Mitch Ryder
Mitch Ryder on stage, Germany 2008
Background information
Birth name	William S. Levise Jr
Also known as	Mitch Ryder
Born	February 26, 1945 (1945-02-26) (age 64)
Origin	Hamtrack, Michigan, USA
Genres	Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, soul
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1962–present
Associated acts	The Detroit Wheels, Engerling
Website	http://www.mitchryder.de

Mitch Ryder (born William S. Levise Jr., February 26, 1945, in Hamtramck, Michigan) is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades as a performer.^[1]

Contents 1 Career 2 Discography (singles) 3 Discography (albums) 4 Depiction On Television 5 Quotations 6 Notes 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Career

Ryder is noted for his gruff, wailing singing style, much influenced by Little Richard, and his dynamic stage performances, influenced by James Brown. As a teen, Ryder sang backup in a black soul group known as the Peps, but racial animosities interfered with his continued presence in the group.^[2]

Ryder formed his first band - Tempest - when he was in high school, and the group gained some notoriety playing at a Detroit soul music club called The Village.^[3] Ryder next appeared fronting a band called Billy Lee & The Rivieras, which had limited success until they met the songwriter / record producer, Bob Crewe.^[4] Crewe renamed the group Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, and they recorded several hit records on his DynoVoice Records label in the mid to late 1960s, most notably "Devil With A Blue Dress On", their highest-charting single at #4, as well as "Sock it to Me-Baby!", a #6 hit in 1967, and "Jenny Take A Ride!", which reached #10 in 1965.

Since the early 1970s, Ryder's musical endeavors have not met with the same success that they did before. Ryder himself has blamed his lack of subsequent hits on his unsuccessful aim at the Tom Jones-type cabaret/night club audience just as the counterculture was becoming dominant in 1967 and 1968. His last successful ensemble release was Mitch Ryder's Detroit in 1971, which featured the drummer from the original Detroit Wheels, then called Detroit. The album saw Ryder moving from his earlier soul music-influenced sound to a guitar-dominated hard rock sound more in keeping with the early 1970s.

In 1983 Ryder returned to a major label with the John Mellencamp-produced Never Kick a Sleeping Dog. The album featured a cover of the Prince song "When You Were Mine," which was Ryder's last foray into the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Ryder continues to record and tour, and his influence is felt in the music of such blue collar rock artists as Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, and Bruce Springsteen.

Winona Ryder took "Ryder" as a stage name, after seeing a Mitch Ryder album in her father's collection.^[5]

[edit] Discography (singles)

Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels

• 1965 "I Need Help (Help Help) / I Hope"
• 1965 "Come See About Me / A Face In the Crowd" (New Voice Records 828 Promotion Copy. Uncertain if ever released commercially in the U.S.)
• 1965 "Jenny Take A Ride! / Baby Jane (Mo-Mo Jane)"(U.S. #10)
• 1966 "Little Latin Lupe Lu" (U.S. #17)
• 1966 "Break Out / I Need Help" (U.S. #62)
• 1966 "Takin' All I Can Get / You Get Your Kicks" (U.S. #100)
• 1966 "Devil With A Blue Dress On / Good Golly, Miss Molly" (U.S. #4)
• 1967 "Sock It To Me-Baby! / I Never Had it Better" (U.S. #6)
• 1967 "Too Many Fish in the Sea/Three Little Fishes" (U.S. #24)

Mitch Ryder

• 1962 "That's the Way it's Gonna Be / Fool for You"
• 1964 "You Know / Won't You Dance With Me?"
• 1967 "Joy" / "I'd Rather Go To Jail" (New Voice Records 824) (U.S. #41)
• 1967 "What Now My Love / Blessings in Disguise" (U.S. #30)
• 1967 "You Are My Sunshine / Wild Child" (U.S. #88)
• 1967 "(You've Got) Personality - Chantilly Lace / I Make a Fool of Myself" (U.S. #87)
• 1968 "Baby I Need Your Lovin' (& Theme For Mitch) / Ring Your Bell"
• 1969 "Sugar Bee (We Three) / I Believe (There Must Be Someone)"
• 1969 "It's Been a Long Time / Direct Me"
• 1971 "I Can't See Nobody / Girl from the North Country"
• 1971 "Sing a Simple Song / Ring Your Bell"
• 1979 "Rock And Roll / Soul Kitchen"
• 1979 "Nice And Easy / Passion's Wheel"
• 1979 "Freezin' In Hell / Long Hard Road"
• 1980 "Ain't Nobody White / It's My Life"
• 1980 "We're Gonna Win / Beyond The Wall-Bare Your Soul"
• 1981 "War / Don't Wanna Hear It"
• 1981 "Red Scar Eyes / We're Gonna Win"
• 1983 "Er ist Nicht Mein President / Berlin"
• 1983 "When You Were Mine" (Riva Polygram) (U.S. #87)
• 1985 "Like A Rolling Stone / Can Do"
• 1987 "Good Golly Ask Ollie / Good Gollie Ask Ollie (dun mix)"

Detroit Featuring Mitch Ryder

• 1971 "It ain't Easy / Long Neck Goose"
• 1972 "Rock and Roll / Box of Old Roses"(written by Lou Reed)
• 1972 "Ohh-La La La-Dee Da Doo / Gimme Shelter"

[edit] Discography (albums)

Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels

• 1966 Take A Ride (New Voice)
• 1966 Breakout! (New Voice)
• 1967 Sock It To Me (New Voice)
• 1967 All Mitch Ryder Hits (New Voice)
• 1967 All The Heavy Hits (Crewe)
• 1968 Mitch Ryder Sings The Hits (New Voice)

Mitch Ryder

• 1967 What Now My Love (Dynovoice)
• 1969 The Detroit/Memphis Experiment (with Booker T and the MGs)
• 1979 How I Spent My Vacation (Line)
• 1980 Naked But Not Dead (Line)
• 1981 Live Talkies (Line)
• 1981 Got Change For A Million (Line)
• 1982 Smart Ass (Line)
• 1983 Never Kick a Sleeping Dog (Line)
• 1985 Legendary Full Moon Concert (Line)
• 1986 In The China Shop (Line)
• 1988 Red Blood, White Mink (Line)
• 1990 The Beautiful Toulang Sunset (Line)
• 1992 La Gash (Line)
• 1992 Live at the Logo Hamburg (Line)
• 1994 Rite Of Passage (Line)
• 1999 Monkey Island (Line)
• 2003 The Old Man Springs a Boner (???)
• 2004 A Dark Caucasian Blue (???)
• 2009 Air Harmonie (with Engerling) (Buschfunk)

Detroit Featuring Mitch Ryder

• 1971 Detroit (Paramount/MCA)

[edit] Depiction On Television

• American Dreams (2003) NBC ...Stephen Wozniak as Mitch Ryder

[edit] Quotations

• “Hollywood, that’s where I could’ve gone if I wasn’t such a punk. If I just learned to bend over and say thank you a little more politely, it could’ve been great."—Mitch Ryder^[6]

• "There’s six members on the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame board of directors and three of those men are my enemies. So what are my chances of getting in there?” —Mitch Ryder ^[7]

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• List of soul musicians

[edit] External links

• Mitch Ryder official website
• "The Ryder stipulates," Metro Times Detroit, September 15, 2004
• The New Mitch Ryder On-Line Fan Site
• Transcription of 1970 Ryder interview with rock journalist Rick McGrath