstock from Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. Research led him to conclude it was the same guitar he’d seen in Kalamazoo as a child.
“Gruhn sent it to me on approval because it didn’t have the headstock they normally saw on such guitars,” he said.
“When I got it, I flashed on the memory of the showcase in the lobby at the Gibson factory. It took me a while torealize it had two holes that were plugged where there once was a Bigsby. I did some investigating, and found out the headstock was on the original patent drawing for the Explorer, and that they made very few that way. Taking the guitar apart, I found hand-routing, and later, Gibson told me it was the only real V-headstock Explorer they’ve ever seen, which means it’s the guitar I saw in that display case.”
George Gruhn recalls selling the guitar to Derringer.
“Rick [called] shortly after I opened my shop in 1970,” he said. “Very few players were familiar with the Explorer, since so few had been made. His prominent use of this guitar onstage played a significant role in making musicians and the general public aware of the Explorer and creating a demand for guitars of this design.”
The Explorer was later sold to New Jersey collector Scott Chinery and in ’96 appeared in a book featuring his collection.
Following his brief time with Johnny Winter And, Derringer produced and performed on two albums by Edgar Winter’s White Trash, a band founded by Johnny’s younger brother.
“The live album I’m proudest of was [White Trash’s] Roadwork,” he averred. “It had horn players, better songs, better arrangements. The Johnny Winter And live album was over the edge, but that’s what people loved about it.”
Derringer then produced two albums by the Edgar Winter Group, replacing Ronnie Montrose as a member on the second album. His first solo album, All American Boy, was released in ’73 and featured his iconic rendition of “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.” For the album cover, Derringer borrowed Johnny Winter’s modified Candy Apple Red Strat.
Through the ’70s, Derringer’s studio skills continued to evolve. He became more involved with recording and production, and formed a band called Derringer, which included bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummer Vinnie Appice. He also formed an association with B.C. Rich guitars and participated in the design of its Stealth model.
Veteran tour manager/technician Jeff Jackson was a longtime fan of the Johnny Winter And live album and saw Derringer play several concerts starting with a 1978 performance in Dothan, Alabama.
“I was Cindy Lauper’s stage manager in 1986, after I got off of the 38 Special Strength In Numbers tour, and (Derringer) was her guitar player. He was a nice guy and always looked like he was having fun on stage. I was mesmerized watching him perform each night. Her band was incredible; it also included Shelia E on percussion.”
Derringer’s production and studio recording credits were more diverse than many realize. His riffs, licks and solos appeared on albums by Barbra Streisand, Steely Dan, Richie Havens, and many others. He played guitar on songs as raucous as Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels,” as well as melodic power ballads like Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” In ’98, he noted that his all-time personal favorite solo was the lead break on Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All.”
Derringer also produced several parody albums by Weird Al Yankovic, but while some of those novelty records won awards, Derringer, who had grown up as a fan of comic musicians like Spike Jones and Ray Stevens, was put off by the reception to his production of Yankovic’s satire.
“I thought producing Grammy-winning songs by Weird Al would really enhance my career,” he recalled. “But it almost destroyed my career because everybody started thinking of me as a novelty producer.”
In 1999, Derringer produced an album by Mambo Sons, fronted by VG contributor Tom Guerra. Their connection originated when Derringer called a radio show on which Guerra was promoting an earlier album.
“As we spun songs on the air, I got a call from a guy saying he really liked the guitar playing on it and he’d like to work with me,” said Guerra. “He sounded like he knew his stuff. I said, ‘What’s your name?’ and he said ‘This is Rick Derringer.’ A few weeks later I told him of my plans to record a solo album of blues rock, and he said, ‘That sounds fun; I’m in.’ His bass player from the Derringer (band), Kenny Aaronson, played on the album and ended up being my main collaborator for the past 20 years.
“Rick loved to talk guitars and told me his first good Strat was a ’66 sunburst he played with The McCoys. He played a lot of mine and really fell in love with a ’65 that I had.”
In later years, Derringer branched into smooth jazz and contemporary Christian music, and experienced success in both. On his jazz albums, he used a red archtop built by Jim Triggs.
In the early 2000s, Derringer endorsed Warrior guitars with a signature model and toured with Ringo’s All-Starr Band in 2010. He was admired by peers for his advocacy of professionalism onstage and in the studio.
“One thing I’ll never forget was bumping into Rick at the Warrior booth at NAMM,” recalled Jeff Carlisi, who co-founded 38 Special and lived near Derringer on the Atlantic coast of Florida. “He was playing some very deep jazz. I said, ‘Sounds like you’ve been listening to some jazz,’ to which he responded, ‘I listen to it all.’ It was one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard!”
“I first met Rick in 1974, when I helped line up an interview with him for Catherine Orentreich’s Les Paul documentary The Wizard of Waukesha,” said New York City musician Binky Philips, who bought Derringer’s famed ’59 Les Paul in 1972 (see “Classics” in this issue). “Rick did a great job. He was super down-to-earth and treated me like an equal. He was witty, wise, and an absolute monster player. It was an honor to know him.”
As news of Derringer’s passing spread, contemporaries posted memorials online. Ted Nugent, who performed with Derringer several times, called him “…a guitar music force of nature, a great man, and a great friend.”
“I was Rick’s drummer and tour manager from 1994 until 2012,” added Tom Curiale. “Rick was not only a brilliant guitarist, he was an amazing producer. He was admired and respected by many legendary artists, not only for his talents, but for the kind and gentle nature of the man he was. He was a very humble and approachable person. I will miss him greatly.”
“I was really saddened to hear about [his passing],” Chaquico said. “I wish we could’ve played together… Besides an outstanding early guitar hero, he also was an excellent songwriter, arranger, and producer.”
Few guitarists have had a career that was as varied and as lengthy as Rick Derringer’s, and Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw’s succinct memorial spoke for many.
“He was a trail blazing-genius… before his time, and never, ever disappointed. Thank you for the inspiration and fun!”
This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.