Farewell to a great rock ‘n’ roll guitarist, singer and songwriter. He played with Edgar and Johnny Winter, Steely Dan, produced and played the solo on Weird Al’s “Eat It”, and wrote Hulk Hogan’s theme song “Real American”. Perhaps best known for “Hang On Sloopy” and “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo”, he also pioneered the use of wireless guitar transmitters that allowed him to do one of the coolest stage moves ever, the “flying guitar swap”.
Yeah, did somebody say keep on rockin’?
I did, Rick. RIP
Damn. He was one of those constants who was often below the radar.
He was from Ohio and his song Hang On Sloopy is played at Ohio sports games.
I first read about him in Creem magazine.
Classic songs.
Wow, he warmed up for Led Zeppelin at the Oakland Coliseum in 1977. Which I saw with 50,000 of my closest friends.
I also saw him at the UC Davis coffee house, which held at most 200 people around 1980. Rick headlined that one. 
He did a ripping solo, someone shouted “that old fuck can still play”, Rick got pissed and the show ended.
To be fair, he was all of 33 at the time - I imagine that stung 
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He was a talented guy, though I always preferred him as a sideman. Particularly with the Winter brothers:
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