Rick Derringer on Pedal Steel

Allen Peterson · Post by **Allen Peterson** » 4 Jan 2005 8:15 am

I was just listening to an old album recored in 1972 by The Edgar Winter Group. The album is titled They Only Come Out At Night. I was surprised to see that Rick Derringer played the pedal steel on the song Round & Round. He actually sounded pretty good. He played in tune and had some good licks.

Al Terhune · Post by **Al Terhune** » 4 Jan 2005 9:19 am

That's pretty wild. Wonder if he still picks at it..Mr. Rock and Roll Hoochicoo!

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 4 Jan 2005 9:28 am

I have a Rick Derringer story.

I was recording at Prarie Sun Studios in No Cal with Wilson Gil & the Willful Sinners and we took a break for lunch. There was some scruffy dude hanging out. Turned out to be Rick. He was recording a blues album in one of the other studios. The band leader talked the studio owner into asking Rick to play guitar on our record. So, for $100 and and a bag of medicinal herbs he played on one track. It was an overdub so I can't say I played with him. Still it was pretty cool to see it.

I had no clue he played steel.

Here's the album:
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,340625,00.html

------------------
Dave Zirbel-
ZB Custom D-10 8 x 5, S-12U Kline 7 x6, Dobro Cyclops reissue, 1967 Fender Telecaster, Webb 6-14E, Fender Super Reverb
The Mother Truckers
The Cowlicks

[This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 04 January 2005 at 09:28 AM.][This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 04 January 2005 at 09:41 AM.]

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 4 Jan 2005 10:18 am

I went out to see Rick play a little club date in Mass.
He had for a band Neil Geraldo, on 2nd gt.,the great drummer Myron Grombacher and a bassplayer,
all shortly to be doing mega-hits with Pat Benatar.

Well I just happened to have a seat in front of Rick..
like 1 foot in front. There was some ditzy broad got it in her head to repeatedly grab the mic cable, and it was pulling away and then hitting Rick in the face during songs.

I was swatting her hands away and finally grabbed her hand and cable, and tucked her back in her seat, and wrapped the cable round the stand during a gt. solo.

Next thing I know 2 beers show up for me, and an invit back stage between sets..
Basically I drank free on the band all night, got invited to the next gig free( + beer), and jam on bass during that sound check.

Nice guys, fun to hang with, and in the rock world quite classy.

I remember that Edgar album well. and Rick did do good steel work.

I used to play Frankenstein as a guitar trio with a great strat player, he did ALL the synth licks with whammy bar. Always a show stopper.[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 04 January 2005 at 10:19 AM.]

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 4 Jan 2005 10:25 am

I used to have "They Only Come Out....." on an 8 trk. Dunno what happened to it. (yes,I still have an 8 trk. player.) Saw Edgar & Rick at the Nashville Auditorium back in the early 70's. Got some great pics (slides) of their work. The song that turned me on to Edgar,was "Frankenstein". Still one of my favs of his. I have the "Edgar Winter Anthology" on CD. GREAT album.

------------------
<pre> ~ ~
©¿© It don't mean a thang,
mm if it ain't got that twang.
www.ntsga.com</pre>

Jim Hankins · Post by **Jim Hankins** » 4 Jan 2005 10:53 am

Very intresting and cool stories. Ricks fairly recent string of 4 Blues albums is some of his best stuff IMO. I recall one of the Steely Dan guys raved about his authentic delta blues slide playing, though I dont really remember Rick as playing that much slide guitar, Jim

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 4 Jan 2005 12:17 pm

College Sophomore at the time. Won't detail the extracurricular activities that may have been happenin' whilst this LP was playing new...

Larry Robbins · Post by **Larry Robbins** » 4 Jan 2005 1:24 pm

Rick Derringer also played steel on the Johnny Winter album"Still Alive And Well"
on the songs: "Silver Train" and one of fav's "Aint Nothing To ME" I think I remember them pretty well....but then again back in 73 there was an awful lot of...err..
..'combustable refreshment" AROUND!

[This message was edited by Larry Robbins on 04 January 2005 at 01:25 PM.]

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 4 Jan 2005 1:28 pm

I recently got the Still Alive and Well album, and yes there is some nice steel on that too.

I also really like the Roadwork live album alot.

Jeff A. Smith · Post by **Jeff A. Smith** » 4 Jan 2005 6:28 pm

"Still Alive and Well" is one of my favorite rock n' roll records of all time. What a great vibe. Maybe the fresh feeling had to do with the fact that Johnny just got out of rehab.

Also very good is the black album "Johnny Winter And," with Derringer on second lead guitar. Great stuff.

I have to confess that in 1973 I was very much into learning the guitar, and steel licks on rock albums probably barely registered as such. I'll have to dig those albums out again and have a listen ...

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 4 Jan 2005 7:35 pm

In the early 70's I had a Mccoys album called "Human Ball"That Rick had played pedal steel on I think that the songwriting credits spelled his last name as Zeringer?I met him one time at the guitar lab in the east village,he was real nice.

frank rogers · Post by **frank rogers** » 4 Jan 2005 7:39 pm

If i'm not mistaken Zeringer is his actual last name. A buddy of mine was in a band with him between the Mccoy's and E.W. Group. He told me at that time, around'73, that Rick owned a Sho-Bud.

Jeff A. Smith · Post by **Jeff A. Smith** » 5 Jan 2005 4:59 pm

If i'm not mistaken Zeringer is his actual last name.

Right. On the "Johnny Winter And" album, there is a "Randy Z" playing ... I forget now, drums I think. That was Rick's brother.

So Rick played steel for quite awhile apparently -- interesting.

I think Union City, Indiana, is the Zeringers' general home area.[This message was edited by Jeff A. Smith on 05 January 2005 at 05:02 PM.]

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 5 Jan 2005 6:28 pm

Geez ,, and I thought I was the only steel player in the world that knew Rick Derringer was a good steel player. Its been years since I heard Round and Round but I recall his nice sound and accurate intonation. You could tell he really knew how to play it,not just hack away at it like some other rock guys.

Bob Smith · Post by **Bob Smith** » 14 Jan 2005 6:47 am

Rick was one of my heroes as a teenager. I always knew he played pedal steel, and he played steel on Johhny Winter cuts.( I was sort of reluctant to mention that on this forum} ?.. His guitar solo on Back in the USA, from the White Trash live album has got to be one of the best guitar solos ever played by anybody, ever !! bob

Jeremy Steele · Post by **Jeremy Steele** » 14 Jan 2005 10:22 am

Hey David, the bass player at the gig you saw was probably Kenny Aaronson...I did some work for Rick and the Pat Benatar band when I was running sound systems...very nice people.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 14 Jan 2005 11:27 am

Jeremy, thanx for mentioning one of my all time favorite bassist/rockers, Kenny Aaronson. As a high schooler, he was 1/3 of a power trio called Dust. They put out 2 underated/unheard LPs in the early 70s that always illicited WOW's when played for the uninitiated (From A Dry Camel(!). Plus, the 2 LP's cover art was as classic as the music contained inside. Kenny later went on to Rick's band and I finally got to enjoy Kenny's playing in person when they opened for Johnny Winter in '75 at the Long Beach Arena. He then caught the eye/ear of Brian Setzer, who recruited him for his 1st post Cat's band 'The Radiation Ranch', who were possibly the best performers at the '85ish 'Live Aid' show. Of course, they were not included in the recent release of these shows, while plenty of garbage was, JUST BRILLIANT! He's still playing, and is a very known and respected rock bassist in the industry. You can 'google' his name and come up with a fine/recent interview with him that covers a lot of ground.

From the 'Last but not least' Dept.,
he displayed examples of R&R steel guitar on each LP![This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 16 January 2005 at 05:16 PM.]

Al Terhune · Post by **Al Terhune** » 14 Jan 2005 3:21 pm

I just went to Rickderringer.com and sent this link to one of his booking agents (I think they were the only contact emails). Maybe Rick will get this link...

At any rate -- check out his website!

Al

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 14 Jan 2005 3:25 pm

Kenny Aronson... hmm does ring a bell.
He was a solid player, did what was needed for the gig.

Loved Myrons drumming. Best described as "cpntroled mania"

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 14 Jan 2005 7:16 pm

Did Rick have something to do with "Blue Cheer" also? Or maybe Blue Cheer recorded an old McCoys song. Man, details from back then are getting a little hazy...

Chris Bauer · Post by **Chris Bauer** » 14 Jan 2005 7:38 pm

Geez, Rick - Just remembering Blue Cheer gets bonus memory points!

Here, by the way, is a hideous little piece of Blue Cheer trivia... When a couple of them were part of the local surf band in my hometown ("The Hideaways" which then became "Oxford Circle" and then split into "Blue Cheer" and "Kak" - sound like Spinal Tap yet?), they are rumored to have wanted a Hawaiian steel player but there was no one in town who played. Just think, if only I'd started playing sooner. The mind reels when considering all the trouble I coulda ever-so-easily gotten into...[This message was edited by Chris Bauer on 14 January 2005 at 07:42 PM.]

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 15 Jan 2005 3:14 pm

So, for $100 and and a bag of medicinal herbs he played on one track

Medicinal herbs?!

heh heh. . . .

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 15 Jan 2005 3:52 pm

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 15 Jan 2005 5:21 pm

Chris B.- I USED to be hip.

What happened? Now I have to depend on my kids for information.

Remember Atomic Rooster?

When Rev. Lenny Stadler (Leonard's son) was in Blackfoot, they were "discovered" by Edgar Winter. Lenny has some pretty wild stories to tell about those Edgar Winter gigs.

BTW, if anyone is interested, Lenny's book "Hard Rock to Solid Rock" is a fun, easy and rewarding read. It details (obviously) how he became a budding rock star, then went from Blackfoot to Christ and the Christian ministry. You can buy it here, if interested: http://www.bristolhouseltd.com/biography.htm [This message was edited by Rick McDuffie on 15 January 2005 at 05:37 PM.]

Kurt Graber · Post by **Kurt Graber** » 16 Jan 2005 1:19 am

Wow, great information! I have heard the song round and round many times and many many years ago. I can't imagine how old Rick was when he did this but I'll agree, his intonation was right on. How many parties, women, drugs did he turn down to say "No, I have to go practice this steel guitar thing".....