R.I.P. Rick Derringer, guitarist, producer, and descendant of a family that invented a sissy little gun. You may remember his uncle, Yancy.
TRIVIA:
The term “derringer” became a genericized misspelling during the reporting of the Lincoln assassination, which was committed with a concealed Philadelphia Deringer. Many copies of the original Philadelphia Deringer pistol were made by other gunmakers worldwide, and the name remained often misspelled; this misspelling soon became an alternative generic term for any pocket pistol, along with the generic phrase “palm pistol”, which Henry Deringer’s competitors invented and used in their advertising. With the advent of metallic cartridges, pistols produced in the modern form are still commonly called “derringers”.
The headline above refers to “Hang On Sloopy,” the #1 single performed by Rick and his band, the McCoys.
TRIVIA:
Only two states have officially designated rock songs: Ohio and Oklahoma. Ohio’s is “Hang On Sloopy” by The McCoys, and Oklahoma’s is “Do You Realize” by the Flaming Lips.
My nominee for Wisconsin’s official state rock song: “Milk Cow Blues.”
Shouldn’t a song from the McCoys identify with West Virginia instead? As I recall about the McCoys, “from West Virginny they came to stay / in sunny Californ-I-A.” That band, if I recall correctly, featured Grandpappy Amos at the keyboard.