IF THERE IS ANYONE READING THIS ARTICLE THAT HAS NEVER HEARD THE ICONIC SONG “HANG ON SLOOPY”, THEN YOU’RE EITHER A) FROM ANOTHER PLANET, OR B) ACCIDENTALLY ON THE WRONG WEB SITE WHEN YOU WERE LOOKING FOR MACRAME’ IDEAS.
NOT ONLY IS GUITARIST AND SONGWRITER RICK DERRINGER FAMOUS FOR THAT 60S HIT, BUT HE MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF AS ONE OF THE BEST BLUES ROCKING GUITARISTS, HAVING RECORDED CLASSIC TUNES LIKE “ROCK AND ROLL HOOTCHIE KOO” AND “STILL ALIVE AND WELL”. HE’S BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH EDGAR AND JOHNNY WINTER, PLAYING ON FAMOUS TUNES SUCH AS “FRANKENSTEIN”, AS WELL IS BEING KNOWN AS A TOP SESSION GUITARIST FOR THE LIKES OF STEELY DAN AND PRODUCING TIMELESS ALBUMS BY AIR SUPPLY.
INSTEAD OF RESTING ON HIS LAURELS, RICK HAS NOT ONLY TAKEN A MUSICAL PILGRIMAGE, BUT A SPIRITUAL ONE AS WELL. AS HE RELATES IN THIS INTERVIEW WITH HIS WIFE JENDA, A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING TOOK PLACE IN HIS LIFE THAT HAS LITERALLY BREATHED A NEW SPIRIT INTO HIS PLAYING AND DESTINY.
WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO CHAT WITH BOTH RICK AND JENDA, AND AS EXPECTED, THE CONVERSATION WAS INSPIRING ON MANY LEVELS.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE
RICK: I was a Catholic from the first to eighth grade. People may say, “if you were a Catholic, you’re a Catholic”.
In the 9th grade, I moved to a new city and went to a regular community high school. After getting out of Catholic School, I kind of just forgot about being a Catholic. It wasn’t about not remembering all of the things that I had learned, but “Hang On Sloopy” came out during 12th grade, and I certainly forgot about it then! (laughs)
It wasn’t until I was going through a divorce, and having big problems, that I remembered I still had my upbringing. So, I went into a church one afternoon and prayed to God “I need help here.”
I told God “If you choose to bring me another mate, she better be a lot smarter than I am, because I have obviously not made the right decisions”
Within two weeks I met Jenda, and we’ve been pretty much together ever since. She taught me that I didn’t need Catholicism, but I just needed a Bible. So, now, we’re “The Bible People” (laughs), and we’ve been that ever since. We feel very happy and grounded.
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“I told God ‘If you choose to bring me another mate, she better be a lot smarter than I am, because I have obviously not made the right decisions’”
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JENDA, WERE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT DATING SOMEONE SO NEW AND YOUNG IN THE FAITH?
JENDA: My worry was more about the “rock star” issue. I didn’t want to change my whole life and start being with someone that’s gone for weeks or months at a time.
I had already gotten so many other people into the church that I didn’t worry about that part of him. Rick was totally sincere; I could tell that he had been praying about it.
So the thing is that the Bible says not to worry, as worry is a sin. But what concerned me was getting into that new lifestyle. But Rick said “No! It’s a beautiful thing! We can live anywhere you want. In America or out in my line of work”
We looked everywhere for a year, and decide to just stay where we are. We were on the gulf side of Florida for 20 years, and have been on the East side for almost five.
HOW HAS BECOMING A CHRISTIAN CHANGED YOUR CAREER (ESPECIALLY YOUR SONG LYRICS), AND YOUR LIFE PROJECTION?
RICK: Being equally yolked together (with a fellow Christian) certainly helps in the marriage part.
For the questions that I had about the music business, we actually asked out pastor what he thought.
He said “You have been given the opportunity to talk to those people who are unchurched as a reference or a guide, so to speak, to all of those people who would normally not hear it.
For example, I have a song called “Still Alive and Well”. I changed the lyrics to “Jesus Christ is risen up to heaven from the grave, and He’s still alive and well”
So if I went to a promoter for a concert, and told him that this is the first song that I’m going to play, he would probably say he’d rather I not do those lyrics.
But I’m given the opportunity to not ask whether we should do those lyrics, we just do it! (laughs) We do it at every concert.
JENDA: Everyone loves it
RICK: There’s never been a promoter that comes back and say “I wish you hadn’t done that first song”. People now love that song and look forward to hearing it.
JENDA: Because Jesus is alive and well, Rick is alive and well.
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“I’m a double agent for the Lord, working behind enemy lines. (laughs)”
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HOW MANY OTHER SONGS HAVE YOU HAD TO CHANGE, AS SOME OF THEM WERE PRETTY HEDONISTIC!
RICK: I’m a double agent for the Lord, working behind enemy lines. (laughs)
JENDA: The other songs, like “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Coo” have “read the Word, live it, too”. We actually did a smooth jazz version of “Hang On, Sloopy”, called “Smooth Sloopy”
RICK: When we change a song, we change as few words as we can; people seem to be very happy with that. It turns out that most of the lyrics that I had written during those years were reflective of a person that tried to do good.
JENDA: He also turned “Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo” into “Jazzy Koo” because it was smooth jazz. It got played on all the jazz stations. IHe wanted it to be “Smoochy Koo” but I told him people wouldn’t know what it meant.
When he did “Smooth Sloopy”, it turned out great even though it wasn’t a change of a lyric: it was a change of the music.
ON YOUR LATEST ALBUM, ALICE COOPER CO-WROTE ONE OF THE SONGS. BEING THE SON OF A PREACHER, HE HAD A “PRODIGAL SON” EXPERIENCE AS WELL HAVE YOU EVER COMPARED NOTES WITH HIM?
RICK: He and Bernie Taupin wrote a song with me. Even though I had done it originally, it was with girl’s lyric, so Jenda sang the whole song, “If I Weren’t So Romantic”, on our current album Rock The Yacht. It came out really well.
WHAT IS IT LIKE HAVING ALICE COOPER AND BERNIE TAUPIN IN THE SAME ROOM?
RICK: (laughs). I wasn’t there; they wrote the lyrics and they presented it to me. I then put it into the song. I would have liked to have been there!
It’s a song of extremes, so I’m sure they were those extreme kind of people.
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“I’m not the “young rock and roller” that I one was, and people try to make you into that. They want me to be that young guy, and play a young man’s music”
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AT THIS STAGE IN YOUR LIFE AND CAREER, WHY DID YOU FEEL A NEED TO PUT OUT A NEW ALBUM?
RICK: First, I’m not the “young rock and roller” that I one was, and people try to make you into that. They want me to be that young guy, and play a young man’s music.
JENDA: They want him to still be a young boy.
RICK: What I wanted to do was to create a record that reflects the age that we are now. It’s more of an adult contemporary “yacht rock”.
JENDA: It’s really fun.
RICK: I hope that it’s reflective of our learning process. You get older, you should have learned more. That’s what this record is supposed to show; that we’ve learned some things. It’s a good album, even though we’re not young kids.
JENDA: Life’s more fun when you’re not young, because you’ve got it figured out.
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“It’s a song of extremes, so I’m sure (Alice Cooper and Bernie Taupin)were those extreme kind of people”
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JENDA, WHEN YOU COME ON STAGE WITH RICK, DO THE FANS ALREADY WELCOME YOU, OR DO YOU HAVE TO WIN THEM OVER FIRST?
JENDA: The fans are always super receptive. It always turns out the way it’s supposed to.
When I first see Rick give that little wink at me when we sing into our microphone, there’s a wonderfully natural high. Everyone says that we sound so good together; our voices were made for each other
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“Life’s more fun when you’re not young, because you’ve got it figured out”
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I WAS IMPRESSED HOW GOOD THE ALBUM SOUNDED. IT SOUNDS GROWN UP
JENDA: It’s mature, without being out dated.
JENDA, DID YOU KNOW RICK’S MUSIC FROM THE PAST? OR DID YOU JUST MEET HIM WITHOUT HIS PAST?
JENDA: We both grew up in Dayton, Ohio.
I was born in Dayton and grew up in Indiana; he was born in Indiana and moved to Dayton. We were never there at the same time, but we both remembered all of the same places.
I remember when “Hang On Sloopy” came out while driving down Far Hills Avenue and thinking “What a nice guy; he doesn’t care what her daddy does. He’s in love with her anyway.” I was only five, and had it all figured out. (laughs)
Then, when All American Boy came out (in 1973) my friend showed me the album. Not having any idea that it was the same guy, I fell in love with him again. But that time I prayed for him to be my husband one day. Twenty two years later he came to our town; he clung to me and told me about the prayer he told you about.
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“You get older, you should have learned more. That’s what this record is supposed to show; that we’ve learned some things”
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HOW OLD WERE YOU?
JENDA: I was 37; he was 50 and all down because he had just turned 50 a month before. I told him “Don’t worry, fifty is nifty!”
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“he was 50 and all down because he had just turned 50 a month before. I told him ‘Don’t worry, fifty is nifty!”’
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RICK, WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO DO A JAZZ ALBUM, LIKE FREE RIDE AFTER BEING A B LUES ROCKER?
RICK: It was a process.
I had my first “hit” when I was only 17 years old, You can’t stay 17 forever.
As I got older, my musical tastes changed. I really liked the “smooth jazz” style and sound that was going around at the time, so we decided to make a smooth jazz album.
I found a record company that thought it sounded like a good idea.
But it’s a process of showing that you are getting older; you’re not the same young person that you once were. This is a continuing process, just like this new record is.
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“I had my first “hit” when I was only 17 years old, You can’t stay 17 forever”
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JENDA: Rick told me that when he was a little boy he listened to jazz and wanted to play it. He listened to old 40s jazz and was always attracted to it, but as a kid the corralled him into playing pop as kids don’t play jazz,.
RICK; My folks had a great collection of 78rpms, and as a kid I listened to all that kind of stuff
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“Rick told me that when he was a little boy he listened to jazz and wanted to play it. He listened to old 40s jazz and was always attracted to it, but as a kid the corralled him into playing pop as kids don’t play jazz”
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YOUR GROWTH WAS SHOWN IN YOUR STUDIO WORK, AS YOU WORKED WITH STEELY DAN ON ALBUMS LIKE GAUCHO,
RICK: Living in New York City, I had the opportunity to help a lot of different people, as I was on “the scene”.
I discovered Cindy Lauper, just because I happened to be there. I was asked to create some music for her.
I got to play with Steely Dan a lot because I helped Donald Fagan create the demo that helped them become Steely Dan. I was kind of on the inside to a lot of music: Kiss, Air Supply and Barbara Streisand
OF THE PEOPLE YOU WORKED IN THE STUDIO WITH, WHO IMPRESSED YOU MOST WITH THEIR MUSICAL MIND?
RICK: Donald Fagan.
Jim Simon also. He was the producer of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” by Bonnie Tyler and “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” by Air Supply as well as my work with Barbara Streisand,. He had a great effect on my music.
WAS THERE EITHER A STUDIO RECORDING OR LIVE CONCERT THAT WAS A “BAPTISM BY FIRE”?
RICK: No.
Leon Russell once when we were jamming in a hotel room late one night, said to our mutual friend, “He’s a brave little guy” (laughs)
So, whether or not I was up to it, I wasa brave little guy!
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“Leon Russell once when we were jamming in a hotel room late one night, said to our mutual friend, “’He’s a brave little guy’” (laughs)
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YOU ALWAYS DO SEEM CONFIDENT ON STAGE. I REMEMBER THAT WHEN I SAW YOU IN VEGAS. BAD COMPANY OPENED FOR YOU.
RICK: Bad Company’s show, when they opened for us, was their first show in the US.
They were having troubles with their sound check. I went up and helped the sound man figure out what the problem was, and the concert went on.
Later on, I opened for Led Zeppelin in the US for the last concerts that they did, and was told by their manager that the reason he put me on the show was a “thank you” for helping Bad Company on that first concert tour.
YOU SPENT A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME WITH JOHNNY AND EDGAR WINTER. WHAT DID YOU GLEAN FROM THOSE EARLY YEARS?
RICK: How helpful I could be to them.
I became Johnny Winter’s producer; I produced anything he made that went gold or platinum. I then became Edgar’s producer and also produced everything gold or platinum that he ever made.
Playing “live” with Johnny Winter had a big effect on my music; I loved his style of slide guitar playing
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“Playing “live” with Johnny Winter had a big effect on my music; I loved his style of slide guitar playing”
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HOW DID YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TODD RUNDGREN’S ALBUMS DEVELOP?
RICK: He was a neighbor on mine.
I was living in Manhattan; Todd lived just down the street, and we became good friends. I ended up playing on several of his big records.
YOU WERE ONE OF THE FEW MUSICIANS ON HIS DOUBLE ALBUM SOMETHING/ANYTHING? BECAUSE HE PLAYED ALMOST EVERY INSTRUMENT.
RICK: Except whatever I played (laughs)
DID ANY OF YOUR RECORDINGS EVER FEEL SPECIAL AHEAD OF TIME, OR DID THEY ALL JUST FEEL LIKE “JUST ANOTHER GIG” AT THE TIME?
RICK: My favorite solo was “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” with Air Supply
For the Barbara Streisand sessions, she did every take of every song with a full band.
But Barbara Streisand would not come in to sing; they had a girl there to sing every take. I remember thinking “I can’t wait to hear the version by Barbara Streisand, because this sounds great.”
In actuality, when I finally heard the take with Barbara Streisand, it was a let down because the girl that sang before her was actually better! (laughs)
WHEN YOU WATCH A BAND AND GUITARIST, WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR AND WHAT IS YOUR PET PEEVE?
JENDA: I look for individuality. We don’t like when people do just copies, so we never know who they really are.
RICK: I love a band when they’re really in tune, literally.
That’s one of the biggest changes in the music business…
When I was first getting started, there was no tuner; it didn’t exist.
Some bands sounded terrible simply because they didn’t know how to tune their instruments well.
So, when the Automatic Tuner came, it showed people when they were in tune. Soon all bands were in tune, and it pretty much changed the music business in ways that people don’t think about very often.
As far as musicianship, that comes from your heart. Good songs are good songs.
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“I look for individuality. We don’t like when people do just copies, so we never know who they really are”
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WHAT MUSICIAN, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU PAY $1000 TO SEE PERFORM?
RICK: None of them. (laughs)
I wouldn’t pay $1000 to see anybody; music is free!
That’s one of the biggest things that I learned as a kid.
Theoretically, music goes from my heart to your heart. Did you like it? Then it worked.
What they figured out somewhere along the line was they could put the music on some form of a disc , spindle, cylinder or whatever it was in the beginning, and they could then sell it. Then it became what we call “commercial”.
But until that time, music was free, so I wouldn’t pay $1000 to see someone to play music. Music is free!
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“Theoretically, music goes from my heart to your heart. Did you like it? Then it worked”
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IS THERE ANYONE, LIVING OR DEAD, THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SIT DOWN WITH FOR AN EVENING AND PICK HIS OR HER BRAIN?
RICK: When I sit down with musicians, we invariably enjoy each other’s company, and we don’t talk too much music.
I enjoy talking to people who have something to say about real stuff.
They say that talking about other people is low minded; talking about ideas is what we want to strive towards
Most of the people I’m in contact with are either believers or practicing/non-practicing Jews, so we all have pretty much the same belief system
I have found that, as far as the world of politics, people on the right wing tend to be in tune with Christianity, and people on the left side are more in tune with agnosticism. And now, we even find that the church of Satan is being acknowledged!
I follow Jesus; I try to be a good example.
JENDA: Jesus. I’d ask Him how it was to create the world, and how long it as actually existed. That’s always been a subject of debate.
My second question would be “What do you want me to do, Lord?” We pray that all of the time; we want to know that we’re not out of line”
ARE THERE ANY BOOKS THAT YOU’VE READ THAT YOU WISH OTHERS WOULD READ, OR MADE A BIG IMPACT ON Y OU?
RICK: The Memoirs of Billy Shears. The other one is Paul McCartney is Really Dead. Both of those are about the theoretical death of Paul McCartney.
JENDA: This might help some other people
My father was passing away. He and Rick were so much alike and so close. He was in Hospice, and got some books from the library. I would sit next to him and read them while he was under morphine; he was awake and breathing.
Mom said his toes were wiggling like crazy and his feet were moving, but he couldn’t move the rest of his body. That’s how he was responding to what I was reading to him.
It’s a real good thing to read to your loved ones when they’re in that moment of their lives when they are going to pass to the next world.
I don’t remember exactly what It was titled, but it was about a little boy building a sandcastle before going home to his dad. It equated what men and women do with their whole lives; they build, and **build their whole lives, and when it’s time to pass on, they take their dad’s hand and go home. That helped my dad; he was ready to go.
JENDA: Rick reads the Bible to me out loud every day
RICK: The one I like the most is the Chronological Bible.
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“I wouldn’t pay $1000 to see someone to play music. Music is free!”
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WHEN YOU READ IT FOR THE FIRST TIME, WHAT HIT YOU ABOUT THE BIBLE?
RICK: As a Catholic, you’re not allowed to read the Bible; you’re not given a Bible. You’re only given a Catechism, which is like excerpts from the Bible
I just realized that it was so much more than just the Catechism
We have learned to pay attention to specific words. Words in the Bible are not just something that you read across and say “Well, I read it!”.
Each of the words are important, whether it’s a plural or not. Each word is meaningful.
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“As far as musicianship, that comes from your heart. Good songs are good songs”
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WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST JOY?
JENDA: Kayaking; otters love Rick.
RICK: We love that; beautiful clear blue spring water here in Florida
WHAT FUTURE GOALS DO YOU HAVE?
JENDA: Lots of production for other artists that come to our studio. Writing and recording for ourselves, too.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY AT YOUR MEMORIAL SERVICE?
JENDA: She had a meaningful life, and that we were a positive influence on people
RICK: We were good to people.
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“’What do you want me to do, Lord?”’ We pray that all of the time; we want to know that we’re not out of line”
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DURING A TIME WHEN WE HEAR OF THE TRAGIC ENDINGS OF SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE MUSIC FIELD, IT IS ENCOURAGING TO HEAR THAT THERE ARE STILL MUSICIANS THAT ARE ACTUALLY THRIVING IN THE AUTUMN OF THEIR CAREERS (AS RICK DERRINGER ALREADY HAD HIS “WINTER YEARS”). AND EVEN BETTER, AS MOST ARTISTS LOOK TO THE HALCYON DAYS OF THEIR PAST AS THEIR ‘GLORY’ YEARS, BOTH RICH AND JENDA ACTUALLY LOOK FORWARD TO THEIR FUTURE DAYS, AS THEY HAVE LEARNED THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY GETTING CLOSER EVERY DAY TO THEIR TRUE JOY, AN ETERNAL ONE.