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Mitch Ryder

Born in Detroit, MI

Mitch Ryder's Genre:

Rock & Roll, Album Rock, Hard Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul, Soul, R&B

Biography

The unsung heart and soul of the Motor City rock & roll scene, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' blue-eyed R&B attack boasted a gritty passion and incendiary energy matched by few artists on either side of the color line. Born William Levise, Jr. in Hamtramck, Michigan on February 26, 1945, Ryder sang with a local black quartet dubbed the Peps as a teen, but suffered so much racial harassment that he soon left the group to form his own combo, Billy Lee & the Rivieras. While opening for the Dave Clark Five during a 1965 date, the Rivieras came to the notice of producer Bob Crewe, who immediately signed the group and, according to legend, rechristened the singer Mitch Ryder after randomly selecting the name from a phone book. Backed by the peerless Detroit Wheels -- originally guitarists James McCarty and Joe Cubert, bassist Earl Elliot, and drummer Johnny "Bee" Badanjek -- Ryder reached the Top Ten in early 1966 with "Jenny Take a Ride"; the single, a frenzied combination of Little Richard's "Jenny Jenny" and Chuck Willis' "C.C. Rider," remains one of the quintessential moments in blue-eyed soul, its breathless intensity setting the tone for the remainder of the band's output.

Ryder and the Detroit Wheels returned to the charts weeks later with their reading of "Little Latin Lupe Lu," scoring their biggest hit that autumn with the Top Five smash "Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly." "Sock It to Me Baby!" followed in early 1967, but at Crewe's insistence, Ryder soon split from the rest of the band to mount a solo career; the move proved disastrous -- outside of the Top 30 entry "What Now My Love," the hits quickly and permanently dried up. In 1969, Ryder teamed with Booker T. & the MG's for an LP titled The Detroit-Memphis Experiment before returning home and reuniting with Badanjek in a new seven-piece lineup known simply as Detroit. The group's lone LP, a self-titled effort issued in 1971, remains a minor classic, yielding a major FM radio hit with its cover of Lou Reed's "Rock and Roll"; however, the years of performing were taking their toll, and as Ryder began suffering more and more from severe throat problems, he retired from music, relocating to the Denver area in 1973. In time he began writing songs with wife Kimberley, also taking up painting and working on a novel.

Ryder resurfaced in 1978 on his own Seeds and Stems label with How I Spent My Vacation, his first new LP in seven years; Naked But Not Dead appeared a year later, and he continued his prolific output in 1981 with two new efforts, Live Talkies and Got Change for a Million? In 1983 ardent fan John Cougar Mellencamp agreed to produce Ryder's major-label comeback, Never Kick a Sleeping Dog, which generated a minor hit with its cover of the Prince classic "When You Were Mine" but otherwise failed to return the singer to mainstream success, at least at home -- in Europe, and particularly in Germany, he retained a large fan following, releasing In the China Shop on the German label Line in 1986. After satirizing the Iran-Contra debacle with the 1987 single "Good Golly, Ask Ollie," Ryder issued the full-length Red Blood, White Mink the following year; subsequent efforts include 1990's The Beautiful Toulang Sunset, 1992's La Gash, and 1994's Rite of Passage. He continued touring steadily in the years to follow and also worked on an autobiography. Ryder's first new studio album in nearly 30 years, the Don Was-produced The Promise, appeared in 2012. ~ Jason Ankeny

AOL Radio Stations Mitch Ryder is Featured on (4)

'60s Rock

60’s rock was a game of follow the leaders: Bob Dylan & The Beatles. An entire generation became inspired. FM euthanized elevator music. Long, strange trips began. Slacker’s 60’s Rock Radio celebrates the trailblazing visionaries who made FM radio rock the first time. And again. Man.

Oldies

Oldies on Slacker Radio plays the best songs from the '60s and '70s and the '50s too!

'60s Hits

It was the decade that defined a generation. The Gulf of Tonkin, Neil Armstrong, Spiderman, Little Deuce Coupe, Mustang Sally, Get Smart, Twiggy, and We Shall Overcome. Yeah, yeah, yeah...it was fab, gear, groovy and boss. Turn on, tune in, and drop out with '60s Hits on Slacker Radio.

Mitch Ryder

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Animals, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Yardbirds, Eric Burdon, The Rascals, The Lovin' Spoonful, Bob Seger and more.

All Stations

Mitch Ryder's Selected Discography (34)

Live! Rock From Detroit (Digitally Remastered)

2012 Essential Media Group LLC201219 Songs

Artists Related to Mitch Ryder (50)

	Paul Revere & the Raiders	One of the most popular and entertaining groups of the 1960s, Paul Revere & the Raiders enjoyed seven years of serious chart action, and during their three biggest years (1966-1969), sold records in numbers second only to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
	The Animals	One of the most important bands originating from England's R&B scene during the early '60s, the Animals were second only to the Rolling Stones in influence among R&B-based bands in the first wave of the British Invasion.
	The Kinks	Although they weren't as boldly innovative as the Beatles or as popular as the Rolling Stones or the Who, the Kinks were one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion.
	The Rolling Stones	By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title.
	Creedence Clearwater Revival	At a time when rock was evolving further and further away from the forces that had made the music possible in the first place, Creedence Clearwater Revival brought things back to their roots with their concise synthesis of rockabilly, swamp pop, R&B, and country.
	The Yardbirds	The Yardbirds are mostly known to the casual rock fan as the starting point for three of the greatest British rock guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.
	Eric Burdon	As the lead singer of the Animals, Eric Burdon was one of the British Invasion's most distinctive vocalists, with a searingly powerful blues-rock voice.
	The Rascals	The Rascals, along with the Righteous Brothers, Mitch Ryder, and precious few others, were the pinnacle of '60s blue-eyed soul.
	The Lovin' Spoonful	Right on the tails of the Beau Brummels and the Byrds, the Lovin' Spoonful were among the first American groups to challenge the domination of the British Invasion bands in the mid-'60s.
	Bob Seger	Originally a hard-driving rocker in the vein of fellow Michigan garage rockers the Rationals and Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger developed into one of the most popular heartland rockers over the course of the '70s.
	The Who	Few bands in the history of rock & roll were riddled with as many contradictions as the Who. All four members had wildly different personalities, as their notoriously intense live performances demonstrated.
	The Byrds	Although they only attained the huge success of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys for a short time in the mid-'60s, time has judged the Byrds to be nearly as influential as those groups in the long run.
	The Beatles	So much has been said and written about the Beatles -- and their story is so mythic in its sweep -- that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans.
	The Zombies	Aside from the Beatles and perhaps the Beach Boys, no mid-'60s rock group wrote melodies as gorgeous as those of the Zombies.
	The Turtles	Though many remember only their 1967 hit, "Happy Together," the Turtles were one of the more enjoyable American pop groups of the '60s, moving from folk-rock inspired by the Byrds to a sparkling fusion of Zombies-inspired chamber pop and straight-ahead, good-time pop reminiscent of the Lovin' Spoonful, the whole infused with beautiful vocal harmonies courtesy of dual frontmen Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman.
	The Doors	The Doors, one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the 1960s, were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students Ray Manzarek, keyboards, and Jim Morrison, vocals; with drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger.
	Steppenwolf	Led by John Kay (born Joachim Krauledat, April 12, 1944), Steppenwolf's blazing biker anthem "Born to Be Wild" roared out of speakers everywhere in the fiery summer of 1968, John Kay's threatening rasp sounding a mesmerizing call to arms to the counterculture movement rapidly sprouting up nationwide.
	The Monkees	"Hey hey, we are the Monkees/You know we love to please/A manufactured image/With no philosophies." In 1968, the Monkees addressed their own reputation in the song "Ditty Diego (War Chant)," which summed up the bad rap they'd received in the music press since they first emerged in the summer of 1966.
	Faces	When Steve Marriott left the Small Faces in 1969, the three remaining members brought in guitarist Ron Wood and lead singer Rod Stewart to complete the lineup and changed their name to the Faces, which was only appropriate since the group now only slightly resembled the mod-pop group of the past.
	The Band	For roughly half a decade, from 1968 through 1975, the Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, their music embraced by critics (and, to a somewhat lesser degree, the public) as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
	Chuck Berry	Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry.
	The Dave Clark Five	For a very brief time in 1964, it seemed that the biggest challenger to the Beatles' phenomenon was the Dave Clark Five.
	Blood, Sweat & Tears	No American rock group ever started with as much daring or musical promise as Blood, Sweat & Tears, or realized their potential more fully -- and then blew it all as quickly.
	The Troggs	Remembered chiefly as proto-punkers who reached the top of the charts with the "caveman rock" of "Wild Thing" (1966), the Troggs were also adept at crafting power pop and ballads.
	J. Geils Band	The J. Geils Band was one of the most popular touring rock & roll bands in America during the '70s. Where their contemporaries were influenced by the heavy boogie of British blues-rock and the ear-splitting sonic adventures of psychedelia, the J.
	The Beach Boys	Beginning their career as the most popular surf band in the nation, the Beach Boys finally emerged by 1966 as America's preeminent pop group, the only act able to challenge (for a brief time) the overarching success of the Beatles with both mainstream listeners and the critical community.
	Spencer Davis Group	His ferocious soul-drenched vocals belying his tender teenage years, Stevie Winwood powered the Spencer Davis Group's three biggest U.
	Bob Dylan	Bob Dylan's influence on popular music is incalculable. As a songwriter, he pioneered several different schools of pop songwriting, from confessional singer/songwriter to winding, hallucinatory, stream-of-consciousness narratives.
	Cream	Although Cream was only together for a little more than two years, their influence was immense, both during their late-'60s peak and in the years following their breakup.
	The Hollies	When the Hollies -- one of the best and most commercially successful pop/rock acts of the British Invasion -- began recording in 1963, they relied heavily upon the R&B/early rock & roll covers that provided the staple diet for countless British bands of the time.
	Jefferson Airplane	Jefferson Airplane was the first of the San Francisco psychedelic rock groups of the 1960s to achieve national recognition.
	John Fogerty	John Cameron Fogerty achieved fame as the lead singer/songwriter and guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival and has since gone on to a chart-topping solo career.
	Buffalo Springfield	Apart from the Byrds, no other American band had as great an impact on folk-rock and country-rock -- really, the entire Californian rock sound -- than Buffalo Springfield.
	Grand Funk Railroad	One of the 1970s' most successful hard rock bands in spite of critical pans and somewhat reluctant radio airplay (at first), Grand Funk Railroad built a devoted fan base with constant touring, a loud, simple take on the blues-rock power trio sound, and strong working-class appeal.
	The Guess Who	While the Guess Who did have several hits in America, they were superstars in their home country of Canada during the 1960s and early '70s.
	Tommy James & the Shondells	Tommy James & the Shondells -- the very mention of their name, even to someone who doesn't really know their music, evokes images of dances and the kind of fun that rock & roll represented before it redefined itself on more serious terms.
	Three Dog Night	Three Dog Night scored a succession of 21 hit singles, including eleven Top Tens, and twelve consecutive gold albums from 1969 to 1975, thanks to the slick, sometimes soulful vocal harmonies of singers Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells and an excellent ear for quality material.
	Donovan	Upon his emergence during the mid-'60s, Donovan was anointed "Britain's answer to Bob Dylan," a facile but largely unfounded comparison which compromised the Scottish folk-pop troubadour's own unique vision.
	Manfred Mann	An R&B band that only played pop to get on the charts, Manfred Mann ranked among the most adept British Invasion acts in both styles.
	Del Shannon	One of the best and most original rockers of the early '60s, Del Shannon was also one of the least typical.
	Eric Clapton	By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album in mid-1970, he was long established as one of the world's major rock stars due to his group affiliations -- the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith -- which had demonstrated his claim to being the best rock guitarist of his generation.
	Van Morrison	Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Van Morrison is among popular music's true innovators, a restless seeker whose incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R&B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk produced perhaps the most spiritually transcendent body of work in the rock & roll canon.
	Crosby, Stills & Nash	The musical partnership of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, with and without Neil Young, was not only one of the most successful touring and recording acts of the late '60s, '70s, and early '80s (with the colorful, contrasting nature of the members' characters and their connection to the political and cultural upheavals of the time), it was the only American-based band to approach the overall societal impact of the Beatles.
	Canned Heat	A hard-luck blues band of the '60s, Canned Heat was founded by blues historians and record collectors Alan Wilson and Bob Hite.
	Rod Stewart	Over the course of his career, Rod Stewart has had it all. He's been lauded as the finest singer of his generation, he's written several songs that turned into modern standards, he sang with the Faces, who rivaled the Rolling Stones in their prime, he had massive commercial success.
	Bruce Springsteen	In the decades following his emergence on the national scene in 1975, Bruce Springsteen proved to be that rarity among popular musicians, an artist who maintained his status as a frontline recording and performing star, consistently selling millions of albums and selling out arenas and stadiums around the world year after year, as well as retaining widespread critical approbation, with ecstatic reviews greeting those discs and shows.
	Big Brother & the Holding Company	Big Brother are primarily remembered as the group that gave Janis Joplin her start. There's no denying both that Joplin was by far the band's most striking asset, and that Big Brother would never have made a significant impression if they hadn't been fortunate enough to add her to their lineup shortly after forming.
	The Georgia Satellites	At a time when rock & roll didn't care about its roots, the Georgia Satellites came crashing into the charts with a surprise hit single to remind everybody where the music had come from.
	Jimi Hendrix	In his brief four-year reign as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix expanded the vocabulary of the electric rock guitar more than anyone before or since.
	James Gang	With the emergence of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience during the late '60s, the path was cleared for other hard-rockin' "trios.