The Wheels Keep Rolling for Mitch Ryder

Feb. 19, 2003

Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels will roll into Northern Michigan to give a kick-start to the Women’s Resource Center Extravaganza 2003 at the Grand Traverse Resort. Last year‘s event raised over $110,000 for the organization now in its 28th year of providing a variety of services for woman and men of the greater Grand Traverse area.
The February 22 event will feature over 400 silent auction items. The night will also include a raffle for a Harley Davidson 100th Anniversary FLSTC/FLSTCI Heritage Softail Classic. The evening will conclude with 90 minutes of high-powered Motor City style rock and roll compliments of the Godfather of the Detroit rock scene, Mitch Ryder.
Ryder was born William Levise Jr. in Detroit nearly 60 years ago. He took the stage name Billy Lee in high school fronting the band Tempest. Soon he began turning heads with his booming soulful voice at Detroit area clubs in the early ‘60s and joined up with the black R&B trio The Peps. The group fronted by Ryder recorded a few singles for the Motown gospel label Carrie.
It was while with The Peps that Ryder met up with guitarist Jim McCarty, bassist Earl Elliot, rhythm guitarist Joe Kubert and drummer Johnny “Bee” Bandanjek. They joined forces, forming the band Billy Lee and The Rivieras, and by 1965 the band was tearing up the Detroit music scene. After opening up for several national acts and blowing them off the stage, legendary producer Bob Crewe of The Four Seasons fame discovered The Rivieras.

A BAND IS BORN
Crewe convinced the five teenagers to move to Manhattan to play Greenwich Village clubs until he could work out a label deal for the band. After a few gigs the group found out that another band had the name Rivieras and had an album out so a name change was in order.
“I grabbed a Manhattan phone book and started flipping through it and came across the name Mitch Ryder so I took it,” said Ryder. “The Wheels came out of us wanting to let the world know that we were from Detroit.”
For Ryder the next four years found him on the wild roller coaster ride of the rock and roll world. From 1965 till 1967 he and The Wheels were among the top rockers in the business with hits like “Jenny Take A Ride,” “Little Latin Lupe Lu,” “Sock It To Me Baby,” and the medley “Devil With The Blues Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly.”
By 1967 Crewe decided Ryder should be a solo act and shipped the artist out to Las Vegas and sent The Wheels back to Detroit. The Las Vegas experiment didn’t work and Ryder found himself without a band, management and gigs, so he decided to head back to Detroit.
“I went to Memphis first and hooked up with Booker T & The MG’s and the legendary Memphis Horns to record and album,” said Ryder. “Unfortunately while the album received great reviews it was never a commercial success so I headed north hoping to reunite with some of my old band mates.”
Ryder did end up reuniting with Bandajek and forming the super group, Detroit, but the band was short lived and Ryder again found himself without a band and frustrated with the business. He, also like many musicians of his day, found himself sinking in the world of heavy alcohol and drug use so he retreated to Colorado and took on a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday job.
“At this point in my life I needed a sense of security, the feeling of coming home at the same time everyday,” said Ryder. “It was very peaceful out there in Colorado and during that period I really thought my music career was over. Eventual my need to create and perform overtook my desire of traditional security. So I came back on my own terms and again feel good about making music.”

THE COMEBACK
Ryder enjoyed renewed popularity during the ‘80s when super rockers Bruce Springsteen and John Cougar Mellencamp both paid public tribute by acknowledging Ryder as the primary influence in the development of their musical careers. Springsteen regularly brought Ryder up on stage during show encores to perform extended versions of “Devil With The Blue Dress On.”
Today Ryder finds himself in high demand; his singing voice is heard on current Ford Motor radio and television commercials and he is in the studio working on a blues album. His Traverse City concert comes just days after completing a long European tour, where Ryder enjoys a lot of popularity.
“I enjoy playing Europe because audiences over there are receptive to a broader range of songs,” said Ryder. “In the States what pays my grocery bills is my old hits and that is what I am expected to play. However it is like asking an old man to run a race the same way he did as a teenager, it ain’t going to happen. I guess what I am saying is that in Europe they tend to respect the songs for the songs. Over here people are expecting me to jump around and perform for two and a half hours like I did almost 40 years ago, it just ain’t going to happen.”
Ryder might be underestimating his current performance abilities. Critics continue to give him rave revues for his live shows. His lunchtime performance at the World Trade Center on August 28, 2001 (the last one of a summer series before the tragedy) drew thousands as Ryder performed non-stop for 90 minutes keeping the crowd dancing and singing. One New York rock critic wrote “the performance proved not only does Ryder still have it, that he is also among the best screamers ever in rock and roll.”
Catch Ryder, as he and The Detroit Wheels (all new members, but these guys are some of the most talented musicians to come out of Detroit) rev up the Resort with his timeless hits. If you are lucky your name will not have to be Jenny to take a ride on a new Harley. For more information on Extravaganza 2003 or to purchase tickets, please call (231) 941-1210.