Rick Derringer Quotations

And what makes me happy now has changed as well... Its one thing to play in a bar or at a biker festival, and hear a guy who's been drinking beer all day come up and tell you how good you are. For a long time in your life that will make you happy.

It's a great relationship when you can work with the person who you consider to be your soul mate.

The first time I heard Johnny play at the Fillmore East, I wasn't really impressed. He had come on the scene with everybody telling me how great he was, and I didn't hear it.

There was nobody at the time who was playing slide guitar like Johnny, and nobody, or no white guys at least, that was playing country blues like that on the acoustic guitar. And it was at that point that I realized what Johnny had to offer.

I've always been a guy who's pretty supportive, its just my nature, so I came in to the situation with the attitude that I wanted to support Johnny and make it work.

I know some people will be surprised to hear it, but I've found that my music, whether its blues or rock, or whatever you want to call it, can be channeled into a positive direction that actually helps people.

So, after awhile, you can only get so much happiness from a guy who's drunk come up and tell you you're great.

My family is involved and my wife Brenda is a great, great writer. She helps me with the writing of everything and also sings with me. I owe a lot to Brenda.

I started The McCoys in 1962, so I'm approaching my 40th year in the entertainment business.

I took the rhythm place, which a lot of people didn't know how to do the way I could, and this was really the first time that Johnny had a rhythm guitar player.

If my musical tastes are continuing to grow up, and I am not really too interested in the music that my kids listen to, then I assume that the audience is doing the same.

Johnny was great in the studio; he was there to make the music that he wanted to make. We lived right beside each other and had a rehearsal studio that was just ours, with nobody else using it, it was part of Johnny's house, so we could rehearse every day.

Because I was successful over the years, I never had the opportunity to do the stuff I really wanted.

I just really longed to do music that reflected me as an adult and music that I thought was for other adults.

I wanted to play some more grown-up music - jazz.

I was almost kind of trapped by my own success into only doing rock.

Brenda did some little vocal arrangements for us and she got to sing as well. So, we're happy to be able to work together and that's another reason why we look forward to doing more of these.

We played all of the songs on the first Johnny Winter AND every day before we recorded them, so that when we got in the studio, it was totally easy, as we knew exactly what we wanted to do.

I was the kind of guitar player who had grown up when electric guitar playing was still in its infancy, so I first learned how to play rhythm.

Without anybody to give him some competition or to push him, Johnny, like anybody, might get a little bored or sink into complacency.

This Classic Rock 'n Blues Tour / Hippiefest roster promises a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of the best, legendary artists of our lifetime. I can't wait to be a part of it.

Rock and roll hoochie koo, lawdy mama, light my fuse.