When Rick Derringer passed away in 2025, obituaries strained to fit in all of his many accomplishments. Garage rock star, guest musician extraordinaire, producer, songwriter, and rock-and-wrestling pioneer are just some of the titles that Derringer could claim.
Most of those remembrances didn’t go very far before mentioning “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo”, the strangely punctuated, genuinely captivating solo hit delivered by Derringer in 1973. Derringer stuck with the song for several years before it became a hit and went back to it many times after that.
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Winter’s Band
At age 18, Rick Derringer already had a No. 1 single in his back pocket. He achieved this with his Ohio-based band The McCoys, who took “Hang On Sloopy” to the top of the charts in 1965. They enjoyed a few more hit singles in the wake of that success.
The problem, however, is that the band was viewed as more of a light pop act after that initial success. Derringer, an immensely talented guitarist, knew those skills would be wasted if the band continued in that direction. He began looking for other outlets.
That’s when he and other members of The McCoys connected with Johnny Winter, the brilliant blues singer-guitarist. They became Winter’s backing band, with the collective now dubbed Johnny Winter And. Derringer also began writing songs for Winter, one of the first of which was “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo”.
Re-Recording Results
When writing the song, Derringer was thinking of combining a rock-oriented approach with Winter’s blues roots. That’s why he included the phrase “Hoochie Koo”, a well-worn phrase in blues songs. Winter did his version of the song on the 1970 album Johnny Winter And, trading searing licks with Derringer on the track.
Three years later, Derringer embarked upon his solo album, titled All American Boy. He decided to do his own take on “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo”. Derringer handled all the instruments except drums, and he added some female backing vocalists to engage in some call and response in the chorus.
Johnny Winter hadn’t released “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo” as a single. As such, most radio listeners were hearing the song for the first time. Derringer’s take on the track made it to No. 23 on the pop charts in 1973, the biggest solo hit of his career.
Behind the Lyrics of “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo”
If ever a song managed to incorporate equal parts sex, drugs, and rock and roll, it’s “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo”. It begins with Derringer recounting the origins of his love of music. “I couldn’t stop moving when it first took hold,” he explains, talking about how a local group lit his fire.
In the second verse, a clandestine tryst occupies his attention: “I’m going ‘round back, said she’d meet me there/We were rollin’ in the grass that grows behind the barn.” He rounds out the trifecta in the last verse, mentioning, “I’m gettin’ high all the time, hope you all are too.”
You could make the argument that Derringer meant with that line that his drug was rock music. If that’s the case, he paid it forward. After all, “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo” has been sending listeners soaring for decades.
(Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)