RIP Rick Derringer

[Bubbler]

Apropos of absolutely nothing, my college buddies and I made multiple alcohol runs to Union City, Ohio to a drive-in liquor store that didn’t check IDs.

Our dual purpose? Indiana didn’t sell Coors at the time (don’t ask, it’s some “Smokey And The Bandit”-type ****) and we wanted to get our hands on then-new Coors party balls.

Talk about misspent youth. Yeesh.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Apropos of absolutely nothing, my college buddies and I made multiple alcohol runs to Union City, Ohio to a drive-in liquor store that didn't check IDs.

Our dual purpose? Indiana didn't sell Coors at the time (don't ask, it's some "Smokey And The Bandit"-type ****) and we wanted to get our hands on then-new Coors party balls.

Talk about misspent youth. Yeesh.

Oregon kept Coors out (and protected the Blitz-Weinhard brewery) by outlawing non-pasteurized beer in the state, and the Banquet was not pasteurized at the time.

 

[swingline]

Same in Missouri with AB keeping it out.

 

[User 149557]

Apropos of absolutely nothing, my college buddies and I made multiple alcohol runs to Union City, Ohio to a drive-in liquor store that didn't check IDs.

Our dual purpose? Indiana didn't sell Coors at the time (don't ask, it's some "Smokey And The Bandit"-type ****) and we wanted to get our hands on then-new Coors party balls.

Talk about misspent youth. Yeesh.

We now have three (!) liquor stores. And….nothing else.

 

[Huggy]

Rick was playing with Johnny Winter back when he first broke. After Winter signed signed with Columbia, a big tour was being planned to break him with the listening public. The band was going out as "Johnny Winter and Rick Derringer", but Columbia told Winter that the company was paying to promote Johnny Winter, so instead they toured and released records as "Johnny Winter And."

RIP to a solid rocker and perennial sideman.

Here's Rick with the McCoys playing his first hit. Time capsule video for certain.

Johnny Winter And Live is one of the best live albums ever made.

 

[Batman]

"Real American" was Rick Derringer's most iconic wrestling theme, but this one is great as well. It hits hard and keeps driving through you, just like the ass-kicking tag team who walked out to it on their way to squash a couple of jobbers.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Eh, I always thought of Derringer as a journeyman guitar slinger, deep in the shadow of guys like Leslie West and Joe Walsh. I'm surprised he got a standalone RIP vs a mic drop.

JWA Live was, IMO, a pretty sloppy work that arrived just before Johnny went into rehab. He sounds drunk or stoned on much of the album. I say that as a longtime JW fan.

Compare any track on that album with this. Just MHO

 

[Huggy]

Eh, I always thought of Derringer as a journeyman guitar slinger, deep in the shadow of guys like Leslie West and Joe Walsh. I'm surprised he got a standalone RIP vs a mic drop.

JWA Live was, IMO, a pretty sloppy work that arrived just before Johnny went into rehab. He sounds drunk or stoned on much of the album. I say that as a longtime JW fan.

Compare any track on that album with this. Just MHO

Fair point, I just loved the energy, how unhinged some of it was. It seemed to explode off the turntable, that was a huge deal to a teenage kid in the early 80s in suburban Toronto just getting into the blues.

Second Winter is an incredible album and Johnny totally turned Highway 61 inside out, easily one of the greatest Dylan covers ever.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Fair point, I just loved the energy, how unhinged some of it was. It seemed to explode off the turntable, that was a huge deal to a teenage kid in the early 80s in suburban Toronto just getting into the blues.

Second Winter is an incredible album and Johnny totally turned Highway 61 inside out, easily one of the greatest Dylan covers ever.

The album was wild and wooly, for sure.

A lot of Johnny's work was bootlegged, of course. One of the oddest albums in that bunch was a release on Imperial called The Progressive Blues Experiment. It came out almost simultaneously with his first Columbia album. I understand that it was a recording of a live performance he was going to use as a demo. Hence, the production is primitive -- but the music is awesome.

The odd thing about it was, I remember hearing commercials promoting the album on the radio when it went on sale! I can't think of many bootleg releases that had an ad budget.

BTW, pardon my bluntness. I've been a rock 'n' roll curmudgeon for half a century.

 

[Huggy]

The album was wild and wooly, for sure.

A lot of Johnny's work was bootlegged, of course. One of the oddest albums in that bunch was a release on Imperial called The Progressive Blues Experiment. It came out almost simultaneously with his first Columbia album. I understand that it was a recording of a live performance he was going to use as a demo. Hence, the production is primitive -- but the music is awesome.

The odd thing about it was, I remember hearing commercials promoting the album on the radio when it went on sale! I can't think of many bootleg releases that had an ad budget.

BTW, pardon my bluntness. I've been a rock 'n' roll curmudgeon for half a century.

No worries at all, I have been known to work that side of the street myself!

 

[Huggy]

The album was wild and wooly, for sure.

A lot of Johnny's work was bootlegged, of course. One of the oddest albums in that bunch was a release on Imperial called The Progressive Blues Experiment. It came out almost simultaneously with his first Columbia album. I understand that it was a recording of a live performance he was going to use as a demo. Hence, the production is primitive -- but the music is awesome.

The odd thing about it was, I remember hearing commercials promoting the album on the radio when it went on sale! I can't think of many bootleg releases that had an ad budget.

BTW, pardon my bluntness. I've been a rock 'n' roll curmudgeon for half a century.

The Progressive Blues Experiment is a killer album, you can see why Johnny was such a hot commodity then, there was nobody like him. I know he made a million studio albums (his resurgence on Alligator in the mid-80s yielded some fine albums) but I have always loved his live stuff and there's so much of it out there. I only saw him once (opening for Golden Earring, riding high with "Twilight Zone", I left when Johnny was done), unfortunately.

My wife had a boss who in addition to being a fine blues player in his own right was a Johnny fanatic. Occasionally when I visited we'd sit in his office (he was a VP or something at the bank) and talk guitar players, often about Johnny who he had seen many times. Very good times.

 

[Machine Head]

Saw him on an Oldies Tour 10-15 yers ago.

Fine job on Sloopy.

Dunno how many Dan songs he made the final cut to, but I know there there were a couple.

The Dan ran through so many musicians.