If the old joke has it that Hollywood journeyman Kevin Bacon can be linked to anyone in the film industry within six moves, the same was surely true of Rick Derringer’s thumbprint on the rock ’n’ roll scene of the 70s and 80s.
The Ohio-born guitarist – who died in May aged 77 – was never a household name (although he came close with 1965’s Hang On Sloopy and 1973’s Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo). But as a songwriter, producer, sideman, gun-for-hire or guitar designer, Derringer was never far from the A-list, making vital contributions to the work of such notables as Johnny Winter, Steely Dan, Ringo Starr, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic.
