Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo

 I have a really funny story to share with you. I used to run a commercial recording studio north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a little town called Northumberland. This studio was awesome. I moved in after the original builder left, and it was a beautiful facility. It was out in the boonies between Pat and Debbie Boone, and I was surprised that anybody would come to my studio.

I got a call from a friend who had recorded a live session for a guy named Rick Derringer. That name may not ring a bell, but Rick was one of the most talented electric guitar players in the world. He was right up there with everybody and had been around for a long time. He was actually in the band The McCoys, and he wrote a song back in the 60s called "Hang On Sloopy." It was a big hit for him.

Then Rick started working with the brothers Johnny and Edgar Winter." You'll see tons of videos all over YouTube of Rick playing guitar with both of them. Frankenstein is one of my favorites! It's insane! Anyway, Rick had this "Greta Thunberg "style haircut when he was young, and he was only about 5'5". He was a short guy, but he was a dynamo back in those days with Edgar. He bounced around like a top in heat.

Anyway, my friend called me and said, "Hey, I told Rick to come down to your studio so you could mix this project." I was like, "Are you kidding me? Wow, I hope I hear from him." Lo and behold, Rick called me. He said, "Hey man, your buddy up in Boston gave me your name. He said you're the guy to mix this project."

I was thinking, "Okay, I have a nice studio, but I don't have a huge API console with racks and racks of LA2As, 1176s, and Pultecs. I basically had three Tascam DA38 digital 8-tracks at that time and a Roland VM-7200 digital mixer. We're talking around 2000 or 2001, and hard disk recording wasn't invented quite yet. These tracks were recorded on ADATs, which looked like VHS tapes.

So, I got a hold of some ADATs, and my buddy shipped the tapes down. Rick came to the studio, and I was so intimidated working with this legend. This guy wrote so many big songs for himself and became a fantastic artist in his own right. He also became a Christian at some point in his adult life, but he kept doing his old songs like "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo," which is probably his biggest hit.

Here's the video of Rick and Edgar performing his hit song on YouTube.

Anyway, Rick came to the studio, and it was just me and him. He wanted to re-track his guitar that he played live. He just wanted to re-track it all over again. I have a pic here of Rick and myself in my control room above. Rick was standing right next to me, re-tracking his guitar, and I was freaking out, hoping he liked what I was doing for him. He never missed a note re-tracking and he never looked down at his guitar. He could play his songs in his sleep!

Here's a pic of Rick in the main cutting room recording background vocals. He did it all in one take!

Rick finished re-tracking, and I started mixing. He was laying on the studio couch, and I was doing my thing. He seemed really chill and happy with everything. So I said, "Hey, Rick, man, I've always been a big fan of the song 'Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.' How did that title come about? How did that happen?"

Listen to the audio file above of me sharing this story. It's hilarious!

Unfortunately, Rick passed away recently. I was really saddened to see that, but he left such a legacy in music. You just never know what's going to happen. One thing about Rick is that he worked his tail off. That guy was always playing shows, and he was always so kind and nice to people. I'm just so glad he's in heaven, singing "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" with the Lord. I hope you enjoy this article and my recording.

And, you can hear MY mixes of Ricks amazing songs here on Spotify
You'll hear some of the finest electric guitar playing you've ever heard on this album.

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