Rick Derringer turns 73 today. His big hit: “Rock ‘n Roll Hoochie Koo” was written for somebody else. Written with the idea of giving a blues rocker Johnny Winter a shot at a pop hit, it didn’t become a hit until its writer recorded it on his own. (Hit version on Derringer’s All American Boy, original Johnny Winter recording on Johnny Winter And.) Peaked at number-23 on the Billboard Hot 100, Derringer’s biggest hit as a songwriter and as a solo artist.
In 1970, he and his band The McCoys combined forces with blues rocker Johnny Winter. It was going to be
