“Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo” by Rick Derringer

"Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" was the first song Rick Derringer wrote for Johnny Winter, and he built the title as a two-way bargain: "rock and roll" for the rock 'n' roll he'd been brought in to deliver, "hoochie koo" for the blues feel Winter was expected to keep. Winter's band Johnny Winter And, with Derringer and other former McCoys on board, cut it first in 1970.

In 1973 Derringer took the song back and recorded it himself, and that solo version became his only top 40 hit in the US under his own name. It's a cocky hard rock strut, and it turned into a fixture of '70s classic rock radio and a staple of rock compilations, with Derringer cutting several live versions along the way.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.